Survey shows 66% of respondents feel income levels down from pre-pandemic

Only 34% of the overall sample reported that their household cereal consumption in the month preceding the survey was sufficient

Two years into the pandemic, the condition of a significant section of the population has yet not improved and as many as 66 per cent of the respondents of a survey said that incomes decreased as compared to pre-pandemic period.

The survey was conducted by Right to Food Campaign in association with the Centre for Equity Studies and a number of other networks and organisations, as a follow-up to a previous survey done immediately after the first lockdown. It found that over 90 per cent of those who had any ration cards received some food grains during this period.

But, only 34 per cent of the overall sample reported that their household’s cereal consumption in the month preceding the survey was sufficient.

“Using the Global Food Insecurity Experience Scale (GFIES) it was found that 79 per cent of the households surveyed reported some form of food insecurity, and an alarmingly high 25 per cent reported severe food insecurity,” the survey said.

It also found that 41 per cent of surveyed households reported that the nutritional quality of their diet had deteriorated compared to pre-pandemic levels.

The survey was conducted among 6,697 respondents from 14 states, of which 31 per cent of the households were STs, 25 per cent were SCs, 19 per cent belonged to the General category, 15 per cent OBCs and 6 per cent were Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs). Over 71 per cent of the respondents were women.

The survey was aimed to track and document the hunger situation among vulnerable communities, coordinating local action demanding access to rights and entitlements and thirdly to draw public attention to the scale of the problem and build public consciousness around the prevailing situation of hunger in the country.