Food Security In Odish

Right to food is a major issue that concern the world across has been debating these days, particularly in the context of malnutrition, OSM recognises malnutrition as a complex and multi-dimensional issue, affected by poverty, inadequate food consumption, inequitable food destruction, improper infant and child feeding and care practices, caste inequality, gender disparity, poor sanitary and environmental conditions and extremely limited access to any form of health services. As far as Odisha is concerned latest figures indicate that the extent of malnutrition is more than 55 percent. Under the current Public Distribution System(PDS) with its Above Poverty line/Below Poverty line(APL/BPL) allocations, our survey indicates that up to 40 percent of the poor are not receiving subsidised food.

Though this has been a later addition to the issues, OSM is addressing the issues of malnutrition though five multiple components such as;

1. Addressing Malnutrition through ICDS & PDS
2. Promoting Individual Household Toilets
3. Behavioural Change through sensitizing community towards their rights & entitlements.
4. Promoting the use of Nutritional Kitchen Garden
5. Use of herbal medicines

The work on the ground started in 2012, wherein OSM researched and tried to understand the interconnects of malnutrition and food security in Odisha’s context. In consultation with grassroot people’s organisation and sangthan leaders, OSM drafted a demand charter focussed on-

1. To have the exclusion criteria, so that the left out eligible household can be included in state food security programme.
2. Rice or wheat would alone cannot address the issue if malnutrition, there has some more nutritional ingredients need to be added under Food Security.

The demand was to include basic nutritional food at a subsidised rate. OSM was he only jan sangthan which consistently mobilised local jan sangthan to keep raising these demands to have strong food security act. As a result, the government of Odisha finally succumb to people demand and announced very constructive eight exclusion criteria, incorporated four of the demands by OSM. These demand on exclusion criteria were placed through petitions, letters and postcard campaigns.

The State Government finally has approved eight exclusion criteria on July 5, 2015 for identification of beneficiaries under National Food Security Act. The eight exclusion criteria covered monthly income, income tax payee, persons having two-three-four wheelers, business with Taxpayer Identification Number(TIN), electric consumption above 300 units, any stage government or central governments employee, persons having tractors, power-tillers, fishing boats or other heavy vehicle, persons having entrepreneurship and professional tax payees.

Due to consistent and rigorous struggle, the Food Minister ensured the sangthan to give a serious thought on including Dal in Kandhmal on a pilot trial. Later the pilot programme to include Dal in Kandhmal was announced publicly in September 2015, when the government received from Wold Food Programme.

The success and result of the campaign:

1. Odisha State Government finally announced the 8-points exclusion criteria on July 15, 2015 for the selection of the beneficiaries.
2. This led to the inclusion of 90 percent of beneficiaries in our operational region, which were earlier only 40-50 percent.
3. Due to long run advocacy and campaign efforts through the Sangthan, Kandhmal was selected for pilot testing for inclusion of pulses.
4. It became easy to address the issues of malnutrition, hunger and hunger deaths in the region.

Household Benefited under Food Security after bringing Exclusion Criteria

Food Security Achievement After Exclusion Criteria
S. No	District	Total Block	Total GP	Total villages	Number of families included in NFSA
1	Kandhmal	9	78	741	5905
2	Malkangiri	4	33	538	3632
3	Boudh	2	27	76	268
4	Gajapati	1	2	7	145
5	Nayagarh	1	7	21	108
6	Koraput	8	58	445	12633
7	Sundargarh	1			6782
8	Jharsuguda	1	22	183	15213
9	Sambalpur	2	7	38	2999
	Total	29	234	2049	47685

 

Thus we can say that more than 47000 Household got benefitted after the implementation of exclusion criteria in our operational blocks in operational districts in Odisha

Introducing the concept of Nutritional Kitchen Garden:

Malnutrition is a serious health problem in India. It retards child growth, increase the risk and duration of illness, reduces work output and slower down the social and mental development. Malnutrition among women of reproductive age increase the risk of mortality during labor and delivery and puts their infants at risk of long-term deficiencies.

After several rounds of meeting and discussions with field team and community leaders the potential villages were identified. A detailed field survey was conducted in the selected villages by the jansathis who was ascertain about the health-related issues or status of the identified villages.

Home Gardening is one of the world’s most ancient agriculture practices for food & nutrition supplements. Historically, people have planted vegetables and fruits in their own backyard. To address the above context the idea of Nutrition Kitchen Garden with organic vegetable gardens integrating local indigenous vegetables and herbs has been introduced in Kandhmal by OSM. The concept will star through interested household women from 4 blocks like koraput in Koraput district, Malkangiri in Malkangiri district, Raikia in Kandhmal district and Hemgir in Sundargrah district of Odisha state initially and later in all blocks of four districts.

Other Events in 2017 to address the issue of malnutrition:

As the national Food security Act implemented by the government of India Guarantees 5 Kg of food grain per unit (per person), which comes o 83.3 grams of food grain per person per meal (only if he/she consumes 2 meals a day). The said quantity is insufficient for a deprived person. Apart from this, act guarantees only the availability of food grains, but does not cater the issues of malnourishment. The supply of food alone cannot resolve the issues of malnourishment, it needs to be supported at least by basic food supplements like Dal, edible oil, sugar, salt etc.

As per the latest reports published by WHO, UNICEF, UNO and many other reputed organizations; 55 percent of children in rural Odisha are still severely malnourished and 44 percent children below the age of 5 years suffer from fatal diseases like pneumonia, diarrhoea, malaria, typhoid, cholera etc. Malnourishment has been the major cause of creating poor physical and mental development in children specially at very crucial age group of 0-5 years.

Therefore, Odisha Shramjeebee Manch staged a two-day dharna in front of legislative assembly of Odisha on from July 10-July 11, 2017 and demanded amendments in Odisha’s ‘Food Security Act’.

Therefore, OSM demanded sufficient quantity of packaged nutritious food like Dal, edible oil, sugar etc to be supplied at subsidized rate, which would help the poor to lead a dignified life.

Our demands stated below have been intact since the year 2012: Food supplies for each household.

 

1. Rate of kilogram of food grain per household @ Rs. 1/kg.
2. 3 kilograms of dal per household @ Rs. 10/kg.
3. 1 liter of edible oil per household @ Rs. 10/liter
4. 2 kilograms of sugar per household @ Rs. 10/kg. and
5. Iodized salt completely free of cost.
6. Packaged and Sealed food grain and commodities to be made available with correct weight, throughout the year.
7. PDS centers to be established within a radius of 2 kilometers from all villages.
8. Local produces and commodities to be processed and distributed through PDS.

Progress So far-

Despite these intermediate successes, the challenges ahead are not yet over. As of now we must identify the left-out families and place the dispositions before appropriate authorities. It is much difficult to convince and mobilise the lower level officials, despite bring assured by higher authorities. They hold the key at block and district level. At the ground level the challenges is to get the resolutions passed in palli/gram to include the basic nutritional food at a subsidised rate. Therefore, addressing the questions of malnutrition through ICDS and ODS is yet to find it’s real light. With regards to the promotion of kitchen garden, lack of adequate physical space prevents the most vulnerable sections at one end while on the other hand, behavioural ignorance does not let the ones with physical space.