There are very few parallels to the crude and obnoxious reality of food wastage. And I am not even talking about the kind of waste of food items generating from our huge marriage get-togethers and parties!
Now some horrible pieces of statistics - according to Global Hunger Index report, India
- in 2008-09, 20,114 tons of food grain decomposed.
- in 2009-11, 13,000 tons was waste.
- in 2012, till March, 2,896 tons was rotten.
Now what even more shocking is that out of 2,896 tons of food grain waste this year, in Maharashtra the waste was 1,361 tons!
These figures does not include, food grain waste due to different transportation conditions, corrupt practices and arrangements in the warehouses.
To complicate the issues there is famine-like situation and there is shortage of water, everywhere in Maharashtra .
Honorable Bombay High Court reprimanded the Maharashtra Government this week. The Court has asked the Government, why can't the food grain in the FCI ware houses be given to the needy and below-poverty-level people?
The Court came down heavily and told off that, there is substantial amount of food grains available, it is and will be disintegrated, if not looked after properly. So why cant that be distributed.
What is more outrageous is that the Supreme Court had ordered the Central and State Governments to give out the grains, instead of left decaying, a few months back.
Sometimes I feel, there would be some catastrophe that will affect everyone of us and the Governments will come out of slumber. And then it will act to fulfill the food requirements of millions of Indians.
Food is a basic necessity!
