Gurgaon Nagrik Ekta Manch (GNEM), a civil society group, has in its report, “Taking Stock: Assessing Distribution and Distress in Gurugram during the COVID-19 Lockdown” said the administration did not specifically and systematically targeted the hunger hotspots for food distribution in the district. Many such spots around the industrial pockets found no mention in the official announcements, it added.
Indicating a considerable gap between the demand and supply of food, the report revealed that the distress calls for food the organisation received increased sevenfold, from eight calls a day to 60, after the extension of lockdown on April 14.
Flawed system
The administration’s focus on mapping and intervening in hotspots through establishment of containment zones and enhanced screening was duly announced and reported. However, hunger hotspots that emerged clearly in our data, especially in clusters around industrial pockets like Dundahera, Sarhaul, Manesar, Dharuhera, Khandsa and Naharpur did not find mention in any official announcement, said GNEM in its report.
It further added that they provided the list of high concentration areas to the administration’s food and hunger control room, however, “hunger hotspots were not specifically and systematically targeted by the administration for food relief”.
The nine-page report said the rate of demand for dry rations and cooked food supplied by the organisation consistently outstripped supply since the start of the lockdown.
Demand-supply
“Even with nearly 10,100 ration kits delivered until April 21, which provided food security for 40,400 people, GNEM has only been able to cater to 68% of those in need. GNEM has served close to four lakh cooked meals since the first week of April but is only able to meet 74% of demand. The story will be similar for other civil society groups involved in relief work,” the report said.
Based on the group’s findings from food distribution efforts during COVID-19 lockdown, the report said the number of calls they had to verify spiked once the lockdown extension was announced, thus establishing rising distress with the passage of time.
The calls indicated that the anxiety over food increased during the period because most of the workers had little or no savings. The extension of lockdown until May 3 created panic among them and the line of credit with the local grocery shops for many snapped. Those without a locally-registered ration card had no support from the government nor was there any cash-support scheme in place.
On the Distress Ration Cards scheme, the report said many people had not received the coupons yet; getting rations seemed distant and uncertain given that verification processes were also involved.
The report said the process for distribution of distress ration coupons remained “unclear and entirely opaque”.
The report suggested to make system of distress ration coupon distribution public, reopen registration for ₹1,000 cash relief to daily-wagers and set up a single helpline and a public grievance portal.