[Ironically, the Planning Commission’s parameter for the Below Poverty Line population is Rs15 per capita per day in rural areas and Rs20 in urban areas. Another criterion is those who consume 2400 calories per capita per day in rural areas and 2100 calories per capita per day for urban areas. However, Tendulkar Committee says it is impossible for an individual in an urban area to consume 2100 calories in Rs20 and an individual in a rural area to consume 2400 calories in Rs15. Judges have agreed with the committee’s view and directed the Planning Commission to re-examine its criteria for BPL.]
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_feed-the-poor-supreme-court-tells-government_1543311 <http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_feed-the-poor-supreme-court-tells-government_1543311> Feed the poor, Supreme Court tells government Published: Sunday, May 15, 2011, 2:02 IST By *DNA Correspondent* | Place: New Delhi | Agency: DNA Making its contribution to prevent hunger deaths and malnutrition in the country, the Supreme Court has asked the Union government to allocate additional five million tonnes of food grains to the 150 most poor districts. At a special sitting on Saturday a bench of Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Deepak Verma directed the government to make the allocation on the basis of the latest population figure estimate at 119.3 crore. The judges found little rationale being followed in distributing food grain among the weaker, the poor, the malnourished vulnerable population on last population assessment. Disturbed at the massive wastage of food grains and increasing hunger in the country, judges also directed to revise the norms for the determination of per capita norms of consumption. Ironically, the Planning Commission’s parameter for the Below Poverty Line population is Rs15 per capita per day in rural areas and Rs20 in urban areas. Another criterion is those who consume 2400 calories per capita per day in rural areas and 2100 calories per capita per day for urban areas. However, Tendulkar Committee says it is impossible for an individual in an urban area to consume 2100 calories in Rs20 and an individual in a rural area to consume 2400 calories in Rs15. Judges have agreed with the committee’s view and directed the Planning Commission to re-examine its criteria for BPL. Concerned with the just distribution of food grains at the fairest price to the poor, the court also scoffed at the government, which swears for the invisible ‘*aam admi*’ and allots 35 kgs food grains to a family of 10 persons. The same quantity is given to a single person. “The single man is likely to sell his excess grain for a profit, while the parents in the family of ten are forced to purchase additional grain at non-BPL prices in order to feed their children’’, judges sought to make government understand the poor man’s trauma. Judges asked the Manmohan Singh government to follow the food distribution policy that the Tamil Nadu government has. On the other hand, the Centre boasted of a bumper crop leading to full godowns. Yet, millions of tonnes of food grains are lying in open for years because of inadequate storage capacity. About 50,000 tonnes of food grains rotted in Punjab and Haryana, the court noted. Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar has admitted that the country wastes Rs58,000 crore worth of food items every year due to lack of or poor storage facilities. According to a recent study by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), a United Nations body, about 1.3 billion tonnes of food gets wasted or lost annually across the world. According to the study, ‘Global Food Losses and Food Waste’ commissioned by FAO, industrialised and developing countries waste around 670 million tonnes and 630 million tonnes of food, respectively. It also saysthe amount of food lost or wasted every year is equivalent to more than half of the world’s annual cereals crop (2.3 billion tonne in 2009 -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB.
