Food equality need of the hour, not food security

Hyderabad: Ramon Magsaysay award winner and veteran journalist P Sainath urged the Central government to take food equality on priority basis rather than food security.

Delivering keynote address on ‘Malnutrition - Government Stand on ICDS’ at the eighth National Congress of All India Federation of Anganwadi Workers and Helpers (AIFAWH) at Sundarayya Vignana Kendram here on Wednesday,

Sainath said the Central government had been providing subsidies to rich people but did not control the skyrocketing of prices of commodities that burdened the poor people. “This kind of policies will not bring equality among the people,” he added.

He said, “With the pulses price shooting Rs 210, how can the government say that food security is being implemented in the country? A family of five members has Rs 5,000 income per month in 70 per cent of rural areas.

With such meager income, how can they afford nutritious food?” Senior IAS officer K R Venugopal lauded the role of Anganwadi centres in controlling of infant mortality rate (IMR) and maternal mortality ratio (MMR) across the country.

The children aged between zero and three years would not come to the Anganwadi centres and therefore there was a need to change the rules, he said. He further said there was huge corruption and irregularities in the appointments at the Anganwadi centres.

Speaking on the occasion, CITU national general secretary K Hemalatha said ICDSs should be protected with the coordination of farmers, agriculture labourers, women, and anganwadi workers.