Hunger is a massive problem in most developing nations and India, in particular, is one of the worst affected nations globally in terms of food distribution and poverty. Although a governmental welfare system of rationing food supplies is in place which caters to low income families, as for most of those living below the poverty line, this system is not adequate. Various studies have reported India as just slightly higher than the poorest of the poor nations in the world. The World Bank states that as many as one in three undernourished and poverty stricken people of the world reside in India.
The problem lies with the fact that many of the welfare programs and food distribution drives are unable to reach out to majority of people in need, with bribery and corruption failing even the most well-intentioned efforts. This is largely why India ranks 68th out of 79 countries on the Global Hunger Index (GHI) and starvation rate actually increasing from 22.9% in 1996 to 23.7% in 2011.
The news is not all bad though. The Poverty Development Goal Report has said that almost 320 million people in India are on their way to being lifted out of poverty by 2015 and that out of all the South Asian countries, India is the only one that is on the right path to halving the poverty rate by the target of 2015.
Helping to meet this demanding target is the Ponty Chadha Foundation, established in the memory of Mr. Gurdeep Singh (Ponty) Chadha; which established the Ghaziabad-Noida Food Bank in collaboration with the reputed India FoodBanking Network (IFBN). By putting in place concrete steps to ensure welfare of poor people through free food programs, the foundation aims to enhance the lives of those below the poverty line in villages around Ghaziabad and Noida, and helping out people in the vicinity of its Wave City projects near NH-24, Ghaziabad.
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