Introduction: Talk about the state of hunger and poverty in India. Use some latest Index to add validity.
Body Para: Write about the reasons for the problem.
Conclusion: Write a way forward to tackle the solution.
INTRODUCTION:
India ranks 101st out of 116 countries on the 2021 Global Hunger Index rankings with a score of 27.5, which GHI considers “serious.” Of the 1.3 billion living in India, over 194 million people, or 14.5%, are
undernourished.
LINKAGE POINT – This crisis is a severe problem throughout India, and is difficult to address for a variety of reasons.
Reasons:
CONCLUSION:
Achieving zero hunger requires a renewed focus on small and marginal holdings. Also, we need to formulate policies that support better agricultural investments.
We need to start boosting the production and consumption of climate resilient native nutritional crops. A sustainable shift must be made towards nutrition-sensitive agriculture and food systems that can provide safe and high-quality food for all. Agro-ecological practices such as zero budget natural farming, organic farming and permaculture play
an important role in this regard.
In addition to the existing provisions of healthy diets from Anganwadi and schools through mid-day meals, the government must create provisions to supply cooked nutritious food to the vulnerable section of the society (mention some models of inexpensive canteens being run by various state govts –Amma Canteens-TN, Indira Rasoi-Rajasthan etc). Religious institutions and NGOs can play an important role in this regard. Also, rural employment schemes such as MGNREGA should be given a boost to increase employment and wages. Access to food grains under the PDS needs to be streamlined by simplifying technical processes. Our policies must pay special attention to groups who are the most vulnerable to the harmful consequences of poor food access: infants, children aged under five, school-aged children, adolescent girls, and women. The steps by government like National Nutrition Mission, National Food Security Mission, Zero Hunger Programme, Eat Right Movement, Food Fortification programme etc are the constructive steps in ending hunger in India. However, India still has a long way to go in ensuring complete eradication of hunger and achieving SDG 2.