Issues relating to Poverty and Hunger:

Poverty:
Poverty United Nations denial of choices and opportunities, a violation of human dignity. It means lack
of basic capacity to participate effectively in society.
Poverty is a state or condition in which a person or community lacks the financial resources and essentials
to enjoy a minimum standard of life and well-being that's considered acceptable in society.
Copenhagen Declaration at the World Summit on Social development Poverty is a condition characterised
by severe deprivation of basic human needs such as food, shelter, safe drinking water, Sanitation, health,
education and information.
Conventionally, poverty is measured by defining a threshold level of expenditure (or income) required to
purchase goods and services necessary to satisfy basic needs at the minimal socially acceptable level. This
threshold level of expenditure is called the poverty line and the proportion of population living below it is
called the poverty ratio or Head Count Ratio.
Three precepts to define poverty Absolute Poverty (i) amount of money required by a person to
subsist and (ii) the life below a minimum subsistence level and living standard prevalent at a given time in a
given place. Relative Poverty (iii) comparative state of well-being of a few and the deprivation and
destitution of majority in the society.
Poverty Gap Index (PGI): Poverty gap refers to the difference between the poors expenditure (or income)
and the predetermined poverty line. It is an improvement over head count ratio as it states how many are
below poverty line and on an average how poor are they.
Vicious cycle of Poverty: Poverty Trap Supply Side Low income levels leads to low-savings rates. This
in turn causes a low rate of capital formation and, consequently, low productivity, which contributes to low
levels of income. On the demand side, low income leads to low purchasing power, which in turn makes
investments unattractive and consequently leads to a low level of productivity and, in turn, low levels of
income.

Poverty line and the poverty ratio have three potential uses: identification of poor; the allocation of
expenditures on anti-poverty programs across regions; and measuring and tracking poverty over time and
across regions.
World Bank 2015 $ 1.90 per person per day. India is home to one-third of poor people in the world.
Calculation of Poverty Line in India History (i) Dadabhai Naoroji though never used the term poverty
line recommended Rs.16 to Rs.35 per capita per year at 1867 prices for subsistence, i.e., what is necessary
for bare wants of human being.
(ii) National Planning Committee 1938 J Nehru as Chairman irreducible income between Rs.15 to
Rs.25 per capita per month.
(iii) Planning Commission Rs.100 per month for rural and Rs.125 for Urban at 1960 prices. Till now, the
approach to estimate poverty was traditional, i.e., lack of income.
(iv) Y K Alagh Committee 1979 Consumption based approach Starvation, how much people eat
<2100 calories in the urban areas and <2400 calories in the rural areas, as rural people do more physical
work. Assumption here is that state would take care of the health and education of the people.
 (v) Lakdawala formula 1993 Consumption as above + Clothing and shelter (i) consumption
expenditure should be calculated based on calorie consumption as earlier; (ii) state specific poverty lines
should be constructed and these should be updated using the CPI-IW in urban areas and CPIAL in rural areas;
and (iii) discontinuation of scaling of poverty estimates based on National Accounts Statistics. As a result,
the number of people below poverty line rose from 16% to 36%.
(vi) Tendulkar Committee 2005 four major changes: (i) a shift away from calorie consumption based
poverty estimation; (ii) a uniform poverty line basket (PLB) across rural and urban India; (iii) a change in
the price adjustment procedure to correct spatial and temporal issues with price adjustment; and (iv)
incorporation of private expenditure on health and education while estimating poverty. It adopted cost of
living as the basis for identifying poverty. Limits were Rs.27 and Rs.33 per day for rural and urban areas
respectively and estimated that 22% of the people are living BPL.
(vii) Rangarajan Committee Raised the limits to Rs.32 and Rs.47 respectievly for rural and urban and
estimated that 30% of the people living BPL.
Why identifying poverty is a controversial issue? (i) Politically sensitive and have deep fiscal ramifications
(ii) If the poverty threshold is high, it may leave out many needed people; if it is low, it would be bad for fiscal
health of the state. (iii) Lack of consensus among states, some support Tendulkar line.
Multi-dimensional nature of Poverty It is beyond money, income to education, health care, political
participation and advancement of ones own culture and social organisation. For a large democracy like
India, development should focus on removing economic, social and gender inequalities and providing
universal education and food security.
A perspective has emerged which says that poverty must be seen in a more comprehensive manner as a lack
of human development. Economic growth is important but only as a tool, not an end in itself.
According to this thinking, poverty is not low consumption; it can cause early death, chronic under-
nourishment, illness and illiteracy, unemployment, social exclusion, etc. Poverty is multi-dimensional.
Sen vs. Bhagwati debate Sen India should invest more in its social infrastructure to boost the
productivity of its people and thereby raise growth; Investing in health and education to improve human
capabilities is central. Without such investments, inequality will widen and the growth process itself will
falter. Bhagwati only a focus on growth can yield enough resources for investing in social sector schemes.
