RANCHI: Comparing NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Ayog and its directions with comic characters Chacha Chaudhary and Saboo, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Saryu Roy said that it had created a sense of confusion among the people what it is and what exactly it does.
Speaking during the release of 'Global Hunger Index' 2018 in Ranchi, Roy said that once the directions are issued by NITI Ayog, whole Country starts working on it without giving it a second thought or questioning its feasibility.
"We are not able to understand what exactly NITI Ayog is; one has to make lot of effort to understand what it is and what exactly it does," said the minister. First, it should not be called 'Ayog' as it is just an institution constituted for transforming the nation, he added.
"I think NITI Ayog and directions issued by it are just like comic characters 'Chacha Chaudhary' whose mind works faster than computer and 'Saboo; Chacha Chaudhary issues huge directions in the form of Saboo for transforming the nation and entire nation starts working on it without giving it a second thought or raising doubts over it," said minister. One should understand that priorities changes with regions in this Country hence schemes must be chalked out accordingly, he added.
"If one tries to do justice with it, Government's rules create hindrance to it," the minister said. When it was 'Yojana Ayog' things were easier, and things were quite simple, he added.
The minister further said that if still there are hunger and malnutrition in the Country, proper review of schemes being carried out must also done and if there are any ambiguities, it must be removed.
The local institutions working in the filed must put suggestions before the Government boldly so that the loopholes could be removed on time, he added.
Meanwhile, the Global Hunger Index 2018 released by 'Life Education and Development Support' (LEADS) in association with 'Welthungerhilfe' suggested that India ranks serious index score of 31.1 whereas 50.03 per cent population in Jharkhand does not have enough food availability for their needs.
Overall, nearly 59.3 per cent of the households have access to three meals a day and only 26 per cent of the households can consume two meals a day. EoM