Study Paper Prepared by: Prof. Ramesh Sharan and Ms. Megha Sanghavi
Study conducted in FY 2020-21
INTRODUCTION
Jharkhand has always been one of the less developed and poor state of the country despite being rich with natural resources. had the population of 3.3 Crore with 24.05% urban population as per Census 2011. The decadal population growth is noticed at 22.42%. Literacy rate in the state is 66.4% with male literacy rate to be at 76.8 % and female literacy rate at 52%as against corresponding national rates of 76.0 %, 82.1 % and 65.2 %. The unemployment rate in the state is 3.1 % as against national rate of 2.7%. The self-employed constitute 64.2%, while only 10.2% people are regular employees. 50.4% of population is associated with agriculture while the rest of the working population is employed in mining, service sector, construction, finance etc. 39.1 % people below the poverty line (BPL) as against national rates of 29.8 %. Out of these Schedule Tribe consists of 49% , Schedule Castes consists of 40%, Other Backward Castes contributes around 35% and Others around 23%. In 2011-12, the average Monthly Per Capita Consumer Expenditure (MPCE) of Jharkhand in urban and rural areas was Rs.1894 and Rs.920, respectively. The NSDP Per Capita Growth from 2005 -14 of the Jharkhand has been recorded among the last five worst performing states of India i.e. 11%. Jharkhand faces acute poverty in its rural areas. Urban poor(31.1%) are far fewer compared to rural poor (41.6 %)(2009-10, Tendulkar methodology). The state has 22/24 districts among Backward Regions Grant Fund districts.As per Socio Economic Caste Census 2011 report, there are total 60 Lakh households in Jharkhand and out of which 83.5% rural households which amounts to nearly 50 Lakh households. Out of these rural households, 13% belong to Schedule Caste, 29% belong to Schedule Tribe, 57% belong to other castesand 1% households belonged to Primitive Tribal Groups, Legally Released Bonded Labour and Manual Scavengers, all together. And 90% of them are male headed households. This shows that the economy of the state has always been fragile.
With this, the impact of COVID-19 induced lockdown may affect the state adversely. The unemployment rate is likely to increase as the migrant workers return home. Moreover, with loss of employment, the hunger issues are likely to increase as the means of livelihood become limited. Anticipating this, the government announced various schemes but whether such schemes have been beneficial or not remains unknown. This paper aims to analyse the effect of COVID-19 on already staggering food security of the state as well as effectiveness of the government schemes. The study will help the policy makers to provide better food security in the state.
owever, as per State Agricultural Management and Extension Training Institute, Jharkhand and Forest Survey of India, 2019, the geographical area of Jharkhand is 79.70 lakh ha, out of which ccultivablearea is 38 lakh ha (48%) and out of that net sawn area is around 25 - 26 lakh ha (68%). The forest cover is about 23.61 lakh ha (30%) which makes per capita forest cover for rural population of the state to be 0.00094 sq. km. The average rrainfallof the state is 1300 mm (Normal). The majorcrops in the state are Paddy, Wheat, Maize, Pulses, Oilseeds & Horticultural Crops. Their production and productivity can be observed in the following table.
| Sr. No. | Crops | Area(000 ha) | Production (000 MT) | Yield ( MT/ha ) (in 000) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Rice | 1501.177 | 4367.433 | 2.91 |
| 2. | Wheat | 170.097 | 335.932 | 1.97 |
| 3. | Maize | 265.846 | 450.736 | 1.70 |
| 4. | Pulses (Arhar, Urad, Moong, Gram etc.) | 591.138 | 590.948 | 1.00 |
| 5. | Oilseed (Mustard, Niger, Til, Groundnut etc.) | 278.135 | 191.984 | 0.69 |
| 6 | Fruits | 83.853 | 859.008 | 10.24 |
| 7 | Vegetable | 295.273 | 4196.700 | 14.21 |
| 8 | Cashew Nut | 19.659 | 9.858 | 0.50 |
Fruits and vegetables have the highest productivity followed by rice. As shown here, Jharkhand has rich fertile land to produce food grains. It has forest cover which may provide alternative food supply for the population.The major crops like rice and wheat has productivity of 2.91 MT/ha and 1.97 MT/ha. Even then, Jharkhand faces saviour hunger issues as mentioned in the next section.
