A labourer carrying a sack of wheat inside a grain-sorting unit in Gujarat earlier this month. Last year, 67,000 tonnes of food grain rotted in government storage houses in India, which is home to 42 per cent of the world's undernourished children, experts said. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
NEW DELHI: Indians are in the throes of a debate about food security, sparked by indignation over lavish wedding feasts by the rich, amid mounting public anger over rising food prices.The government is now considering proposals to curb such feasts but many experts said the move will have no impact on the ongoing food crisis. It needs to address the root causes of food insecurity in the country, which is home to 42 per cent of the world's undernourished children, they said.
The problem of food inflation has dented Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's popularity and has led to countrywide protests. Food-price inflation averaged 16 per cent in the last fiscal year, after the late arrival of rains caused a disruption in the supply of fruits and vegetables including onions, a staple in the local cuisine. Prices of milk, eggs and meat have also risen.
Food and Consumer Affairs Minister K. V. Thomas stoked a controversy this week by announcing he was setting up a panel to look into the issue of food wastage at weddings and social gatherings. He said the panel, whose members have yet to be named, would meet next month.
He added that it would consider reviving the Guest Control Order, an old order that limits not just the number of dishes that can be served in weddings but also the number of guests.
Mr Thomas is also thinking of bringing in legislation similar to a law in Pakistan which regulates the number of dishes that can be served at social events.
'The whole idea is to do management of food wastage. There is a tremendous wastage of food at parties, social functions, hotels and restaurants,' Congress MP Rajeev Shukla, who is involved in the government consultations, told The Straits Times.
But the government's plans immediately drew criticism from experts, who said it should take broader steps to improve the food storage and distribution system rather than target wedding feasts.
'I'm aghast at this idea. And this entire effort is wasteful. What we need to do is stop food wastage, by constructing godowns (storage facilities for grains), stop post-harvest wastage and find ways to make sure food reaches the masses,' said food and agriculture expert Devinder Sharma.
By the government's own admission, tonnes of food grain rot every year. Last year, 67,000 tonnes of food grain rotted in government storage houses. Around 40 per cent of agricultural produce was lost, due to the lack of proper storage and transport facilities.
Even the Supreme Court of India has said it is 'a crime to waste even a grain of food' in a country where people are starving.
India was ranked 67 out of 84 nations on the International Food Policy Research Institute's Global Hunger Index compiled last year, below Rwanda, Zimbabwe and Pakistan. Unofficial estimates indicate that even after reducing wastage, India will need another 60 million tonnes of food grain to feed every citizen.
Those in the wedding business are calling the government's plans 'ridiculous'.
'It's a knee-jerk reaction and populist. Whatever legislation you draft, it will be impossible to implement,' said former Deutsche Bank AG wealth manager Ashish Abrol, who runs wedding planning portal bigindianwedding.com
He feels the government should instead work out a plan to distribute excess food from weddings to people who need it.
Even as food prices have soared, the country's rich - benefiting from strong economic growth - are throwing ever more lavish wedding parties.
Last month, Congress politician Kanwar Singh Tanwar invited more than 30,000 guests to his son's wedding to another politician's daughter.
Many in India, no doubt, would prefer slimmed-down weddings.
'One has to draw the line somewhere. What happens is that people are bound by society and feel the pressure to throw a lavish wedding. Cuisines of the world can be seen at an Indian wedding. I saw Mongolian food at one wedding. It's just ridiculous,' said Mrs Sunita Jain, who runs a marriage bureau.
gnirmala@sph.com.sg
