With the highest child malnutrition rate in the world, Madhya Pradesh needs to revise its food system if things are to be changed for the better.
Officially, more than 56 per cent of ration cards are fake in the state, believed to have been issued by low-rank officials to cultivate benefits. The state food and civil supplies department is looking at institutions like GAIN, a Swiss foundation created at a special session of United Nations General Assembly on Children in 2002, to ensure the supply of nutritious foods to the locals.
As a solution to bribery at Public Distribution Systems (PDS) shops that sell subsidised grain, sugar and kerosene, the department has invited bids from private roller flour mills and automatic flour mills with at least 30 tonnes per day capacity for supply of fortified wheat flour. It will contain vital vitamins and iron as key ingredients.
By September select ration shops will place the fortified wheat flour for sale at subsidised rates. To combat malnutrition, the state government is learnt to have proposed for a tie-up with Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) for the smooth running of the project.
In few days, state food and civil supplies department will rope in some roller flour mills and automatic flour mills for the supply of atta at ration shops.
“The project to supply fortified flour at various PDS shops is scheduled to start from next month on pilot basis at ration shops in urban areas of eleven divisions and eight municipal limits. Also, the fortified flour will be supplied at some PDS shops in the Municipal Corporation areas of Bhopal, Gwalior, Indore and Jabalpur,” said Ashok Das, Principal Secretary, Department of Food and Civil Supplies.
However, monitoring of the fortification and supply of atta is yet to fall under the ambit of half-a-century old food supply system which is riddled with corruption and inefficiency. “According to NCAER (National Council of Applied Economic Research) Report, of the total 6,700,000 ration cards in Madhya Pradesh 56.4 per cent are fake, we are now waiting for Unique Identification Number system to take place, he said.