Data not available.
First, let’s have a look at the hunger issues in India. On Global Hunger Index India at 102th rank scores 30.3 with serious hunger issues in 2019. The proportion of undernourished in the population to be at 14.5%, prevalence of wasting in children under five years at 20.8%, Prevalence of stunting in children under five years at 37.9% and under five mortality rate to be at 3.9%.
As we can see from the graph, Jharkhand is among the worst performing states in the country, second after Madhya Pradesh with the score of 28.67. As per this 2008 report, it is higher even than the national average of 23.3. The latest report as shown above shows the national hunger score to be at 30.3. As compared to this as well, Jharkhand is ranked with alarming hunger issues. Thus, the hunger issues as a result of unavailability of food gives an idea about the food security in the state.
Apart from above issues, Jharkhand also has population that is malnourished and poor in health. This can be noticed in the National Family Health Survey-4.
| Indicator | Rural | Urban | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infant mortality rate (IMR) | 34 | 46 | 44 |
| Under-five mortality rate (U5MR) | 38 | 58 | 54 |
| Households with an improved drinking-water source (%) | 88.6 | 74 | 77.8 |
| Households using improved sanitation facility (%) | 59 | 12.4 | 24.4 |
| Households using clean fuel for cooking (%) | 55.4 | 6.3 | 18.9 |
| Households using iodized salt (%) | 98.7 | 97.2 | 97.6 |
| Households with any usual member covered by a health scheme or health insurance (%) | 13.7 | 13.2 | 13.3 |
| Mothers who had full antenatal care (%) | 17.9 | 5.5 | 8 |
| Mothers who received postnatal care from a doctor/nurse/LHV/ANM/midwife/other health personnel within 2 days of delivery (%) | 58.2 | 40.9 | 44.4 |
| Children age 12-23 months fully immunized (BCG, measles, and 3 doses each of polio and DPT) (%) | 67 | 60.7 | 61.9 |
| Children age 9-59 months who received a vitamin A dose in last 6 months (%) | 48.8 | 53.8 | 52.9 |
| Children under age 3 years breastfed within one hour of birth (%) | 30.3 | 33.8 | 33.1 |
| Children under age 6 months exclusively breastfed (%) | 63.1 | 65.2 | 64.8 |
| Children age 6-8 months receiving solid or semi-solid food and breastmilk (%) | 55.4 | 45.1 | 47.2 |
| Total children age 6-23 months receiving an adequate diet (%) | 9.6 | 6.7 | 7.2 |
| Children under 5 years who are stunted (height-for-age) (%) | 33.7 | 48 | 45.3 |
| Children under 5 years who are wasted (weight-for-height) (%) | 26.8 | 29.5 | 29 |
| Children under 5 years who are severely wasted (weight-for-height) (%) | 11.1 | 11.4 | 11.4 |
| Children under 5 years who are underweight (weight-for-age) (%) | 39.3 | 49.8 | 47.8 |
| Children age 6-59 months who are anaemic (<11.0 g/dl) (%) | 63.2 | 71.5 | 69.9 |
| All women age 15-49 years who are anaemic (%) | 59.6 | 67.3 | 65.2 |
| Women whose Body Mass Index (BMI) is below normal (BMI < 18.5 kg/m2)(%) | 21.6 | 35.4 | 31.5 |
| Men whose Body Mass Index (BMI) is below normal (BMI < 18.5 kg/m2 ) (%) | 19.4 | 25.6 | 23.8 |
The death per 1000 live births which is infant mortality rate (IMR) is 44 as compared to the nation rate of 41. The rate is even poorer in the rural areas. Under five mortality rate is as high as 54 and the same in rural is 58. Death of children can be linked to poor health of mother or in sufficient food consumption. Only 77% households (HH) of the state has improved drinking water source. The improved sanitation facilities are available to only 24% HH. Out of these 59% of urban HH and only 12% of rural HH have reported to have improved sanitation facilities. This can adversely affect the health. Only 6.3% rural HH has clean cooking fuel. However, it was reported that around 98% of the HH in the state uses iodized salt. Only 13.3% of the HH in the state have reported to have any health scheme or health insurance. This may mean upon hospitalisation families would have to incur additional costs which may burden them. Only 8% HH reported to have taken antenatal care for the women in families. Only 41% of the rural HH reported to have received postnatal care from doctor/nurse/LHV/ANM/midwife/other health personnel within 2 days of delivery. Not receiving proper care during and after pregnancy may lead to poor health of the infant. 