Poor quality grains from Delhi

A bag of rice is unloaded from a truck at an Indian grains depot near New Delhi on August 27, 2013, one day after the Indian parliament passed a flagship 18-billion-dollar programme to provide subsidised food to the poor that is intended to "wipe out" endemic hunger and malnutrition in the aspiring superpower. Despite decades of fast economic growth, India still struggles to feed its 1.2-billion population adequately with more than 40 percent of children under five malnourished, according to a major survey last year. AFP PHOTO/ Roberto SCHMIDT

Despite the food security scheme ensuring access to “quality food at affordable prices”, several beneficiaries that The Hindu spoke to complained about the poor quality of grains dispensed to them at fair price shops. Urmila Devi, a 42-year-old homemaker, picks up her ration from a shop in South Delhi’s Savitri Nagar. “Half the amount of rice that I get is dirty and smells bad. When I weed out all the bad grains I am left with very little to feed my family,” she said.

Women from places such as Sonia Vihar and Bawana also complained that the grain available is of poor quality. Sushma Shrivastava from Satark Nagrik Sangathan, a citizen’s vigilance group working to promote transparency and accountability in governance, visited Jagdamba Camp in Sheikh-Sarai last week. She said, “About 1.5 kg of the 20 kg wheat had discarded grains, stones and even bajra mixed into it,” she said.