By Vikas Parasram Meshram
When there is an election atmosphere everywhere in the country and we all are beating the drum of developed India , self-reliance, the report issued by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization has highlighted the problem of malnutrition in our country.
Hunger fires in the name of human development
The fallen is a stain , a question mark on human existence. The world’s ‘ hunger ‘ malnutrition and increasing malnutritionย Expressing concern over the incidents, the United Nations has highlighted the fact that around 80 crore people in the world are victims of malnutrition , which is a shame for the entire world. The hanging sword of death is always on these innocent children who are struggling with malnutrition . Malnutrition and the fear of malnutrition has spread to our children. Malnutrition has affected one-third of the country’s children , questioning the utility of all the schemes , poverty alleviation and employment programs being implemented in the country . A report issued by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization also stated that 15 to 49 – year-olds in the countryย More than half of women suffer from anemia and 38.4 percent of children under 5 are not tall for their age. Sufficient healthy foodย Due to lack of availability, these children are falling prey to exploitation.ย
Concerns about Malnutrition in India
A report issued by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations puts the number of malnourished people in India at 19 crore , which is a matter of concern and consideration for the country.
Importance of Adequate Nutrition
Undoubtedly , adequate nutrition is essential for the physical , mental and intellectual development of children . To ensure ‘ food security ‘ The government has taken several measures to stop the growing storm of malnutrition It is not possible to end the monsters of poverty , unemployment by just launching schemes , the real fact is that drastic steps should be taken at the earliest to make these schemes effective and result oriented so that the country can be freed from the clutches of malnutrition and the goal of ‘ food security ‘ can be truly achieved. In this context , households below the poverty line need special attention as the poor are the worst victims of food insecurity due to insufficient purchasing power. Considering this fact It is also very important to do
Fair and accurate survey of the number of people below the poverty lineย should beย Otherwise many poor people will be deprived of being included in the ambit of ‘ food security ‘ .
Addressing Malnutrition: Key Strategies
To achieve the important and burning goal of reducing malnutrition, first of all food grains Proper and fair distribution is essential and agriculture is the soul of India. To increase production, this crisis on agriculture also needs to be removed.
Among the major causes of malnutrition growth, ‘ poverty ‘ is also the basic reason why children do not get enough food . All efforts have to be made to remove it. For this it is necessary to ensure the successful implementation of effective policies for agricultural development , increase in agricultural production and increase the attractiveness of farmers towards agriculture. How ironic that on the one hand the shadow of malnutrition is getting bigger and darker and the country is going down the list of the hungry , while on the other hand
One tenth of the country’s total food grain production is sufficient annuallyย Conservation is wasted due to lack of storage system. The goals of food security , inclusive development and reduction of malnutrition can only be achieved by proper and adequate arrangements for storage and maintenance of food grains in the country. Therefore, the government should encourage public private partnership to build new warehouses. By establishing foodgrain banks in every panchayat , providing loans to farmers for scientific storage and adopting traditional foodgrain storage methods, it is possible to free the country from food crisis to some extent and provide livelihood to the people suffering from malnutrition. A World Food Program report blamed targeted public delivery systems , incomplete information , inaccurate measurement of household characteristics , corruption and inefficiency for this dire problem of malnutrition. In this context, the public distribution system needs to be strengthened and transparent and its implementation must be done honestly.
Government Initiatives
To address this dire problem of malnutrition, the government has set up the National Nutrition Mission to coordinate the schemes and programs run by various ministries . The main objective of this campaign is to make nutrition a mass movement and reduce the level of malnutrition by establishing nutrition centers. There is a need for effective implementation at ground level for elimination of exploitation.
About the Author
Vikas Parasram Meshram is a social worker and activities working towards the rights of tribal and marginalized communities.
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