Also, growth may raise inequality initially but sustained growth will eventually raise enough resources for
the state to redistribute and mitigate the effects of the initial inequality.
Multidimensional Poverty Index UNDP Started in 2010. The following figure shows the indicators of
MPI.

Causes of poverty: Primary causes of poverty can be socio- cultural, economic, political, and geographic
factors. (1) Socio-cultural factors: - a) Overpopulation, resulting in overdependence on the available
resources in the area and the productivity of the area becoming unable to meet the demands of the
population. b) Gender discrimination - According to many studies and statistics, on a worldwide scale,
women are more likely to be poor than men. It is estimated that women represent 70% of the worlds poor.
This is partly due to the fact that women face discrimination in education and employment, in both
developing and developed countries. There are several reasons for why men on average earn more than
women. Women traditionally work more often in positions that are poorly paid; these include for example
nursing or teaching infants. In better paid environments women face discrimination in terms of the difficulty
of reaching managerial and top positions. Furthermore, women tend to take unpaid breaks from work to
take care of their children more often than men. Policies that support womens ability to work are critical to
moving women and their children out of poverty. c) Caste System in India has exaggerated the problem of
poverty in India. The status and position of the lowest class remains the lowest in every way: status wise,
 workwise and naturally moneywise. d) Lack of access to education thus making the poor alienated from
the job opportunities available for the skilled persons. e) Epidemic diseases.
(2) Economic factors: - a) Overreliance on agriculture has left out desired emphasis on the nonfarm
employment and manufacturing sector and their growth benefits. b) High unemployment rate prevalent
in the country. Unemployment leads to financial crisis and reduces the overall purchasing capacity of a
person or a nation. This in turn results in poverty followed by increasing burden of debt.
3. Political factors: - a) Ineffective implementation of welfare schemes have resulted in poor moving
from minute poverty to significant poverty. b) Corruption - Corruption is both a major cause and a result of
poverty. The poor are forced to pay bribe even to get their basic needs. As a result, they are further pushed
into the poverty trap. This is further aggravated by the absence of sound institutions to bring the
perpetrators into account. c) Landlessness is resulting in land inequality and land grabbing by powerful
groups taking away the source of income for many poor.
4. Geographic factors of India like the inaccessible terrain, dense forests etc- This has left services and
welfare schemes unable to reach the intended beneficiaries. As a result, endemic poverty is still prevalent
in many such regions, which also results in improper healthcare, hunger, and malnutrition. This creates a
vicious cycle of poverty and hunger.
Historical causes of poverty are- 1. Slavery and its modern form of Bonded Labour 2. Colonial exploitation
- Conquest for resources which do not benefit the local population, resulting in their deprivation of land and
resources In general, it can be said that, poverty is itself a cause for poverty as it prevents investment and
proper development to come into a particular region.
NITI Ayog The Strategy for combating poverty must rest on two legs (i) Employment-intensive
sustained Rapid Growth First, by creating jobs that pay steadily rising real wages, it directly dents poverty
and, second, it leads to growth in government revenues which in turn allow the expansion of social
expenditures at faster pace. (ii) Making Anti-poverty Programs More Effective making anti-poverty
programs such as the Public Distribution System (PDS), Midday Meal Scheme, MGNREGA and Housing for All
more effective represents the second leg of the strategy to eliminate abject poverty. For example, keeping in
view the fact that poor households lag the most in the consumption of protein-rich items such as milk and
eggs, it may make sense to offer them option between cash and in-kind transfers under the PDS. This may be
then complemented by an information drive on the importance of a protein-rich diet. This would encourage
households to opt for cash and use it to shift in favour of a protein-rich diet.
Likewise, MGNREGA can be made more effective by allowing it to impart skills. This would also pave the way
for many workers to exit the program. Relaxing the proportion of expenditure on materials and allowing the
use of contractors in the materials component would greatly improve the quality of assets produced.
Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhaar, Mobile (JAM) trinity could play a vital role in widening the reach of Government
to the vulnerable sections. Jan Dhan bank accounts under Prime Ministers Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY),
biometric identity cards under Aadhar and accessibility to the accounts through mobile phones promise to
revolutionize the anti-poverty programmes by replacing the current cumbersome and leaky distribution of
benefits under various schemes by the Direct Benefit Transfers (DBT).
India and the MDG 1 1st Goal of MDG is to eradicate extreme hunger and poverty reduce the number
of population living below poverty line to half its 1990 level by 2015 India has achieved it before 2015;
schemes that helped in achieving this goal MGNREGA, National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM),
SDG 1 aims to end poverty from everywhere in all its forms which includes economic, social, gender-based
and all other forms of deprivation in income, education, nutrition, health, access to water and sanitation, and
vulnerability to economic shocks SDG recognised Multi-dimensional nature of poverty.
