Vulnerable communities in Gujarat struggle for access to ration, Anganwadi services: Survey

The campaign has been covering issues of Public Distribution Systems (PDS), Anganwadi, and midday meals.

On Saturday, organisations and activists fighting on these issues in different areas of Gujarat participated in the review meeting in Ahmedabad. The food security survey was conducted in Dahod, Panchmahal, Morbi and Bhavnagar districts in January 2025. A total of 1,261 households, including 321 from Bhavnagar, 356 from Dahod, 290 from Morbi and 294 from Panchmahal were included in the survey.

According to the ASAA members, the sample for survey comprised members from the mahila sangathans with mostly belonging to marginalised communities as a “deliberate attempt was made to include those with social vulnerabilities such as single women, disabled and the elderly”.

The results are therefore not representative of Gujarat on average but give an indication of what is happening among some of the vulnerable communities across the state, said an ASAA member.

“These were the communities and families that the National Food Security Act (NFSA) was expected to help,” said Nitaben Hardikar from Anandi, a non-profit women organisation working in rural areas.

According to the report, “there are hundreds of children in villages who do not have birth certificates or Aadhaar cards and cannot be officially registered in Anganwadi, and therefore they remain deprived of Anganwadi services. This issue has been witnessed in many districts such as Panchmahal, Dahod, Banaskantha and Sabarkantha”.

“The infrastructure of Anganwadi is very poor. Anganwadi buildings are in a dilapidated condition and are unsafe for children. Also, there is a need to build a new Anganwadi in terms of the number of children aged 3 to 6 in the village,” stated the report.

“The Food Security Act provides a time-bound grievance redressal framework. But in Gujarat, when people from the vulnerable communities complain about not getting ration or getting less, or not getting access, they are pressured, and in the online complaint, ‘the complaint is shown as disposed of without being resolved,’ stated another Anand member Sejalben Dand.

“The primitive groups have got Antyodaya cards by law. But they are not given sufficient ration. If they complain, they are pressured,” added Dand.

Declaring that in the coming days, the Anna Suraksha Adhikar Abhiyan will wage a “collective fight on this issue”, the members further added that even though the government resolution (GR) clearly provides that widows can get Antyodaya cards, women are “denied these cards citing the examples of Maliya Mahila Shakti Sangathan and Devgadh Mahila Sangathan from Maliya”. The organisations are supposed to work for women welfare.

“Silicosis patients from Surendranagar and Morbi districts are also fighting for Antyodaya cards. While a few silicosis patients from Morbi’s Thangadh got Antyodaya cards but Surendranagar’s Dhrangadhra taluka, many patients were rejected. Silicosis does not come under the definition of a serious disease, they were told,” states the report.

The report has also cited a few case studies, including one of Rangliben Nayak, a tribal woman from village Kakalpur, Devgadh Baria in Dahod district who had migrated to some other place for work and her family started facing difficulties in accessing food grains as their ration is tied to their village.

While another case was of a widow, Meenaben Bachubhai Baariya who is a resident of Vav Lavariya village in Dahod’s Devgadh Baria taluka. Her livelihood depends on daily wage farm labour.

“Currently, Meenaben has an APL (Above Poverty Line) ration card. However, as a widow she is eligible for an Antyodaya ration card. Occasionally, she has to ask for provisions from house to house or even go hungry, as she struggles to sustain herself without consistent income. Without an Antyodaya ration card, Meenaben faces significant difficulties in securing sufficient food. This pushes her further into poverty,” the report stated.