HYDERABAD:The current nutritional status in India is the result of policy deficit in several critical nutrition-related issues and lack of implementation even where policies exist, Veena S Rao, adviser to Karnataka Comprehensive Nutrition Mission (KCNM), has said.
Speaking at the 47th national conference of Nutrition Society of India (NSI) here on Friday, Veena said, “Food and agriculture are logistically related to nutrition. India does not have a national food policy per se but it does have a policy and mission for public distribution and making food grains accessible and affordable to the poor. Recently, the Food Security Act (FSA) has been superimposed upon the public distribution system (PDS). But both PDS and FSA primarily address subsistence and not nutritional security.” She observed, “The present food policy emphasises on distribution of cheap rice under PDS as against the more nutritive wheat, coarse grains etc. It is increasing under-nutrition and micro-nutrient deficiency and also led to a shift in agricultural patterns.”