Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government over the United Nations Food Security and Nutrition Report 2024 saying India has the largest number of undernourished people in the world.
The Congress chief, taking to X, said that it is a crying shame that despite the tall claims by the Modi government, 19.5 crore people in India are undernourished which is 1 in 4 in the world.
When Congress-UPA passed the National Food Security Act, 2013, the then Gujarat Chief Minister Modi opposed the same, Kharge said. Later, the BJP had to make a U-turn due to electoral considerations, he added.
After the ill-announced pandemic lockdown, PM Modi-led central government reallocated a major share of the Food Security Act to PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana and claimed that it is providing ration to 80 Cr people, the Congress chief charged.
Hitting out at PM Modi, Kharge said, “But it seems Modi ji’s personal PR again took over the actual welfare for at least 10 crore people are still kept out of this Food Security Act because Modi government has postponed the Census 2021.”
Kharge said due to the backbreaking, food-snatching, price rise imposed by the BJP, the cost of a healthy diet in India has increased by 17.5% in the past 6 years. He said this shameless government questions the Global Hunger Index – where India stands at 111th out of 125 countries.
The Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha wondered if this government will now question the UN report on “The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World”, 2024 too. Kharge further slammed the government by citing PM Modi government’s recent reply in Parliament that 17% of children in the age group of 0-5 years are underweight, while 36% are stunted and 6% are wasted.
He asked PM Modi despite implementing the National Food Security Act, PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, and Poshan Abhiyan why India still has the largest number of undernourished people in the world, with 19.5 crore people struggling with hunger. Kharge wondered how these schemes reach India’s most vulnerable populations.
According to a UN report, around 790 million people in India cannot afford a healthy diet. However, this proportion has improved by about 3% points compared to 2022. The report further suggests that 13% of India’s population suffers from chronic undernourishment, indicating prolonged food insecurity.
According to the Global Hunger Index 2023, India ranked 111th, highlighting significant issues in food security. India has the highest prevalence of wasting, 18.7 percent, in South Asia and a high prevalence of stunting, 31.7 percent, in children under five years.
The data shows that 27.4% of babies born in India have low birth weight, the highest in the world, reflecting maternal malnutrition whereas 53% of women in India are anaemic, the highest in South Asia.
In the report, the recommendation has been made to increase public spending on food security and nutrition by boosting budgets for programs that reduce hunger and malnutrition and involving local communities in their planning and implementation to improve effectiveness and sustainability.
A day before the first phase of assembly election, the Congress released its manifesto for Jharkhand. The manifesto promised caste based survey, 250 units of free electricity every month and filling up of all vacant government posts within a year.
The Congress manifesto was unveiled by the party’s manifesto committee chairman Bandhu Tirkey. The manifesto focused on the seven promises including the 1932 Khatiyan-based domicile policy and implementation of Sarna religious code of the tribals.
Bandhu Tirkey said that the manifesto promises free electricity up to 250 units to the poor as against 200 units at present. He added that they will fill up all vacant government posts in a year. He further mentioned that the manifesto was formulated keeping in mind the issues being faced by people in the state. He alleged that efforts were made to destabilize the state government.
He continued that there has been no lack of job opportunities, and that the state government has appointed more people than the previous governments. He affirmed that all the job appointments are in the pipeline, and all of these will be completed after the formation of this government again. He asserted that the Manifesto Committee held a Chaupal in every district and interacted with the public.
Meanwhile, reacting to Congress releasing their manifesto during the silent period, K Ravi Kumar, Chief Election Officer of Jharkhand, said that no-election related matters can be done during the silent period.
He stated that according to the legal provisions, no election-related matters can occur during the silent period, a matter clearly stated in the law, and the Commission has also issued instructions regarding this.
The first phase of assembly election will be held on November 13 for 43 of the total 81 seats of the state. The second phase will be held on November 20. The counting of votes will be held on November 23.
Jharkhand election: Amit Shah says people who looted money will be hanged upside down
He added that the money the parties have looted from the poor tribals, backward classes and youth of Jharkhand, every penny of it will be recovered from them and deposited in the treasury of Jharkhand.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday issued a stern warning to the JMM-Congress alliance, asserting that those who looted money in Jharkhand will be hanged upside down.
Addressing an election rally in Dhanbad, the Union HOme Minister said that in Jharkhand crores of rupees have been seized from Congress and JMM leaders, and all this money belongs to the youth, mothers and sisters of Jharia and Dhanbad. Asking the voters to form the BJP government, Amit Shah said that they will straighten out the looters of these crores of rupees by hanging them upside down.
He added that the money the parties have looted from the poor tribals, backward classes and youth of Jharkhand, every penny of it will be recovered from them and deposited in the treasury of Jharkhand. He also accused Congress stalwart Rahul Gandhi of not fulfilling his election promises.
Amit Shah claimed that Rahul Gandhi makes many announcements which are not fulfilled. Mentioning that Rahul Gandhi’s party President Mallikarjun Kharge is also saying that nothing is going to be fulfilled, the Union MInister said that PM Modi’s guarantee is written in stone and will fulfil every guarantee.
Amit Shah said that on the coming 20th, all the people have to vote and that their votes will decide the future of Jharkhand. He added that one vote will decide whether the people of the state want JMM, which makes itself a millionaire-billionaire, or they want Narendra Modi’s government, which makes poor mothers Lakhpati Didi.
Earlier, Home Minister Amit Shah promised that if the BJP wins the Jharkhand assembly election, it will form a panel to identify and drive out infiltrators from the state. Furthermore, he also vowed that foreign infiltrators would not be allowed to usurp land by marrying tribal women.
The Assembly Election in Jharkhand will take place on NOvember 13 and 20, and the results will be declared on November 23.
PM Modi accuses MVA of corruption, calls them detrimental to Maharashtra’s growth
The Prime Minister asserted that the people of Chandrapur have been demanding rail connectivity for years, but Congress and Aghadi did not let that happen.
Launching a scathing attack on the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused them of being the biggest player of corruption and stalling progress in the state.
PM Modi was addressing an election rally in Chimur, a town in the Chandrapur district. The Prime Minister further said that the MVA, a coalition of Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena, Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Party (NCP), and the Congress is detrimental to Maharashtra’s growth.
He added that the people of Chandrapur have been demanding rail connectivity for years, but Congress and Aghadi did not let that happen. He continued that the rapid development in the state is beyond the reach of Aghadi.
PM Modi further stated that the Opposition have only done a PhD in putting a brake on development works, and Congress is a double PhD in it. He claimed that Aghadi means the biggest players of corruption.
PM Modi also assured the people that the BJP’s poll manifesto will become a Vikas Ki Guarantee (development guarantee) for Maharashtra in the next five years. He said that the NDA government at the Centre along with ruling Mahayuti, means double speed of development.
In the rally, the Prime Minister also slammed the Congress and the Gandhi family, which he claimed has a history of elitism and exclusion. He added that it has always been the mentality of Congress and Gandhi family that it was born to rule the country.
He also alleged that after Independence, Congress had stymied the progress of marginalised communities. He claimed that the grand old party never allowed Dalits, backward classes, and Adivasis to progress.
Referring to an old Congress advertisement from when Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister, PM Modi argued that it reflected the party’s anti-reservation attitude.
Maharashtra will vote in a single-phase election on November 20 for the 288-seat Assembly. The counting of votes will take place on November 23.
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