India and the poor

India could achieve growth of 7% in the current year and more in coming years if the right reforms are made, a report from the finance ministry said. Among the reforms suggested was the reform of subsidies for fuel, food and fertiliser.
But then we read
30-year-old mother Pushpa lives with her ailing in-laws, five children and her husband in a crowded slum in east Delhi. Pushpa's husband earns about $10 a month selling herbal medicine - so several days a month, the family has to go to bed hungry. Two of her five children have been in and out of hospitals for severe malnutrition.
"I voted this government into power but to no avail. No one is taking care of us. We even have our identity cards that entitle us to subsidised food. The government has promised us cheap rice and wheat, but we get nothing. My children are dying of hunger. How can I feed them? They keep falling sick."

Despite government food schemes having existed for more than 30 years, Indian malnutrition and child mortality rates are worse than in Sub-Saharan Africa. Even in urban centres such as Delhi there are millions of people who cannot afford to eat. By some estimates, malnutrition has led to an economic loss of $29bn a year - equivlent to almost 4% of India's gross domestic product, or GDP . Parshuram Ray, the director of Centre for Environment and Food Security, says almost 80% of Indians do not get enough to eat.
The proposed Food security act will guarantee 25 kilograms of food grain to the poorest people at a subsidised cost but it is the implementation of this law that is worrying industrialists fearing that if the government continues to spend at this pace it will have huge negative implications for the Indian economy. The widening fiscal deficit is worrying Indian industry. Some estimate that the government is spending 7% more than it is getting in from taxes and other income sources.The borrowing target has already been raised to $76bn for this year from an earlier prediction of $62bn.

SOYMB know from history when it comes to feeding the poor or feeding capitalist profit frenzy , who will come out the losers