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Indian Express
21-06-2025
- Health
- Indian Express
Vulnerable communities in Gujarat struggle for access to ration, Anganwadi services: Survey
Even as malnutrition rates in Gujarat are rising among children, pregnant women, and adolescents, thousands of vulnerable individuals, including infants, and elderly are being denied access to Anganwadi services and ration due to stringent requirements such as Aadhaar linkage, Face ID authentication, and online registration, stated a survey report released on Saturday. The survey, carried out under Anna Suraksha Adhikar Abhiyan (ASAA) — a collective platform of people's organisations, institutions and activists working on the issue of food insecurity in the state — covered four districts of the state. The Anna Suraksha Adhikar Abhiyan, which translates to 'Right to Food Campaign', has been working in Gujarat since 2003. The campaign has been covering issues of ration, 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.
New Indian Express
11-06-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
10 lakh people go without ration as e-KYC wrecks 'access' in Gujarat
AHMEDABAD: The National Food Security Act mandates the State to guarantee food access for every citizen, from the womb stage to adulthood. However, the system meant to safeguard this right in Gujarat is cracking. Startling data from the State's own IPDS portal reveals that nearly 10 lakh beneficiaries were not able to receive ration during April, May, and June 2025, largely due to incomplete KYC formalities. This massive lapse exposes the gap between policy promises and on-ground delivery, leaving lakhs of vulnerable citizens battling hunger amid bureaucratic barriers. According to the Anna Suraksha Adhikar Abhiyan, the Centre's NDPS portal lists 3.82 crore beneficiaries in Gujarat. Yet, in the last three months, the number of actual beneficiaries has hovered between just 3.72 crore and 3.76 crore -- a shortfall of nearly 10 lakh people. The primary culprit behind this exclusion? Delays and glitches in mandatory e-KYC. But that's not the only red flag. The growing number of silent ration cards adds another layer of crisis. In the past three months alone, Gujarat has recorded over 4 lakh silent cards -- ration cards that get automatically deactivated if not used for three months. Anna Suraksha Adhikar Abhiyan Coordinator Pankti Jog said 'On paper, it looks like people have stopped collecting rations. However, on the ground, families claim they were turned away by ration dealers due to incomplete e-KYC — leaving them without food and branded inactive by the system.' 'This raises a sharp and pressing question: if people are being denied ration due to e-KYC issues and then their cards are marked silent, who is accountable for pushing lakhs into involuntary hunger? With each ration card typically linked to three or more family members, the real number of affected individuals could be over a million,' she said. In 2013, the Parliament passed the National Food Security Act (NFSA), aiming to bring every Indian, from children in Anganwadis to urban poor, under a legal food safety net. It brought under its ambit flagship schemes like the Mid-Day Meal, Anganwadi nutrition, and the Public Distribution System (PDS). Gujarat implemented the Act from April 1, 2016, promising subsidised grains — wheat at ₹2/kg, rice at ₹3/kg, and coarse grains at ₹1/kg — to 75% of its rural and 50% of its urban population. States were also allowed to expand this with pulses, gram, and oil for added nutrition. The month-on-month data reveals the cracks widening. In March 2025, out of 76,94,736 ration cards, 3,72,92,987 beneficiaries. But by April, even with a marginal increase to 77,01,339 ration cards, the number of beneficiaries slightly dipped to 3,72,71,559. May showed no major deviation, with 3,72,92,987 beneficiaries again, holding steady. However, the crisis exploded in June. Despite 73,99,129 ration cards in circulation, only 3,08,86,997 people received their entitlement. The burden of compliance fell squarely on the ration cardholders.
