The Narendra Modi government’s attempt to “explain” away India’s slipping from being 94th on the global hunger index in 2020 to 101st in 2021, a rank well below that of neighbours Pakistan, Nepal or Bangladesh, by questioning the “methodology” of the index, is jejune enough. But even more shocking is its total inability to see the reason behind the acute hunger in the country.
Precisely when India has been slipping on the global hunger index, the country has had more foodgrain stocks than are required by it according to official “norms”. In fact, on September 1, 2021, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) had 50.2 million tonnes of foodgrain stocks against the required “norm” of 26.2 million tonnes. The obvious conclusion to draw from this fact is that it is the lack of purchasing power in the hands of the people that restricts their ability to buy food in adequate quantities and explains their acute hunger. But the conclusion that the government draws is that people cannot possibly be hungry if there are surplus food stocks, and hence the hunger index must be lying.
A surplus of foodgrain stocks is “surplus” only with respect to a given level of prices and of purchasing power (in money terms) in the hands of the people. People may as well be
— source newsclick.in | Prabhat Patnaik | 24 Oct 2021