measures to improve the national average calorie level in rural and urban areas
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india could well be one of the two fastest growing economies of the world. But for the poor, matters have only turned worse.
The Human Development Report released by the Planning Commission on Friday has shockingly revealed that the poor in rural India were better fed about 30 years ago. The eye-opening figures render meaningless the controversy over Planning Commission's poverty line cut-offs - those spending over Rs 26 a day in rural areas and over Rs 32 a day in urban areas would no longer be considered to be below the poverty line.
In fact, on the hunger front it has been one long slide downwards. All states, according to the report, are facing "a serious to extremely alarming situation of hunger." Even as the Indian economy boasts of an average growth rate of over 6 per cent per annum, the calorie and protein intake of the poor has declined consistently, according to figures for 1983 to 2004-05 which were taken into account to prepare the report.
The telling impact of this on health is all too evident. During 2000-07, nearly half of India's children under the age of five years were malnourished.
This is the worst in South Asia and, shockingly, worse than the worst performer in the African region - a dubious distinction that dents India's image. Further, the eleventh five year plan document says that the absolute weight and height of Indians, on an average, have not shown any significant improvement over the last 25 years.
The Human Development Report, which was released a day ahead of the National Development Council (NDC) meeting to be attended by the Prime Minister - it was released by Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and rural development minister Jairam Ramesh - paints a dark picture of the Indian situation.
Sample this: Rural calorie consumption per day has fallen from 2,221 calories in 1983 to 2047 calories in 2004-05, a decline of 8 per cent. The urban calorie consumption fell by 3.3 per cent from 2,080 calories in 1983 to 2,020 calories in 2004-05. While the rural protein consumption registered a fall of 8 per cent, it remained unchanged in the urban areas.