62% HH have their children of age 12-23 months fully immunized (BCG, measles, and 3 doses each of polio and DPT). 53% HH reported to have their children aged 9-59 months received a vitamin A dose in last 6 months. Poor immunization at the early age again leads to health issues at later stages of life. Only 33% of the HH have their children under age 3 years breastfed within one hour of birth. Only 63% HH in urban Jharkhand and nearly 65% HH in rural Jharkhand have their children under age 6 months been exclusively breastfed. For the mental and physical growth of child breast feeding upto 6 months is very important and from the numbers it can be observed that only 65% HH in Jharkhand receive these cares. Only 45% of rural HH reported to have their children aged 6-8 months receiving solid or semi-solid food and breastmilk. Only 9.6% urban HH and 6.7% rural HH reported to have their children age 6-23 months receiving an adequate diet. The HH reported to have stunted children were nearly 45%, wasted were 29% and severely wasted were 11%. Nearly 50% of rural HH children under the age of 5 are reported to be underweight. Neary 70% HH had anaemic children aged 5-59 months and nearly 60% women aged 15-49 years to be anaemic. About 31% HH had their women and 24% men with below normal BMI.
Unavailability food, sanitation and drinking water may lead to poor health of mother, which in turn may lead to poor health of the children. Not receiving proper care at the time of birth may lead to poor health of adults and hence, not a very healthy population. Along with this, lower literacy rates and higher poverty cuts their means of livelihood. Thus, the population may suffer from food insecurity. This can be observed by the lower consumption expenditure in the state and economic growth.
In order to address above issues the central and state governments launched schemes. The next section asses these schemes that were launched in order to improve health of women and child. The central government announced National Food Security Commission and required each state to set up the State Food Commission.
National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013 is an Act to provide for food and nutritional security in human life cycle approach, by ensuring access to adequate quantity of quality food at affordable prices to people to live a life with dignity and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. The details of the same are given as below.
| Scheme | Beneficiaries |
|---|---|
| Targeted Public Distribution System | 5 kg food grains per person per month to Priority HH at Rs. 3 per kg to really poor and vulnerable sections of the society such as landless laborers, marginal farmers and wage earners of the informal sections of the economy |
| Anna AntyodayYojana | 35 kg food grains per person per month to HH covered under the scheme at Rs. 3 per kg covering below poverty line familiesheaded by widows, terminally ill persons, disabled persons or persons above 60 years with assured means of subsistence or societal support |
| Non-NFSA | 8 kg of rice per person per month at the rate of Rs 15 per kg to the HH that are not covered under Priority HH or Antyodaya HH |
| Pregnant Women and Lactating mothers | Meal, free of charge, during pregnancy and six months after the child birth, through the local anganwadi |
| Maternity benefit of not less than rupees six thousand, in such instalments as may be prescribed by the Central Government | |
| Nutritional support for children | Children in the age group of six months to six years, age appropriate meal, free of charge, through the local anganwadi |
| Children, up to class VIII or within the age group of six to fourteen years, whichever is applicable, one mid-day meal, free of charge, everyday, except on school holidays, in all schools run by local bodies, Government and Government aided schools | |
| Child Malnutrition | Through the local anganwadi, identify and provide meals, free of charge, to children who suffer from malnutrition |
As per National Sample Survey Office Data2011-12, under NFSA, only 86.48% of Rural and 60.20% of urban population of Jharkhand is covered.
