This survey was conducted almost two years after the first lockdown. “When everyone seems to be talk of recovery, there seems to be high-level of distress and food insecurity amongst the marginalised communities. The nutritional quality of food consumed was poorer than what it was before the pandemic began, which itself was inadequate to begin with,” explained Dipa Sinha, assistant professor at Ambedkar University and a food rights activist.The incomes of Muslims has fallen more than that of Hindus. At least 65% of Muslim households reported that their incomes had fallen compared to pre-pandemic, compared to 51% of Hindu households. The largest proportion reporting a fall in income was among general castes at 63%, compared to 50% among Other Backward Castes and 44% among Scheduled Tribes.Only 5% households earned more than Rs 15,000 per month from all sources and 70% households earned less than Rs 7,000 per month. In the top income bracket of families earning more than Rs 15,000, 29% of the households were Scheduled Castes, 27% OBC and 21% belonged to the general category.Almost all the respondents worried about lack of food. Almost 61% of those who responded stated that they could afford to eat only certain kinds of food, 60% were unable to eat healthy food, or were unable to eat as much or what types of foods they would have wanted to in the month preceding the survey. 67 % could not afford cooking gas in the month preceding the survey. The survey revealed that 45% of the respondents ran out of food, 32% were hungry but could not eat and 26% had to go without eating for a whole day.Of the states surveyed, Rajasthan, Delhi, Karnataka and UP reported high incidence of overall food insecurity, close to 90%. More than half of Bihar and Andhra Pradesh respondents reported severe food insecurity.
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