Untitled - National Human Rights Commission
Untitled - National Human Rights Commission
Untitled - National Human Rights Commission
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Thedecline in percapiranetavailahili:y ofcerealsand pulsesover:he<br />
last15years(from 5l0gramspercapitaadayin1991to463gramsin<br />
2004)hasbeenunpreccdcntcd.Estimateofrequirementof-cerealsin 2020,<br />
range.sfrom 224 milion tonncsto296 milion tonnes.<br />
Thehigh levelCommiteeon Long-lkrm Grain Polics 2004 arrived<br />
ataprojectionof260miliontonnes,i,e.productionwillhavetoincreasc<br />
by 69 milion tonnesfrom thcpresen:levelofl91milion tonncs,i,e.<br />
doubling ofthecurrentrateofproduction.Thedcclinein percapita<br />
food grain availability and itsunequaldistribution have serious<br />
implication forfood security in both nzraland urban areas.<br />
In 1990-00,theaverage calorieconsum ption ofaconsumption unit<br />
in urban areaswas2637 kcal/day,notmuch highcrthan thenorm of2100<br />
kcal/day,setforan urban adult. Itisespecialy imporCantto note tha .t<br />
whilethere are visiblesignsofan enorm ousincrease in conspicuous<br />
consumption by the urîan rich,thereare also signsofincreasing inequalitz<br />
in urban arcasin l999-00,thebotom 10% ofurban population obtained<br />
on theaverageconsumption ofonly l890 kcal/day.Thatis,ncarly 28<br />
m ilion people in urban areashaveunacceptably 1ow levelsof calorie<br />
consumption,(FoodInsccurityArlasofurbanlndia,M SSRF-'W'FP 2002)<br />
ThePlanning Com mission had earlicrcstimated theproportion of<br />
population below thepovcrty lineat27.09% in ruralareasand 23.62% in<br />
urban areasin l999-2000.Howcver,thesehighly conteszed estimatesnow<br />
stand revised.ThcD raftApproach Paperforthe1lth Plan notesthatthe<br />
proportion ofhousehold below thepoverty linc wasashigh as28% in<br />
2004-05asperthc mostrecentNS6 fullsam pleround.Thisisclosc to<br />
300 milion persons. Theproblcm athand istherefore ofenormous<br />
dim ensions.Bcsides,thereareregionalvariationsaswclin theincidcncc<br />
ofpoverty.Acrossthenation,thepoorestState,sareO rissa,f'olowed by<br />
Bihar,M adhyaPradesh and Assam.<br />
Though officialdataon poverty suggestareduction in the percenragc<br />
of population bclow thepoverty line,thereisrcason forpresuming that<br />
the incidence ofhungcrisincreasing.Dataon nutritionalintakessuggest<br />
thatincome poverty isincreaingly divorccd f'rom the calorienorm of2400<br />
kcalperconsumption unitperday underlying theoriginaloficialdcflnition<br />
ofpovertyline.Thedatashow thatthepercentageofpopulation consuming<br />
dietsproviding lesthan 2400 kcalpercapitaperday ismuch highcrnow
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