Ensure Universal Coverage of PDS

Press Statement



The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the
following statement:



The Polit Bureau strongly condemns the deliberate negligence of the Modi
Government towards implementing and improving the Food Security Act and its
expansion to ensure food security as well as nourishment to all Indians.
This is all the more urgent in the light of the 2015 FAO report on the State
of Food Insecurity. Although the methods used by FAO are a gross
underestimation of the extent of malnourishment and hunger, even this report
is a damning indictment of the claims made both under the UPA and now under
the Modi Government as today India has the largest numbers of undernourished
people in the world.



In the last year under the Modi Government (2014-2015 and estimates for
2016) the report estimates that the total number of people undernourished in
India has gone up from 189.9 million (2012) to 194.6 million.



As a proportion of the population, the decline is significantly lower in the
last year just 0.4 percentage points as compared to five percentage points
between 2010-2012. In other words, the situation has worsened under the Modi
Government.



The Modi Government should stop its false claims of being pro-poor and take
immediate action to ensure universal coverage of the public distribution
system with an expanded list of cheap rations including a minimum of 35 kg
of foodgrains per family at a maximum of two rupees per kilo.