Strengthening of development policies the government agencies like NITI Ayog should provide technical
assistance to states on mobilising financial resources on their own from domestic and international sources
by innovations and capacity building.
Periodic monitoring of development policies taking the help of global indices like HDI,
MPI, GII etc.
Financing Besides, mandating private sector to invest in development financing
through the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), public investment should be
planned in such a way so as to catalyse and leverage the funds flow from private sector
and other domestic sources.
 Taking the route of Socially Responsible Investments (SRIs) any investment strategy which seeks to
consider both financial return and social good to bring about a social change. Implementing SRI in India
(i) the role of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working for environmental, standards could be
quite significant in forming coalitions with the shareholders in annual general meetings to influence
corporate behaviour in favour of SRI. Also, these NGOs can have a dialogue with the management of
corporate units to encourage them to invest in development financing. (ii) Corporate governance can also
spur growth in SRI which elucidates the duties and responsibilities of corporate units, management as well
as shareholders. (iii) pension-funds could be stimulated to invest with a perspective of SRI owing to their
long-run nature and concern regarding the welfare of the nation.
Improved coordination between public sector, private sector, community organisations and civil society
organisations in catering to financial and non-financial needs at the regional and sub-national levels builds
effective ways to generate and utilise development finance for better opportunities.
There should be greater decentralisation of planning and authority for developmental policy making. The
success of decentralisation depends upon transparency and recognition of peoples rights. Community based
participation is necessary to ensure development at regional levels, with due recognition of challenges and
obstacles in implementing pro-equity policies, many of which themselves stem from inequities.
For achieving the SDG 1, it is essential that gender-specific and age-specific intra-household poverty data
should be collected and such database should be used efficiently for policy making. Presently no such
measure or database exists for measuring poverty in India.
In employment, there is very narrow diversity based on gender, age, religion, caste, creed and culture which
leads to exclusion of a large group of people from all the opportunities available. Such excluded groups of
people always remain trapped in vicious circle of poverty. A solution to this problem could be obtained by
developing a diversity index of employment. The government should support public and private sector units
based on such indices.
Conclusion India is a welfare state and it is the primary responsibility of the state to provide basic
amenities to all its citizens of all ages, gender, caste, creed and cultural background. To do this, poverty
should be removed from its breadth and depth for which affirmative budgetary action is required.
Source - http://ris.org.in/pdf/SDGs_Report_Chapter_1.pdf
Hunger:
Hunger refers to not having enough to eat to meet energy requirements. Hunger can lead to malnutrition,
but absence of hunger does not imply absence of malnutrition.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines food security as a situation when all people at all times have
physical and economic access to sufficient and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food
preference for an active and healthy life.
The lack of a balanced diet minus essential nutrients results in chronic malnutrition. Malnutrition is a
condition resulting when a persons diet does not provide adequate nutrients for growth and maintenance
or when a person is not able to adequately utilize the food consumed due to illness. Malnutrition
encompasses both under-nutrition (too thin, too short, micronutrient deficiencies) and over-nutrition
(overweight and obesity).
Stunting is a gradual and cumulative process during the 1,000 days window from conception through the
first two years of a childs life. Stunting develops as a result of sustained poor dietary intake or repeated
infections or a combination of both. It has severe, irreversible consequences, beyond the shortness of stature,
including for physical health (immediate and long term morbidity and mortality) and cognitive functioning,
which are intergenerational. The indicator for stunting is low height for age.
Acute malnutrition, or wasting, develops as a result of recent rapid weight loss or a failure to gain weight.
In children, it is assessed by low weight for height. Wasting is often used to assess the severity of an
emergency because it is caused by illness and/or sudden, severe lack of food and is strongly related to
mortality.
Double burden of Malnutrition It is characterised by the coexistence of under-nutrition along with
overweight and obesity, or diet-
related non-communicable
diseases, within individuals,
households and populations, and
across the life course.
This double burden of
malnutrition offers a unique and
important opportunity for
integrated action on malnutrition
in all its forms. Addressing the
double burden of malnutrition will
be key to achieving the Sustainable
Development Goals and the
Commitments of the Rome
Declaration on Nutrition, within
the UN Decade of Action on
Nutrition.
Why we need to Act on
malnutrition (i) It is essential to
achieve SDGs (ii) Nutrition is
critical to both human and
economic development. (iii) Focus
and investment for integrated
solutions will tackle malnutrition
in all its forms. (iv) Good Nutrition (a) promotes maternal, infant and child health. (b) improves school
and education performance (c) supports stronger immune systems and (d) reduces the risk of disease.
Undernourishment is used to describe the status of people whose food intake does not include enough
calories (energy) to meet minimum physiological needs for an active life. At present, there are 795 million
undernourished people worldwide, most of them in developing countries.