As a part of National Food Security Act, 2013, Section 16, Jharkhand State Government formed JSFC on April 13, 2017. Four schemes were launched under this program; 1) Mid Day Meal Scheme, 2) Public Distribution Scheme, 3) Integrated Child Development Scheme and 4) Pradhan MantriMatruVandanaYojana
All students of age 6-14 in every government and government aided school studying from class 1 to 8 to be provided lunch on all school days as per the standard given below:
| Category | Type of food | Calorie intake | Protein content |
|---|---|---|---|
| Class I to V | Cooked Hot Food | 450 | 12 |
| Class VI to VIII | Cooked Hot Food | 700 | 20 |
The details of nutrition in each meal are as follow.
| Sr. No | Food Ingredients (including eggs for 3 days in a week) | Primary (Class I to V) | Secondary (Class V to VIII) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qty (in gram) | Calories | Protein (in gram) | Qty (in gram) | Calories | Protein (in gram) | ||
| 1 | Food ingredients (wheat, rice etc.) | 100 | 340 | 8 | 150 | 510 | 12 |
| 2 | Pulses | 20 | 105 | 7 | 30 | 175 | 11 |
| 3 | Vegetables | 50 | 30 | 0 | 75 | 30 | 0 |
| 4 | Oil | 5 | 45 | 0 | 8 | 45 | 0 |
| 5 | Salt and other spices | As per requirement | |||||
| 6 | Fuel | As per requirement | |||||
| 7 | Other ingredients | As per requirement | |||||
| Total | 175 | 520 | 15 | 263 | 760 | 23 | |
- Every matrimonial household or Priority Household or pink cardholder family has the legal right to get 5 kg of grain per person per month at the rate of Rs. 1 per kg.
- Similarly, every family covered under Antodaya Anna AnnaYojana (AAY) or yellow card holder has the legal right to get 35 kg of food grains per month at the rate of Rs. 1 per kg.
- According to the post office scheme of Government of Jharkhand, 35 kg food grains are to be delivered in sealed bags to the families of a specific tribe located in the state of Jharkhand under Antodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) without paying any price.
As per this scheme food grainsare provided for 6 months to 6 years old child through Aanganvadi Centres. The details of the same are as following.
| Class | Type of food | Calories | Protein (in gram) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 to 36 months old | Take home ration | 500 | 12-15 |
| 3 to 6 years old | Morning breakfast as well as cooked meal as per the menu (with eggs 3 days in a week) | 500 | 12-15 |
| 6 months to 6 years old malnutritional or extremely malnutritional | Take home ration | 800 | 20-25 |
The government provides maternity entitlements to pregnant women and lactating mothers. They are provided cooked food or take home ration from the Aanganvadi centres with meals having600 calories with 18-20 gram protein.The details of the same are as following.
| Who | When | Why the | Which type |
|---|---|---|---|
| All pregnant women and maternal mothers [ Pregnant women and female mothers on or after January 1, 2017 (including Anganwadi servants, assistants and companions)] | 6 months after the birth of the child from conception | Partial compensation for loss in wages during pregnancy, partial support for nutritious diet and incentive for pregnant women and nursing mothers to get health services. | Cash Bank Transfer - Installment Bank Account |
The cash transfer under the schemes is as following.
| Cash transfer (in bank account) | When | How much money |
|---|---|---|
| First instalment | After first registration | 1000 |
| Second instalment | After at least one antenatal checkup (6 months after conception) | 2000 |
| Third instalment | 1. Child birth registration and 2. BCG, OPV, DPT and Hepatitis-B or its equivalent immunization | 2000 |
| Final instalment | After institutional delivery under Janani Suraksha Yojana | 1000 |
Due to the COVID-19 induced nationwide lockdown, lots of workers and daily wage earners lost their jobs in the state. Labourers were also forced to travel back to their hometowns. With a view to provide food for the such unprivileged population as well as the migrant workers, the state government launched various relief measures and schemes. The details of the same can be observed below.
