Gujarat lags behind in food security, alleges NGO consortium

A nationwide consortium of NGOs has alleged that failure of Gujarat government resulted in the state's poor show in providing food security to its citizens.
"In Gujarat, 77.24 lakh families are entitled to get the cover of National Food Security Act (NFSA) for procurement of 25 kg food grain per month," the consortium's Ahmedabad Declaration said after their 5th national convention on 'Right to Food and Work' here today.
"At present, Gujarat provides subsidised grain to only 7.35 lakh families under Antyoday Anna Yojna (AAY) and 24.35 lakh below poverty line (BPL) families," it claimed.
The event was organised at Mahatma Gandhi's Kochrab Ashram, where NGO representatives from various states passed the 'Ahmedabad Declaration' to raise food security issues.

"As per a report of the National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau (NNMB) based on a survey in 2012 shows that 53.73 per cent children under five years are stunted, which is an indicator of malnutrition amongst them," said the declaration.
"43 per cent of adult men and women have low body mass index. The average calorie consumption and cereal consumption is also falling, besides the consumption of other nutrients such as proteins, calcium and iron," it said.
"Gujarat has a low and failing per capita PDS consumption. Over half of those in the poorest quintile do not get any subsidised grain," alleged Sejal Dand of a state-based NGO.