THE Indian government has spent quite some money advertising the fifth anniversary of REGA (now MGNREGA). On the very same day, 19 youth had died returning from Bareilly. The reason for their death is, they were part of the 1,50,000 who had applied for four hundred and sixteen jobs, offered by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP). Yes, 4-1-6 jobs! For which 1,50,000 had applied, from only 11 states in which they were advertised. Gosh! What would this number be, had it been advertised throughout the entire country?
Recently, an official survey puts unemployment in our country at 9.4 per cent, which, in fact is a mighty conservative estimate. Unemployment does not just mean a lack of job; it means lack of means to live their life. This deprives them of resources even to buy their food – not to eat their fill, but to gulp something to fill their stomachs. Forget about other luxuries, many a day buying food itself is a luxury for them. In this scenario, rising food prices - food inflation - is a double whammy for them.
The FAO repeatedly states it is not the vagaries of supply and demand that are determining the food prices today, but it is the speculative futures trading on food commodities that are essentially responsible for these high food prices. To substantiate their point, they have statistically shown how despite the increase in the supply of food, hunger and starvation are growing. The reason being that the poor are unable to buy even those basic food items, as the prices are deliberately kept out of their reach.
First published by Deepankar Choudhury on Feb 6, 2011
Recently, an official survey puts unemployment in our country at 9.4 per cent, which, in fact is a mighty conservative estimate. Unemployment does not just mean a lack of job; it means lack of means to live their life. This deprives them of resources even to buy their food – not to eat their fill, but to gulp something to fill their stomachs. Forget about other luxuries, many a day buying food itself is a luxury for them. In this scenario, rising food prices - food inflation - is a double whammy for them.
The FAO repeatedly states it is not the vagaries of supply and demand that are determining the food prices today, but it is the speculative futures trading on food commodities that are essentially responsible for these high food prices. To substantiate their point, they have statistically shown how despite the increase in the supply of food, hunger and starvation are growing. The reason being that the poor are unable to buy even those basic food items, as the prices are deliberately kept out of their reach.
First published by Deepankar Choudhury on Feb 6, 2011
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