| Scheme | Benefits |
|---|---|
| AtmaNirbhar Bharat Scheme by Central government | 5 kg or rice/wheat per person and 1 kg chana per family for free to persons who do not hold any PDS cards under state or center and were not able to access PDS food grains |
| Extended NFSA scheme | Those who await ration card or do not have it should be provided with 10 kg rice at the rate of Rs. 1 per kg |
| Relief food packets | 2 kg chuda, ½ kg jaggery, ½ kg gram 5000 in Ranchi and 2000 for each district |
| Announced by CM | 48 lakh ration card holders and 9 lakh Antyoday families to be provided with priority ration for the month of April-May |
| Announced by CM | 7 lakh beneficiaries who have not received ration card to get 10 kg rice |
| Announced by CM | “MukhyaMantriDidi Kitchen” to be started in 4562 Panchayat Offices to provide food for helpless and unemployed workers for free |
| Announced by CM | 342 police stations to start community kitchen where 200 beneficiaries to receive 200 gram rice per person and 5 kg dal for free |
| Announced by CM | 875 Dal-bhat centre to be started where 388 will be providing Khichdi |
| Special Dal-bhatYojana | At 498 centres every meal will be Rs. 5 per person for each day in April-May |
| Announced by CM | 15 Lakh beneficiaries who are not registered under any schemes to receive food grains at Rs. 1 per kg per month |
| Month | PHH Holder | AAY holder |
|---|---|---|
| April | 10 kg food grain at Rs. 1/kg | 70 kg food grain at Rs. 1/kg |
| May | 10 kg food grain for free (NFSA) | 10 kg food grain for free (NFSA) |
| June | 5 kg per person at Rs. 1 per kg | 35 kg per holder at Rs. 1 per kg |
| 5 kg per person for free (NFSA) | 5 kg per person for free (NFSA) |
The Chief Minister also announced that per ration card 1.5 litre kerosene oil will be provided. Further, Under CM UjjawalaYojana registered beneficiary bank accounts will receive cash for 1 cylinder in three instalments, 14.2 Kg – 3 refills or 5 kg – 8 refills.
The Chief Minister also announced cash transfers where in Rs. 25 Crore to health department, Rs. 50 lakh to each district, Rs. 10 thousand to each 4562 Panchayats, Rs. 10 thousand to each Municipal ward were to be provided. Moreover, each community kitchens given Rs. 10 thousand for buying fuel, masala and vegetables.
As we see in the previous section the state government announced various schemes, but the effectiveness of them still remains questionable. The beneficiaries often report that they are unaware of these schemes. Even if they are aware they might not receive the provisions as mentioned by the government. This section attempts to analyse the effectiveness of these schemes pre COVID and Post COVID. Various secondary data has been used for the same.
The four Jharkhand State Food Commission schemes cover the beneficiaries mentioned below.
| Sr. No. | Scheme | Total dealers/school/centre | Beneficiaries families | Total beneficiaries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MDM | 35,773 | - | 27,14,523 (Apx) |
| 2 | PDS | 25,447 | 57,14,423 | 2,63,37,080 |
| 3 | ICDS | 38,432 | - | 33,52,908 (Apx) |
| 4 | PMMVY | - | - | 3,71,160 |
As per the above table, Mid-Day Meal scheme provides cooked food to 27,14,523 students in 35,337 schools. Public Distribution Schemes provides 2,63,37,080 people in the state through 25,447 distributors. The Integrated Child Development scheme provides care to 33.5 Lakh children and Pradhan MantriMatruVandanaYojna provides maternity entitlements to about 3.7 Lakh women. The next table gives further details on ration being distributed under the PDS scheme and registered beneficiaries.