The above mentioned Malnutrition, undernourishment as well as wasting are all different manifestations of
hunger.
Hidden hunger is a lack of vitamins and micronutrients. Hidden hunger occurs when the quality of food
people eat does not meet their nutrient requirements. So the food is deficient in micronutrients such as the
vitamins and minerals that they need for their growth and development. Two billion people suffer from
vitamin and mineral deficiencies globally.
 Women and children in families with low income often dont get enough vitamin a, iodine and iron, and
sometimes other essential nutrients. This limits their growth, development, health and working capacity.
Ensuring people get vitamins, minerals and essential nutrients will helps prevent malnutrition.
Its effects can be devastating, leading to mental impairment, poor health, low productivity, and even death.
Its adverse effects on child health and survival are particularly acute, especially within the first 1,000 days
of a childs life, from conception to the age of two, resulting in serious physical and cognitive consequences.
Even mild to moderate deficiencies can affect a persons well human health, hidden hunger can curtail
socioeconomic development, particularly in low and middle income countries.
Causes of Hunger 1. Poverty trap People living in poverty cannot afford nutritious food for themselves
and their families. This makes them weaker and less able to earn the money that would help them escape
poverty and hunger. This is not just a day to day problem: when children are chronically malnourished, or
stunted, it can affect their future income, condemning them to a life of poverty and hunger. In developing
countries like India, farmers often cannot afford seeds, so they cannot plant the crops that would provide for
their families. They may have to cultivate crops without the tools and fertilizers they need. Others have no
land or water or education. In short, the poor are hungry and their hunger traps them in poverty.
2. Sociocultural factors (a) Inequitable distribution of food in the family In most of the poor
households, women and preschool children especially girls receive less food than the economically active
male members. b) Large families Rapid succession of pregnancies adversely affects the nutritional status
of the mother. As she tries to manage the big family she may neglect her own health and antenatal check-ups
during pregnancy. Under nutrition may lead to low birth weight baby. In large families, per capita availability
of food is also less. c) Poor quality of housing, sanitation, and water supply these contribute to ill health
and infections thus contributing to malnutrition. Researchers have found that practice of open defecation is
associated with a corresponding increase in both stunting and severe stunting. Faeces contain germs that,
when released into the environment, make their way onto childrens fingers and feet, into their food and
water, and wherever flies take them. Exposure to these germs not only gives children diarrhoea, but over the
long term, also can cause changes in the tissues of their intestines that prevent the absorption and use of
nutrients in food, even when the child does not seem sick. If open defecation indeed causes stunting in India,
then sanitation reflects an emergency not only for health, but also for the economy. After all, stunted children
grow into less productive adults. d) Inadequate maternal and child care improving the primary health
centres and other health care services in the rural areas will definitely improve the nutrition profile of
women and children.
3. Lack of education among mothers Lack of awareness and information regarding the proper nutritional
requirements for their child results in malnutrition and wasting and finally leads to death. 4. Lack of
investment in agriculture Developing countries like India lack key agricultural infrastructure, such as
enough roads, warehouses, and irrigation. The results are high transport costs, lack of storage facilities and
unreliable water supplies. All conspire to limit agricultural yields and access to food. This is also aggravated
by high dependency on monsoon. 5. Lack of employment and jobless growth We continue to see a
period of high growth but less number of jobs being generated. This translates into unemployment for a
major percentage of population and lack of means to purchase enough food.
6. Unstable market In recent years, the price of food products like Pulses (one of the most nutritious food)
has been very unstable. Pulses intake, estimated at 47 grams per day currently, is lower than the intake prior
to the Green Revolution. Rollercoaster food prices make it difficult for the poorest people to access nutritious
food consistently. The poor need access to adequate food all year round. Price spikes may temporarily put
food out of reach, which can have lasting consequences for small children. When prices rise, consumers often
shift to cheaper, less nutritious foods, heightening the risks of micronutrient deficiencies and other forms of
malnutrition. 7. Lack of adequate political will In order to eradicate hunger, political will seems to be
absent as seen in other specific areas. Moreover, improper implementation of existing social welfare
schemes.
8. Climate and Weather Natural disasters such as floods, tropical cyclones, and ong periods of drought
are on the increase with calamitous consequences for the hungry poor in the country. Drought is one of the
most common causes of food shortages. Increasingly, the nation's fertile farmland is under threat from
erosion, salinization, and desertification. Moreover, Deforestation by human hands as well as mono cropping
accelerates the erosion of land, which could be used for growing food.
9. Displacement of people across the country, conflicts consistently disrupt farming and food
production. Displacement for development purposes also forces millions of people to flee their homes,
leading to hunger, as the displaced find themselves without the means to feed themselves.
10. Food Wastage Lack of adequate cold storage facilities accompanied by inappropriate supply chain
management, has resulted in India becoming a significant contributor towards food wastage both at pre and
post-harvest waste in cereals, pulses, fruits and vegetables.
