Congress president Sonia Gandhi has requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure nobody faces hunger, pointing out that India has enough food stocks to feed the poor during the pandemic-induced crisis.

In a letter to the Prime Minister on Monday, the Congress president said: “Lakhs of vulnerable people across the country face chronic food insecurity due to the lockdown. This is tragic, given that India has large buffer stock of food grains precisely for exigencies like the current pandemic. We must ensure nobody faces hunger in the fight against the pandemic.”

She welcomed the decision to provide free of cost 5kg grain per person till June in addition to the entitlements (5kg) under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).

Sonia added: “However, given the adverse impact of the lockdown and its prolonged impact of people’s livelihoods, consider a few suggestions. First, the provision of 10kg grains/person to NFSA beneficiaries must be extended for an additional period of three months i.e. till September 2020. Given the chronic economic distress faced by these beneficiaries, the food entitlements may be provided free of cost.”

The letter said: “Second, 10kg grains per person may be provided free of cost, for a period of six months, to those who may be facing food insecurity but not holding ration cards. I would like to bring to your notice that all migrant labour who have been facing acute distress may not be holding NFSA cards. In addition, many deserving people have been excluded from the NFSA lists. The current crisis has pushed many relatively food-secure families into food insecurity and poverty. Population increases since 2011 have not been considered for determining each state’s entitlement under the NFSA.”