| NFSA Monthly Distribution | HHD Count | Total Transaction | Rice (Kg) | Wheat (Kg) | Kerosene oil (Ltr) | Salt (Kg) | Sugar (Kg) | Dal (Kg) | PMGKAY Rice (Kg) | PMGKAY Wheat (Kg) | PMGKAY Chana (Kg) |
| 07-2020 | 25,089 | 86,60,635 | 11,98,75,228 | 1,60,03,968 | 78,55,079 | 55,66,077 | 2,45,736 | 0 | 6,83,14,607 | 1,04,95,181 | 31,14,596 |
| 06-2020 | 25,059 | 59,16,557 | 12,07,27,749 | 1,62,10,080 | 78,29,080 | 88,42,076 | 16,19,027 | 51,37,071 | 12,42,07,614 | 0 | 0 |
| 05-2020 | 25,079 | 1,24,82,462 | 11,76,74,984 | 1,61,34,185 | 73,78,552 | 20,48,180 | 89,563 | 85,99,725 | 24,15,25,616 | 0 | 0 |
| 04-2020 | 25,079 | 56,07,696 | 12,19,48,632 | 1,63,36,423 | 74,36,838 | 8,85,834 | 56,164 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 03-2020 | 25,093 | 59,75,913 | 13,69,85,858 | 1,81,40,694 | 87,45,240 | 56,05,937 | 7,14,416 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 02-2020 | 25,077 | 49,75,567 | 12,04,04,658 | 1,57,04,881 | 76,63,937 | 78,74,628 | 6,62,541 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 01-2020 | 25,078 | 49,23,125 | 12,06,66,849 | 1,56,83,726 | 76,91,123 | 59,42,648 | 11,23,718 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The above table shows the distribution of food grains under PDS Scheme to the ration card holders. Before the COVID-19 induced lockdown in March, about 25000 HH received rice, wheat, kerosene oil, salt and sugar. No beneficiaries received any grains under PMGKAY for all these months. During the lockdown months of April and May the distribution has doubled. The beneficiaries received rice, wheat, kerosene oil, salt and sugar. In May they also received dal and rice under PMGKAY. In June, however, the total transaction again reduced. In July the distribution again increased and beneficiaries received rice, wheat and chana under the PMGKAY as well. As per the central government’s announcement ofAtmaNirbhar Bharat scheme on May 15, 2020, 42,798 HH received 3.8 lakh kg rice and 74 thousand kg chana.
| Non NFSA Monthly Distribution | Total Card | Total Member | Lifted Status | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No of Card (Rice) | No Of Family Members (Rice) | No of Card (Chana) | No of Family Members (Chana) | Total Quantity Lifted (Kg) (Rice) | Total Quantity Lifted (Kg) (Chana) | |||
| 07-2020 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 06-2020 | 10,09,370 | 30,62,748 | 5,78,774 | 17,95,373 | 43,783 | 1,39,740 | 1,08,36,120 | 87,566 |
| 05-2020 | 10,78,709 | 32,89,542 | 3,46,909 | 10,88,247 | 0 | 0 | 34,69,090 | 0 |
| 04-2020 | 9,08,436 | 27,95,239 | 2,81,214 | 8,81,622 | 0 | 0 | 28,12,140 | 0 |
| 03-2020 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 02-2020 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 01-2020 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Above table shows the monthly Non NFSA ration card distribution. As per the records no food grains were provided to these holders in the months of January, February and March i.e., in the months prior to COVID-19 induced lockdown. After the COVID-19 induced lockdown in March, out of 9 Lakh holders, only 2.8 Lakh holders were provided rice in the month of April. In the month of May out of the 10 Lakh registered cards, about 3.4 Lakh holders received only rice. In June, out of 10 Lakh holders covering 30 Lakh population, 5.7 Lakh holders received rice and about 40 thousand holders received chana. This covered about 18 lakh, out of the 30 lakh people, who received either rice or chana or both.So far, none of the holders have received any ration in July.
This provides us with an understanding about the PDS distribution in the state. Only 25000 HH receive ration under NFSA scheme and even then, they are not provided with dal, chana or wheat for most of the past 7 months. The received quantity of sugar and salt decreased considerably during the lockdown months of April and May despite having almost the same number of HH to receive the rations. Under non-NFSA card holders, for the first three month there was no ration distributed. Only in June they received complete rations. Moreover, every few weeks the distribution figures for previous months keeps updating which may mean late distribution of ration to the required families and even then, and from above tables clearly, it might not be as per the mentioned quantity. This gives us an idea about how grim the situation in the state could be where people are already suffering from hunger and poverty, the ration distribution does not rich them on time and not just that when they receive it may not be as per the prescribed quantity.