 In addition, approximately 45 per cent of Indias land is degraded primarily due to deforestation,
unsustainable agricultural practices, and excessive Ground water extraction to meet the food demand. In
India, the value of food wastage (harvest and postharvest losses of major agricultural produce) is estimated
at around Rs. 92,000 crore per annum at 2014 wholesale prices.
In the food value chain, 24 per cent of global food loss and waste occurs at the production stage, 24 per cent
during handling and storage, and 35 per cent at consumption. Wasting a kilogram of wheat and rice would
mean wasting 1,500 and 3,500 litres of water respectively that goes into their production.
Constitutional Provisions for Nutrition Article 47 of DPSPs duty of the state to raise the level of
nutrition and the standard of living and to improve public health.
5 Steps to Zero Hunger by World Food Programme (i) Put the farthest behind (ii) Pave the road from
farm to market. (iii) Reduce Food waste (iv) Encourage a sustainable variety of crops. (v) Make nutrition a
priority, starting with the childs first 1000 days.
SDG 2 End Hunger by 2030.
Global Hunger Index IFPRI GHI combines four component indicators into one index:
(i) Undernourishment The proportion of people who are undernourished; (ii) Child
Wasting The proportion of children under age five who suffer from wasting (low weight
for height, reflecting acute under nutrition); (iii) Child Stunting The proportion of
children under age five who suffer from stunting (low height for age, reflecting chronic under nutrition); and
(iv) Child mortality The mortality rate of children under age five.
The overall scale of the index is from zero to 100 where 100 represents absolute hunger and zero represents
zero hunger. Countries and regions are also classified in terms of the level of hunger. Those falling in the <=
9.9 category are classified as having a low level of hunger, those in the 10.0 - 19.9 category are moderate,
those in the 20- 34.9 bracket are serious, those between 35 and 49.9 are classified as alarming, and those
<50 are extremely alarming.
India featured in serious category of countries with a score of 28.5 according to GHI 2016.
GHI recommendations on Policy for
removing Hunger and achieving SDG 2 (i)
Make a whole of government commitment
to Zero Hunger (a) Integrate actions to
deliver Zero hunger into National
development Plans with targets and
indicators for hunger, food security,
nutrition and sustainable agriculture and
adequately financed. (b) Coordinate across
key sectors and programs, including
agriculture, nutrition, health, social
protection, education, and water, sanitation
and hygiene (WASH), to realize Zero
Hunger. (c) Focus on poverty eradication
and food and nutrition security within the
national agricultural policies of countries
affected by hunger. (d) Promote healthy,
diversified, and sustainable diets through
agricultural, environmental, and social
policies that influence what food is
produced and consumed.
(ii) Transform our food systems to
Transform our world (a) Promote
innovative approaches that are people-centred, economically viable, and sustainable to make farming part
of the solution to climate change. (b) Improve infrastructure, technology, transportation, and distribution
systems to minimize food loss, and develop effective policies to reduce food waste and conserve natural
resources. (c) Prioritize agricultural production for food and nutrition security over the production of
biomass for energy and material use in all agricultural policies. (d) Sustainably increase the agricultural
productivity of smallholder farmers by securing access to land, markets, knowledge, and financial services.
(iii) Leave no one behind Strengthen the political, economic, and social participation of women and other
excluded groups. Governments must abolish any discriminatory laws, policies, and practices leading to
inequalities in access to education, health services, productive resources, and decision-making processes.
(iv) Measure, Monitor and Hold to Account International organizations and national governments must
support the collection of independent, open, reliable, and timely data that are fully disaggregated by age,
 gender, income, race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability, and geographic location to enable inequalities to
be tracked and addressed for disadvantaged populations.
International organizations and civil society must hold governments to account by holding participatory and
transparent national follow-up and review processes. This requires a free and enabling environment for civil
society that is supported by all governments.
Global Nutrition Report (GNR):
2016 Theme: From Promise to Impact- Ending malnutrition by 2030.
Key Findings of the report: (i) Malnutrition creates a cascade of individual and societal challenges and
opportunities; malnutrition a driver of the global burden of disease.
(ii) The world is off track to reach global targets but there is a hope; though most countries are off course,
modest changes could put many countries on course to meet global targets.
(iii) Nutrition is central to the SDGs at least 12 of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are central;
Improved nutrition is the platform for progress in health, education, female empowerment, and poverty and
inequality reduction.
(iv) Current commitments do not match the need less funding is being used to fight nutrition.
(v) SMART commitments and targets matter;
Businesses with stronger commitments to
nutrition have a stronger ability to deliver
products, marketing, and labelling that
support nutrition. Countries that set under-
nutrition targets also reduce stunting faster.
(vi) We must move beyond talk to action
strengthen the implementation of both
policies and programs; (vii) todays data and
knowledge are not sufficient to maximize
investments calls for data revolution for
nutrition.
