Food insecurity worse in 3 states: Report

In the backdrop of the proposed national food security legislation,a reality check on food insecurity in urban areas of 15 states has shown “improvement” in 12 states while the situation has “deteriorated” in three states.

The “most impressive improvement” has been witnessed in relatively backward states of Bihar,MP,Orissa and UP,but the story is grim in AP,Karnataka and Maharashtra,says the ‘Report on the State of Food Insecurity in Urban India’,prepared jointly by the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation and the World Food Programme. It was released by Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy here on Saturday.

In a positive development,there was no single state in the category of ‘very high insecurity’ in 2004-06 as against two states — Bihar and Madhya Pradesh — falling in that category six years ago. The most remarkable improvement has been registered in the case of UP which has moved from ‘high urban food insecurity’ to ‘low urban food insecurity’ category.

While urban food insecurity has deepened most in Maharashtra,AP and Karnataka are still in the category of moderate food insecurity.