| Ration card holders as on 15-08-2020 | PHH Head | PHH Member | AAY Head | AAY Member | Total Head | Total Member | White Head | White Member |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4,775,441 | 22,429,520 | 906,045 | 3,744,659 | 5,681,486 | 26,174,179 | 474,061 | 1,850,197 |
Out of 2.6 crore registered beneficiaries, 1.8 crore are white card holders. White card holders are the beneficiaries who currently do not require the government aid of these schemes. This leaves only 80 lakh people who are covered under the scheme. However, as per the 2011 census Jharkhand state has 1.2 crore (39% of the population) people living below poverty line. This means there are currently at least 40 Lakh people who are in need of the government aid but do not receive any benefits. Out of these 40 Lakh people, there are 12 Lakh people who have already applied for ration card but have not receive it. Even then by the most conservative estimate there are at least 18 Lakh people in Jharkhand who do not receive any government aid.
COVID-19 Response Report(27thApril to 7thMay)
The Jharkhand State Food Commission published COVID-19 Reponse Social Audit Report surveying 4428 beneficiary families and 364 dealers under PDS, MDM and ICDS schemes. The details of the same are as following.
- 96% of the families had ration cards and out of those who had ration card 98% received ration for 2 or more months at prescribed rate, 289 families reported have received ration for one month only.
- 103 families said that they had applied for ration card and 74 families did not have ration card.
- Those who received ration nearly 48% did not receive as per the prescribed quantity.
- 77% families reported the ration to be of good quality.
- Out of 4428 families, only 1767 (39%) families have their children attending class 8 or below.
- Those who attend school only 80% receive food grain under MDM scheme.
- Out of those who receive only 60% receive it as per the prescribed quantity and 85% of them reported it to be of good quality.
- Out of 1767 families only 859 (48%) receive money under MDM scheme and out of these 859, 92% received as per the provision.
- From 4428 families, 1225 (27.7%) families reported to have Pregnant/Lactating mother or with children below 5 years of age.
- Out of these 1225 families, 88.6% families were registered with Anganwadikendra
- From the registered families only 66% received nutritional supplement
- Out of those who receive it 72% receive as per the prescribed quality and only 74% reported to have received good quality supplement
The above study helps us understand the effectiveness of three government schemes. First of all,the schemesdoes not reach to the required population and even if it does half of them do not receive as per the provisions and those who receive might not receive the grains with good quality.
- 458 respondents surveyed across 11 districts from April 30th to 13th May, 2020 (not representative sample)
- 58% reported that they had lost their employment during the lockdown. 50% of the respondent male had lost the job and 60% of the respondent females had lost the job.
- Casual workers were the worst hit -76%. Regular salaried- 64% and 42% self employed people lost employment
- 42% of the salaried people reported to not have received the wages.
- 77% of households reported consuming less food than before during the lockdown. Worst hit among these were the agricultural wage workers.
- 27% of households were without enough money to buy even a week's worth of essentials
- Compared to general (11%) and OBC (22%) households, a relatively higher number of SC/ST households (29%) were without enough money to buy more than a week's worth of essential items
- More than one-fifth of all households had to take a loan as a result of this lockdown
- 8 in 10 households said that they cannot pay next month's rent
- 8 in 10 vulnerable households received ration during the lockdown
- 56% of vulnerable households did not have a Jan Dhan account, but 90% of those who did have a Jan Dhan account received a cash transfer.
- 46% of vulnerable households reported as having received at least one cash transfer.
- Only 16% of farmers received a PM-KISAN transfer.
