Lok Sabha Question No. 2534 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-08-02
Subject: Starvation
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: KAUSHALENDRA KUMAR

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION DEPARTMENT OF FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2534 TO BE ANSWERED ON 2 ND  AUGUST, 2016

## STARVATION

## 2534. SHRI KAUSHALENDRA KUMAR:

Will  the  Minister  of  CONSUMER  AFFAIRS,  FOOD  AND  PUBLIC

DISTRIBUTION miHkksDrk ekeys] [kk| vkSj lkoZtfud forj.k ea=h be pleased to state:

- (a) whether reports have been received indicating that despite being self reliant  in  the  foodgrains  production,  the  number  of  people  starving  in  the country is more than that of China;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor along with the steps being taken by the Government to resolve this issue;
- (c) whether  wastage  of  crores  of  tonnes  of  foodgrains  in  Government godowns has been identified as one major reason for this situation; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof and the corrective steps taken in this regard?

## A N S W E R

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR  CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SHRI C. R. CHAUDHARY)

- (a) & (b) According to Food and Agricultural Organization of United Nation (FAO's) 'The State of Food Insecurity of the World' report (SOFI) of 2015, India has 194.6 million undernourished people during the period 2014-16, but  this  is  a  large  reduction  from  1990-1992  figure  of  210.1  million. Moreover,  the  proportion  of  undernourished  in  the  total  population  was reported at 15.2 percent, down from 23.7 percent in 1990-1992.  FAO has reported  that  the  number  of  undernourished  people  in  China  was  133.8 million in 2014-16.

Government  has  enacted  the  National  Food  Security  Act  (NSFA) which provides for coverage of upto 75% of the rural and upto 50% of the urban  population  for  receiving  highly  subsidised  foodgrains  under  the Targeted Public Distribution System  (TPDS). The Act also contains provisions for supply of nutrition meals, free of cost, to pregnant women and lactating mothers and children upto 14 years of age.

(c)  &  (d)  Foodgrains  conforming  to  prescribed  norms  are  procured  for central pool and stored in scientific manner in cover and CAP (cover and plinth)  storage.  All  precautionary  measures are taken for safe storage of foodgrains  to  avoid  damage.  Inspite  of  all  precautions,  some  quantity  of pests' attack, exposure to rain, floods, negligence on the part of concerned person in taking precautionary measures etc. The losses due to damaged grain have been reduced over the last 3 years as per the position given in Annexure-I.

Besides  damaged  grains,  some  operational  losses  i.e.  storage  & transit losses may occur mainly due to loss of moisture, multiple handling, longer period of storage and long distance transportation of foodgrains. For proper monitoring of storage & transit losses, annual targets are fixed for FCI under Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). Storage & transit losses reported during 2013-14 to 2015-16 vis-à-vis MOU  targets in Food Corporation of India (FCI) are given in Annexure-II.

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ANNEXURE-I

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (c)  &  (d)    OF  THE UNSTARRED  QUESTION NO.2534 DUE FOR ANSWER  ON  2 ND AUGUST, 2016 IN THE LOK SABHA

The foodgrains approved as damaged in FCI for last 3 years

(Qty. in lakh tons)

| Year    |   Accrued Quantity Damaged foodgrains |   Off-take quantity (excluding DCP States) |   % Damaged foodgrains against off-take quantity |
|---------|---------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------|
| 2013-14 |                                 0.247 |                                     523.16 |                                            0.047 |
| 2014-15 |                                 0.188 |                                     501.75 |                                            0.037 |
| 2015-16 |                                 0.03  |                                     490.15 |                                            0.006 |

## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (c)  &  (d)    OF  THE UNSTARRED  QUESTION NO.2534 DUE FOR ANSWER  ON  2 ND AUGUST, 2016 IN THE LOK SABHA

## Storage and Transit losses from 2013-14 to 2015-16

## Storage losses:

| YEAR      |   MOUTargets as a %of total stock received &issued during the year |   %of loss |
|-----------|--------------------------------------------------------------------|------------|
| 2013-14*  |                                                               0.22 |       0.17 |
| 2014-15*  |                                                               0.21 |      -0.01 |
| 2015-16** |                                                               0.15 |      -0.06 |

Note: (1) (*) indicates Audited Figures (**) indicates Provisional Figures (Commodity includes Wheat, Rice & Paddy).

(2)  (-) Minus indicates GAIN.

## Transit losses:

| YEAR      |   MOUTargets (%) |   %of loss |
|-----------|------------------|------------|
| 2013-14*  |             0.43 |       0.46 |
| 2014-15*  |             0.45 |       0.43 |
| 2015-16** |             0.42 |       0.38 |

Note:  (*)  indicates  Audited  Figures  (**)  indicates  Provisional  Figures  (Commodity includes Wheat, Rice & Paddy).

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