Round The States

New Delhi, 30 September 2010

Urban Food Security

STATES GIVE DISMAL PICTURE

By Insaf

The Centre’s much-touted economic reforms and claims of high GDP growth sadly do not reflect any gain for urban India. Hunger and under-nutrition is rampant across all States, varying only in degrees. The urban food security situation in Gujarat, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, has particularly deteriorated, says the Report on the State of Food Insecurity in Urban India, released by the Urban Development Minister, Jaipal Reddy, on Friday last. “Indicators such as the percentage of anemia amongst women and children, women with chronic energy deficiency and children stunted or wasting, worsened for India as a whole for a number of States between 1998-2000 and 2004-06,” warns the report. Chronic under-nutrition amongst women has significantly increased in Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu in addition to the States mentioned above   

“Taking into account the fact that urban inequality has worsened since 1991, the implications of food security status of the urban poor or slum dwellers are worrying to the least,” cautions the report, prepared jointly by MS Swaminathan Research Foundation and the World Food Programme. Having covered 18 States, the report has interestingly singled out Uttar Pradesh for dramatic improvement and suggests it is worth exploring. At the same time, there is need for targeted interventions to improve employment opportunities so as to enhance access to food. The findings also recommend improved access to safe drinking water and sanitation as a key to addressing the issue of food absorption other than strengthening of the PDS. The Centre will do well in making a note of the findings, which could help facilitate its proposed Right to Food Act.

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Mahatma Gandhi’s Hope

Some significant and important points were made by Swaminathan, a member of the Rajya Sabha and the WFP representative Mihoko Tamanura, when the report was released. Swaminathan hoped that the Act would “fulfil Gandhiji’s hope for the country’s poor to get food with dignity” and that “with necessary awareness, analysis and action, hunger can be eliminated.”  Tamanura cautioned that mere availability of food in urban markets did not guarantee food security for the poor. The Report should aid the Centre to have a “more rational allocation of resources in the poorest urban areas.” 

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J&K Peace Measures

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah appears to be slowly getting his act together to govern the bruised State. Taking advantage of the recent all-party parliamentarians’ visit and the Centre’s 8-point conciliatory plan, the State government announced measures, in the hope to restore the much-needed peace. On Wednesday last, the Unified Command Headquarters, headed by Omar decided to: immediately release 50 youth/students arrested for stone pelting; remove 16 bunkers from Srinagar city; relook at cases of people detained under the Public Safety Act; re-activate mobile services in Baramulla and Sopore and set up to two committees, one each in Jammu and Srinagar to review areas declared as “disturbed” under Armed Forces Special Protection Act (AFSPA). Prior to these steps, the Government, however, ordered schools to re-open on Monday last, to gauge the mood. Till now there has been a mixed reaction, some schools have had a good attendance whereas others have had a handful of students attending.

Likewise, there has been a mixed reaction by the Separatists to the Centre’s 8-point Plan, which includes Rs five lakh compensation to families of those killed in protests since June 11, to appoint a group of interlocuters to begin sustained dialogue with political Parties, groups, students and civil society; Rs 100 crore assistance to improve infrastructure in educational institutions. While Mirwair Umar Farooq appears to have given tacit approval to the plan saying the Hurriyat had long reiterated implementation of certain measures for improving the situation, hardliner Ali Shah Geelani has rejected it saying it wouldn’t “yield anything”. Instead, he has announced a fresh 10-day protest calendar in which there is abandh call for seven days out of 10.  

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Caste, Religion In Bihar Polls

Caste and religion continue to play a crucial role in the ensuing Bihar Assembly elections. With ticket-seekers thronging party offices, be it the JD(U), the BJP, LJP, RJD, or the Congress, a scan of the initial list of candidates of both the BSP and Congress reflects the thinking of the parties. The BSP has shockingly given the caste details of its 125 nominees in the second list provided to the Bihar Election Commission. The Additional Chief Electoral Officer views this as “a violation of the model code of conduct for elections” and proposes to send the list to Nirvachan Sadan in Delhi “seeking instructions.”  As for the Congress, it appears to be playing on the upper Caste-Muslim formula in the State. Its first list of 77 candidates out of a total 243, names of 22 Muslims and a substantial number of upper castes have been announced so far.

The high minority share may have implications for RJD’s Lalu Yadav, who wants to reclaim the Chief Minister’s chair. Any succeess of a Muslim Congress candidate in wooing his community will come at a cost to the RJD. More so, as the JD(U) Chief and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, fancies himself for a slice of the minority votes on his “performance and secular governance.” However, RJD seeks to remain the main claimant for this massive constituency in view of the Nitish’s alliance with the BJP—the two main players. The latter have so far firmed up its seat-sharing formula –identical number of constituencies they contested in 2005.   

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N Maharashtra’s First

North Maharashtra has set the ball rolling for the Centre’s ambitious Rs 27,000 crore Unique Identification (UID) programme or Aadhaar project. On Wednesday last, in little know tribal-dominated Tembhli village, 505 km from Mumbai, there was much excitement. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson presented the first UID number to 10 tribals, giving them hope that they would eventually be able to benefit from Government schemes, such as NREGA or the Rural Health Mission. The UID Authority aims to provide a unique 12-digit ID number to over 1.2 billion Indians through the scheme, which will replace 19 documents variously accepted as identity proof. With this number in hand, the poor can now open bank accounts, get ration cards and avail the benefits of government welfare schemes. How far will Aadhaar be successful, only time will tell? ---INFA

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