- Round 1
- 1193 HH surveyed across 10 districts from 27th April to 2nd May in Round 1 to assess the effects of lockdown
- 17% HH reported in-migrants
- They were mainly dependent on village market (83%) or borrowing from others (19%)
- 55% reported to be dependent on last years’ Kharif food grains and 59% reported to not have any cultivation from this Rabi season
- Only 75% of them received food through PDS and 29% of the total received Take Home Ration
- 55% reported to have reduced their meals per day and 65% reported to have reduced number of items in their meal
- 18% of the HH reported to have mortgaged items to arrange for food/money and 25% sold their livestock for the same
- 25% borrowed money from family members and 17% took loan from money lender
- Nearly 25% HH reported that their children will have to drop out from school
-
- Round 2
- 1132 HH surveyed across 10 districts from 24th June to 8th July to assess how things have changed following the unlock
- 31% HH have migrants in the family and out of those 27% of the total reported to have migrant members returned. They are engaged in Kharif agriculture (36%) or are looking for job (36%) or MGNREGA work (16%)
- 80% of them are still in the village and 45% of HH reported that the migrants will not go back
- Out of those who had gas cylinder, 84% were registered under Ujjwala scheme and nearly 85% of those received the free cylinder previous month.
- 18% reported not to have any surplus from the last Kharif season and 33% reported it to last till August 2020.
- 12% reported not to have any Rabi production, 21% currently do not have any surplus and 25% reported it will last till August 2020.
- 61% reported to not have received Rs. 2000 under PM-KisanYojana
- Only 77% have received food grains through PDS and out of them 35% reported to not have sufficient grains for the entire family in the previous month
- 52% HH bought food grains from village market and 15% HH reported to have received grains from others in village in the previous month
- 50% reported to have reduced number of meals in the previous month. 12% of these people faced hunger issues last year as well.
- 56% reported to have reduced consumption of food in a meal and out of these 12% reported to have similar issues last year as well.
- 7% of the HH reported to have mortgaged items to arrange for food/money and 14% sold their livestock for the same
- 11% borrowed money from family members and 6.5% took loan from money lender
- 29% of the families reported that when the school reopen their children will drop out.
The above two studies give the insight about the employment, migration, debt and hunger issues in Jharkhand during COVID-19 induced lockdown and post-lockdown. The first study says nearly 84% farmers did not received cash transfers under PM-KISAN Yojana where as VikasAnveshan Study says that 61% farmers did not receive these transfers. The VikasnAnveshan study gives us the analysis of situation during lockdown and unlock. Only 75% of them received food through PDS during lockdown where as the same number increased to 77% during unlock. 55% reported to have reduced their meals per day and 65% reported to have reduced number of items in their meal during lockdown whereas during unlock the same reduced to 50% and 56% families, respectively. The study also mentions that last year during the same time about 12% families faced hunger issues which has grown to more than 50% this year.18% of the HH reported to have mortgaged items to arrange for food/money and 25% sold their livestock for the same during lockdown whereas during unlock the same figures reduced to 7% and 14% respectively. 11% families during unlock and 25% families during lockdown borrowed money from family members and 6.5% families during unlock and 17% families during lockdown took loan from money lender. However, during lockdown 25% families reported that they will not send their children to school once the schools open and the same number increased to 29% post lockdown. The studies shows that people have lost jobs, incurred debt in order to survive. They are not ready to migrate back to their work places. They do not have enough production to survive on from previous cropping seasons and whatever is left, will finish soon. They are forced to cut down on their meals. Hence, the government should implement immediate actions in order to help these families. The following section talks about some of the policy recommendations as suggested by the experts.
- Additional 15 lakh cards to be distributed. Immediate identification and delivery of two months grain and other items even to those who do not have cards. Panchayats, local NGOs, govt officials be involved in this identification.
- ICDS services and THR distribution should immediately begin as well as growth monitoring should begin in order to provide for malnourished children.
- MukhyaMantri Dal Bhat Yojana should be further strengthened. Free coupons to be given to those who are virtual destitute. Within 6 months Panchayat should be assigned the job of ration distribution and keep the stock of grains and other essentials like edible oil, pulses.
- There should be a toll-free complaint number mentioned on the card, 5Kg packets should be used for distribution and beneficiaries should receive ration receipt.
- Government should focus on agricultural development primarily food crops. They should enhance the procurement target and make quick payment, procure millets and distribute it through PDS and further improve the government storage facilities to reduce the post-harvest losses.
- Government should strengthen the laws restraining takeover of cultivated land into non-agriculture purpose and ensure strict mining laws for environmental restoration. They should rehabilitate the degraded land and use of degraded land for non-agriculture purpose.