food hoarded in India

India's grain warehouses are bursting at the seams and sacks of rice and wheat lie rotting in the open for lack of storage space.60m tonnes of grain is lying in warehouses or under plastic sheeting, and, according to the Hindustan Times, 11m tonnes of it has been destroyed by the monsoons. A committee of experts appointed by the supreme court has claimed that this is nothing short of "genocide", and last month the court ordered the free distribution of the grain to the poor rather than have it eaten by rats.

Half of India's children aged under five suffer from malnutrition, and the rate remained stable between 1999 and 2006 despite the economic growth in those years. India is the world's 11th largest economic power but still has more people in poverty than sub-Saharan Africa.

According to a 2008 report by the National Advisory Council, some government "fair price" shops only open two or three days a month, and very few Indians can afford to buy their entire 25-30 kg monthly ration in one go, on wages that barely allow them to survive from day-to-day.

The most vulnerable people were not benefiting from the government food programme or were not getting enough out of it. Indeed, the rich benefit more from it than the poor. Forged ration cards can be bought from corrupt officials. A 2005 audit by the National Advisory Council found that only 42% of the subsidised grain was reaching those who were suffering from malnutrition. Families living below the poverty line often hand over their ration cards to moneylenders as collateral for loans when they have to pay for a child's wedding – or to pay back other debts. The yellow "BPL" ration cards distributed to families below the poverty line are the most sought after, since they allow holders to re-sell the rice they obtain at the subsidised price of just 5-6 cents a kilo.

A majority of Indians blame economic growth for the widening divide between the rich and the poor, according to a survey. Almost 63 per cent of people believe that poverty, slums and urban squalor would continue to dominate the landscape even after 20 to 25 years from now. More than six out of ten feel that government should distribute free food to prevent abject poverty, the survey said.