Poor Indian children keeping their hands up and asking for support. Many Indian children suffer from poverty - more than 50% of India's total population lives below the poverty line, and more than 40% of this population are children.

2,4m to receive food aid until March

By Marsha Sengwe

By New Ziana On Jan 21, 2023

AN estimated 2.4m people in the country are receiving food aid from the Government
according to the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare.
The beneficiaries are getting at least 10kg of maize each one every month and will be catered
for, provisionally, until March this year.
Cumulatively for the three months, the Government is expecting to have given out at least
72,884,84 tonnes of maize, with the Midlands and Mashonaland West as well as Manicaland
having the largest numbers getting support under the programme in their descending order of
population.
The Midlands Province has a targeted population of 398 435, while Mashonaland West has
388 145 and Manicaland 358 004.
In Mashonaland Central, the Government programme is targeting 222 302 people and is
expecting to deliver 6 669.05 tonnes by March.
To ease the burden on the Government, other international humanitarian organisations are
feeding the remainder.
The humanitarian organisations include the World Food Programme (WFP), which is catering
for nearly 584 986 others across the country.
According to the Social Welfare data, WFP is catering for people across nine districts in the
country. These are Buhera, Mt Darwin, Hwedza, Mudzi, Bikita, Chivi, Bubi, Nkayi and
Mangwe.
People receiving food under the Government’s Drought Relief Programme get their rations
on a monthly basis and already in Mashonaland Central, distribution for January is underway
in Bindura, Guruve, Mbire and Muzarabani.
By the time of going to print, officials at the provincial Social Development office said that
the programme was yet to kick off in Mazowe, Rushinga and Shamva.