Food security is not just about grain, but a wholesome nutritional package, feels the Planning Commission. Even as the National Advisory Council (NAC) draft food security bill stresses on providing enough food grains to poor families, the Commission is contemplating a second ?operation flood? for dairy sustenance and an ambitious programme to provide fish supplement for non-vegetarians. ?The programmes will find their way into the 12th Plan document,? said a top source in the government.

Bells started ringing for the Commission when national sample survey (NSSO) data for 2004-05 showed that 97% of Indians felt that they were ?adequately fed.? When the Commission went back to 1998 data, the figure was again an astounding 81%. And yet, nutrition levels and related indices for infant mortality rates (IMR) and maternal mortality rates (MMR) were still fairly high.

?What does that mean? It means that grains were plentiful but that the food being ingested was low on nutrition,? said the source. The Commission then went into how some developed countries like Japan and the US showed remarkable improvements in nutritional levels. ?In the US, we found that meat-deprived immigrants gained height and other improvements after a meat-based diet, while in Japan, the improvement after World War II was due to a new emphasis on dairy and its products,? said the source.

?In India, despite Operation Flood, we found that dairy-producing households themselves consumed less dairy as most of it was sold and dairy byproducts like buttermilk otherwise consumed in these households were not being produced as milk was sold in raw form. We feel that a renewed emphasis on dairy products and distribution of buttermilk or even milk would work where grains would fail in lifting nutrition levels,? said the source.

?Most lower castes in India are non-vegetarians, except say in states like Gujarat and Rajasthan, but can?t afford to eat meat. Fish farming, which is easier to do and has been done with great success in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu can be propagated through self help groups, and could go a long way to ease nutritional deficiencies among these groups,? said the source.

At least three members of the Planning Commission are said to be on board with this idea. The NAC?s draft is of course not going to be dismissed out of hand. ?The NAC draft also talks of investing in reforming the public distribution System. We feel a more state-specific distribution network for the dairy and fish-based programme would be effective and elements of the PDS will help in this,? said the source. Operation Flood at Anand in Gujarat ? along with the Green Revolution ? was one of the showpieces of Indian agriculture and supportive activities.