Comments on India Development Blog: The Right to Food

Stand Up Take Action 2010.We need you… Globally m...

2010-07-02T12:15:30.314+05:30

Stand Up Take Action 2010.We need you…

Globally more than 173 Million people stood up against poverty in 2009, a Guinness World Record!

Let us break this record in 2010!

Be the voice for the millions of poor people living across India.

~ Aamir Khan stood up against poverty! ~

~ AR Rahman stood up against poverty! ~

~ Rahul Dravid stood up against poverty! ~

~ Rahul Bose stood up against poverty! ~

~ Kiran Bedi stood up against poverty! ~

It is Time for You to STAND UP AGAINST POVERTY NOW!

Join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/unmcampaignINDIA and check out the photo album section for the event pictures.

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Food cannot be supplied by legislation. There are ...

2009-09-09T06:12:50.396+05:30

Food cannot be supplied by legislation. There are several factors for malnutrition in India.

Poverty is just one of many reasons. It has been found that malnutrition exists even among the top quintile of Indians who can more than afford best food.

First, poverty and malnutrition are mostly a rural problem. Out of all poor people, only 10% live in urban areas. The value added by farm worker is less that $400 a year compared to $39000 a year for a US farm worker. This is because 300 million workers are engaged in farming where only 20 million would suffice.

The biggest cause of malnutrition is chronic dysentery and diarrhea caused by contaminated drinking water in villages. Because villagers mostly defecate in the open, the feces gets into drinking water. Bathroom in every home will reduce malnutrition drastically.
The other reason is inadequate maternity care in villages that causes underweight babies.
I have suggested cure for these problems in my blog http://bharatdevelopment.blogspot.com.

You seem to assume that the best way to tackle mal...

2009-07-10T00:03:47.010+05:30

You seem to assume that the best way to tackle malnutrition is through legislative means; by extending a right to food.

But it seems to me that hunger is a policy, not a judicial issue, and statements in law are empty unless backed by serious initiatives. The key issue is the failure of institutions to deliver money directed for anti-poverty measures to their intended recipients.

Other countries have tackled malnutrition through growth, or policies like Bolsa Familia, Oportunidades, and so forth. India spends enormous sums on anti-poverty strategies; were this simply redirected into cash grants to individual families (perhaps to a female head), this would do a lot to tackle not only malnutrition, but other issues in human capital, entrepreneurship, etc. Adding a legal recourse may help, but is it is hard to imagine this making a big difference given today's leakage-prone institutions. Starting fresh with the new ID cards, and sending money directly to bank accounts may be the best way to help the malnourished. Strictly speaking, this can happen even if there is no 'right' to food.