Calls to action (i) make the political choice to end
all forms of malnutrition (ii) Invest more and allocate
better to meet global nutrition milestones,
governments need to triple their spending on
nutrition worldwide.
(iii) collect the right data to maximise the investments
(iv) Invest in carrying out proven and evidence
informed solutions and in identifying new ones.
(v) Tackle malnutrition in all its forms.
India Status - According to the Global Nutrition
Report: India ranks 114th out of 132 countries in
stunting among children aged less than five years.
Anemia among women is also a cause of concern as
India ranks 170th among 185 countries.
India is off the track on all targets related to
malnutrition, except overweight among under-5
children.
Overweight and obesity among adults has been
increasing and is a matter of grave concern. In India,
22% of adults are either overweight or obese and
9.5% suffer from diabetes.
Under-5 stunting (low height for age) is 38.7%,
putting India in the 34th position among 39 Asian countries. Even for under-5 wasting (low weight for
height), India ranks 35 out of 38 countries in Asia.
Nearly 48% of women in India are anemic, which is better than only two other countries in Asia.
Why there is an urgency to address causes of malnutrition and that it cannot be postponed? (a) Poor
nutrition is poor economics. The World Bank estimates that India loses 2-3 per cent of its annual GDP by way
of lower productivity, the underlying cause of which is malnutrition. (b) Poor nutrition will fracture the
dreams and aspirations of India to become a global player in manufacturing and other industries. The human
dividend on which we are banking is actually a huge liability given that one out of every three children is
born underweight and unable to realise the full potential for physical growth and cognitive development,
 leading to lower levels of productivity. (c) Poor nutrition is poor humanity. Article 47 of the Constitution
mentions the duty of the state to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living and to improve public
health. The state shall regard the raising of the level of nutrition and the standard of living of its people and
the improvement of public health as among its primary duties.
The three structures that must be prioritised are: the ICDS, which caters to the needs of pregnant and
nursing mothers and children under the age of six; the mid-day meal scheme, which directly feeds
approximately 120 million schoolchildren every day; and the public distribution system, which makes
available subsistence rations to above and below poverty line families.
All three are also excellent platforms for public-private partnerships to improve the level and quality of
service and could be considered as specific areas for collaboration in CSR programmes.
MDM scheme to focus on nutrition addition of micronutrients to cooked food or by adding universally
liked and accepted products such as milk, biscuits, etc. fortified with micronutrients as a mid-morning or
afternoon snack.
Suggestions to tackle the problem: (i)Political commitment (ii) setting targets and accountability
standards (iii) addressing social exclusion (iv) the need for an India Nutrition Report (INR) (v) finding
solutions in Indian way. (vi) A new generation Integrated Child Development Service (ICDS) to tackle
malnutrition revamping has been announced by the government must include streamlining the work in
the 1.34 million anganwadi centres by investing in training the 2.5 million workers and helpers at these
centres, standardising the nutrition component of the supplementary food offered and focussing on the
overall dissemination of information and education to pregnant and nursing mothers on healthy eating
habits, hygiene and sanitation, etc.
(vii) Creating a Nutrition Secretariat as part of the Prime Ministers Office with responsibility for ensuring
multi-sectoral alignment on priorities, sequencing and timelines this would include nutrition specific and
nutrition sensitive indicatives and agree on a dashboard of nutrition metrics to be tracked. (viii) make the
nodal ministries accountable for revamping the ICDS, MDM and PDS with clear goals, timelines and
resources. Open these up for PPP and make these CSR-eligible.
(ix) Extend large scale fortification beyond salt to other staples like flour, diary, oil, etc. and establish
mandatory standards by category. (x) Invest in information and education about good nutrition practices,
extending from a diverse diet to deworming, breastfeeding, hygiene and sanitation, etc. Nutrition is complex
and therefore needs to be simplified in behavioural terms.
UN Decade of Nutrition 2016-2025 The Nutrition Decade recognizes the emergence of local, national
regional and global movements to end all forms of malnutrition and seeks to provide a framework in
which governments and their partners adopt and implement policies and programmes to create
sustainable food systems and enabling environments that promote healthy dietary practices.
Miscellaneous Nutrient profiling is the science of classifying or ranking foods according to their
nutritional composition for reasons related to preventing disease and promoting health. Nutrient profiling
can be used for various applications, including marketing of foods to children, health and nutrition claims,
product labelling logos or symbols, information and education, provision of food to public institutions, and
the use of economic tools to orient food consumption.
For instance, nutrient profiling can be used to generate criteria for descriptions of foods falling into two main
types: (a) descriptions that refer to the nutrient levels in foods e.g. high fat, low fat, reduced fat, source
of fibre, high in fat, sugar or salt, energy dense, nutrient poor; or (b) descriptions that refer directly to the
effects of consuming the food on a persons health e.g. healthy, healthier option, less healthy, good for
you.
