How Bad is the Hunger Problem in India Right Now and What Can Be Done?

Описание: On March 24, India was put under lockdown to curb the spread of the infectious disease. Over 100 crore people directly got impacted by the move. All construction work got shut down, labour couldn’t operate and the small and medium enterprise businesses were stopped dead.
With economic activity halting at such a large scale, the incomes of people outside the formal sector were bound to get affected.
Two days after the announcement of the lockdown, Finance minister Nirmala Sithararam made an announcement for the ‘poorest of the poor’ in the country. She said that 800 million beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) would receive 5 kilograms of grain (wheat or rice) in addition to the usual allocation of 5 kilograms per person.
This, she said, will be provided by the government free of charge for the next three months, i.e. April, May, and June. Along with this she also announced the direct cash transfers will be done.
Following the announcement, well-known and award-winning economists like Raghuram Rajan, Amartya Sen, and Abhijit Banerjee said that the Finance minister’s announcement is a welcome move but 5kg extra ration for three months won’t be enough.
How real is the problem of starvation in India amid the ongoing pandemic, The Wire's Kabir Agarwal explains.

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