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.