Though nutrient profiling does not address all aspects of nutrition, diet and health it is a helpful tool to use
in conjunction with interventions aimed at improving diets in a region or country. One example of a common
use of nutrient profiling is in food labelling schemes aimed at helping consumers better understand the
nutrient composition of foods and, on the basis of this understanding, identify foods that are healthier
options.
Initiatives taken by the Government to combat poverty and hunger:
India Statistics 29% of Under-5 children are under-weight, 38% are stunted, 15% are acutely
malnourished and 69% are anaemic according to the latest annual report of Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare.
National Nutrition Policy in 1993 under nutrition is a condition resulting from inadequate intake of food
or more essential nutrient(s) resulting in deterioration of physical growth and health. The inadequacy is
relative to the food & nutrients needed to maintain good health, provide for growth and allow a choice of
physical activity levels, including work levels that are socially necessary.
 This condition of under-nutrition, therefore, reduces work
capacity and productivity amongst adults and enhances
mortality and morbidity amongst children. Such reduced
productivity translates into reduced earning capacity,
leading to further poverty, and the vicious cycle goes on
(figure shown below).
The major nutrition problems of India can be classified as
follows: - (1) Under-nutrition resulting in: (a) Protein
Energy Malnutrition (PEM) (b) Iron deficiency; (c) Iodine
deficiency (d) Vitamin A deficiency. (e) Low Birth Weight
children; (2) Seasonal dimensions of Nutrition; (3)
Natural calamities & the landless. (4) Market Distortion
and Disinformation; (5) urbanisation. (6) Special Nutritional Problems of Hill People, Industrial Workers,
Migrant Workers, and other special categories; (7) Problems of Over-nutrition, overweight and obesity for a
small section of urban population.
PEM is measured in terms of underweight (low weight for age), stunting (low height for age) and wasting
(low weight for height).
Nutrition is a multi-sectoral issue and needs to be tackled at various levels. Nutrition affects development as
much as development affects nutrition. It is therefore important to tackle the problem of nutrition both
through direct nutrition intervention especially for vulnerable groups as well as through various
development policy instruments which will create conditions for improved nutrition.
Direct intervention (i) Nutrition intervention for special vulnerable groups (a) Expanding the safety
net The Universal Immunization Programme, Oral Rehydration Therapy and the Integrated Child
Development Services (ICDS) have had a considerable impact on child survival (IMR 39 per 1000 live births
in 2014) and extreme forms of malnutrition. Silent form of hunger continues with over 15% of the children
suffering from acute malnutrition. Therefore while more children are surviving today an overwhelmingly
large number of them are destined to remain much below their genetic potential. There is therefore an
immediate imperative to substantially expand the Nutrition intervention net through ICDS so as to cover all
vulnerable children in the age group 0 to 6 years.
(b) Reaching out to adolescents training in home based skills and covered by non-formal education,
particularly nutrition and health education.
(c) Ensuring better coverage of expectant women.
(ii) Fortification of essential foods.
(iii) Popularisation of low cost nutritious food.
Indirect policy instruments (i) Food Security NFSA act and buffer stocks under procurement system.
(ii) Improvement of Dietary pattern through Production and Demonstration (iii) Policies for Effecting
Income Transfers so as to improve the entitlement package of the rural and urban poor (a) Improving the
purchase power MGNREGA is one such scheme, NRLM and DWCRA. (b) Public Distribution system (PDS)
(iv) Land reforms vulnerability of the landless and landed poor could be reduced. (v) Basic Health and
nutritional knowledge (vi) Prevention of Food adulteration. (vii) Nutrition Surveillance and (viii) community
participation.
Nutrition interventions (A) Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) - to improve the
nutritional and health status of children in the age group 0-6 years; - to lay the foundation for proper
psychological, physical and social development of the child; - to reduce the incidence of mortality, morbidity,
malnutrition and school dropout; to regulate effective coordination of policy and programme
implementation amongst various departments to promote child development;- to enhance the capability of
the mother through proper nutrition education for taking care of the normal health and nutritional needs
and health of the child
(B) Promotion of infant and young child feeding practices Mothers Absolute Affection (MAA) Scheme
to ensure adequate awareness is generated among masses, especially mothers on the benefits of breast
feeding. 13% of child deaths are due to poor breast feeding practices. Components of MAA (a) Skilled
support for breast feeding at delivery points in public health facilities. (b) Community awareness generation
(c) strengthening inter-personal communication through ASHAs (d) Monitoring and award/recognition.
(C) Nutrition Rehabilitation centres (NRCs) medical and nutritional care to severely acute malnourished.
 (D) National Iron plus initiative child health components to combat anaemia Weekly Iron Folic Acid
supplementation programme.
