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The editorial “Hungry India”, aptly pointed out that the hunger and malnutrition of more than 200 million people in India today are a reflection of the failure of successive governments, both at the Centre and in various States (Business Line, October 23).

It is indeed an irony that the producers of food (farmers) remain poor and undernourished in this largely agrarian economy.

The governments, over the years, have wasted a lot of monetary resources writing off loans of farmers, instead of developing the social and economic infrastructure (schools, hospitals, irrigation facilities, small-scale and cottage industries) on a massive scale in the rural areas.

Had the resources been spent effectively on rural development projects, the country by this time would have had balanced regional development, abundant material and human resources and, of course, an appreciable demographic dividend from the rural areas too.

The demographic dividend, as rightly mentioned, “will prove rather elusive if Indians in large numbers continue to remain underfed and undernourished”.

S. Ramakrishnasayee Ranipet

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