As per information available in the public domain (https://www.concern.net/insights/global-hunger-index-2019), India’s ranking in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2019 brought out by Concern World Wide is 102. India’s ranking in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2018 was 103. As per GHI Report 2019 of Concern World Wide, the composite GHI scores of India have improved from 38.8 in 2000 to 30.3 in 2019. Thus, the country has shown consistent improvement over the years.
The Government of India accords high priority to the issue of hunger and has been providing foodgrains at highly subsidized prices to the targeted population through State Governments/Union Territory Administrations under National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013 and Other Welfare Schemes (OWS).
NFSA provides for coverage of upto 75% of the rural population and upto 50% of the urban population for receiving foodgrains under Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), thus covering about two-thirds of the population of the country for receiving foodgrains @ Rs 1/2/3 per kg for nutri-cereals/wheat/rice respectively. Identification of beneficiaries under the Act is under two categories- households covered under Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and Priority Households (PHH), within the coverage determined for the State/UT. While Priority Households are entitled to receive 5 kg per person per month, AAY households, which constitute the poorest of the poor, continue to receive 35 Kg of foodgrains per household per month. At present, the Act is being implemented in all the States/UTs covering about 80 crore persons to get highly subsidized foodgrains. The coverage under the Act is substantially high to ensure that all the vulnerable and needy sections of the society get its benefit. The Act also has a special focus on the nutritional support to women and children. Pregnant women, lactating mothers and children upto 14 years of age are entitled to nutritious meals, free of cost, as per the prescribed nutritional standards. In case of non-supply of entitled foodgrains or meals, the beneficiaries will receive food security allowance. The Act also contains provisions for setting up of grievance redressal mechanism at the District and State levels. The implementation of NFSA through the Public Distribution System (PDS) is a joint responsibility of the Central and State Governments/UT Administrations, and the State Governments/UT Administrations are responsible for the identification of beneficiaries under the NFSA.
During the year 2018-19, the Government allocated a quantity of 612.18 lakh MT of foodgrains to the States/UTs under NFSA, Other Welfare Schemes and allocations due to natural calamities and festivals. During the current year i.e. 2019-20, the Government of India has so far allocated 603.95 lakh MT of foodgrains under NFSA, OWS and additional allocations. The scheme of End-to-End Computerization of the PDS has ensured rightful targeting of the beneficiaries all over the country.
Further, Government of India has issued advisories to all States/UTs to identify and cover the weakest sections of the society under PDS and launch special drives to issue ration cards to them. Advisories have been issued to all State/UTs that no beneficiary/household shall be deleted from the list of eligible beneficiaries/households only on the grounds of not possessing Aadhaar and shall also not be denied subsidized foodgrains or cash transfer of food subsidy under NFSA due to non-availability of Aadhaar or failure of biometric authentication.