(E) Bi-annual Vitamin A supplementation for children belonging to 9-59 months of age.
(F) Village health and Nutrition Days impart nutrition counselling to mothers to improve child care
practices. Once every month under National Health Mission.
o Conclusion statements we need to create a powerful message: millions of people have too much of the
wrong food, while millions more have too little of the right food.
o We need to start seeing nutrition investments as a means to economic growth rather than seeing better
nutrition as a result of economic growth.
o India must convert its young population to a competitive advantage, and nutrition and health are
foundational to that outcome.
Poverty Quotes:
Poverty is the parent of revolution and Crime Aristotle.
Poverty is the worst from of violence Mahatma Gandhi
There are people in the world so hungry that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread Mahatma
Gandhi
Poverty is like Punishment for a crime you didnt commit Eli Khamarov.
The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread Mother Teresa.
Saving our planet, lifting people out of poverty, advancing economic growththese are one and the same fight
Ban-ki-Moon.
I believe that if you show people the problems and you show them the solutions they will be moved to act Bill
Gates.
You can't comfort the afflicted without afflicting the comfortable Diana, Princess of Wales.
The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether
we provide enough for those who have too little Franklin D Roosevelt.
Poverty does not belong in civilized human society. Its proper place is in a museum Muhammad Yunus.
Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to
dignity and a decent life Nelson Mandela.
As long as poverty, injustice and gross inequality exist in our world, none of us can truly rest Nelson Mandela
If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich J F Kennedy.
People who wander about, find no work, no wages and starve, whose lives are a continual round of sore affliction
and pinching poverty, cannot be proud of the constitution or its law S Radha Krishnan.

SECC 2011:
Socio-Economic Caste Census 2011 done by the Ministry of Rural Development.
Objectives (a) To enable households to be ranked based on their Socio- Economic status. State
Governments can then prepare a list of families living below the poverty line
(b) To make available authentic information that will enable caste-wise population enumeration of the
country.
(c) To make available authentic information regarding the socio economic condition, and education status of
various castes and sections of the population.
The key rationale behind conducting a socio-economic and caste census was to assess the population that is
actually below the poverty line (BPL).
The SECC-2011 was based on exclusion criteria under which households possessing specified assets are
automatically excluded from the list. The crucial difference between past BPL censuses (as the SECC is also
called) and the current one, apart from the methodology, is that caste was analysed for the first time on a
nationwide scale. The SECC data included: (a) households without shelter (b) destitute/living on alms (c)
manual scavengers (d) Primitive Tribal Groups (e) legally released bonded labourers.
Findings 38% of the households (rural) deriving major part of their income from manual casual labour;
in case of SC households, 55% and ST 35%
5% of the households (Rural) having a salaried job with the government; among SC households 4% and ST
4.3%.
73.41% households are in Rural and remaining in Urban.
 Analysis Our country has always struggled to define who is poor. Despite of so many committees formed
over the last many decades, there has never been a correct insight into who are the legitimate beneficiaries
of the welfare schemes. Further, the official estimates of the poor have always tended to underestimate the
number of poor in comparison to the estimates done by international organizations such as World Bank. In
this context, the SECC data seems to quite enlightening and innovative. The use of various deprivation factors
and automatic exclusion make it free from controversy. Further, its finding are different from what official
estimations of rural as well as urban poor by different committees had been so far.
Extent of Rural Poverty The key finding of the SECC-2011 is that rural India is poor. The main
breadwinner of the 74.5% rural households in India earns less than Rs. 5000 per month. This ratio is even
higher in states such as West Bengal (82.4%), Madhya Pradesh (83.52%) and Chhattisgarh (90.79%).
However, SECC data needs to be adjusted for tendency of the rural people to not to tell correct income in fear
of losing some entitlement benefits. However, despite we do all adjustment, there is no doubt that
deprivation levels in rural India are still far too high.
Extent of Urban Poverty According to SECC-2011, 35% of urban households are poor (below BPL). This
figure is in striking contrast with the earlier estimates that ranged from 13.7% as per Tendulkar committee
methodology, while 26.4% as per Rangarajan formula. Here, we should note that SECC numbers have greater
credibility as the data has been collected via door-to-door enumeration. However, in urban areas also, there
may be a tendency to understate income and asset ownership.
How SECC can help? The decadal Census focuses on individuals while SECC has focussed on households. The
data would be helpful for states and centre to target the neediest of the DBT and other schemes. Since SECC
has also included the homeless, there is a chance that a large number of hitherto excluded people are brought
into the welfare schemes of the government. Further, the caste data might be helpful on if the policy of
reservation has really helped the most downtrodden of India.
Further, with SECC data, the writing on the wall is clear. The SECC makes case for a paradigm shift in the
economic policy making and budget allocation both by central and union governments. At the core of it, the
policy making needs to be decentralized and include the most downtrodden people.