Despite elaborate propaganda in 1960s, people of Madras did not take to wheat 

Despite elaborate propaganda in 1960s, people of Madras did not take to wheat

In the late 1950s and 1960s, government propaganda had failed to convince the people of the Madras State (now Tamil Nadu) to take to including wheat in their diet. Besides, between then and now, the percentage of population identified as vegetarians in the State has shrunk from 7 to a little over 2.

“No amount of propaganda done by the government has made the people eat more than a small quantity of wheat,” notes P.K. Nambiar, the then Superintendent of Census Operations, Madras, in his elaborate report on ‘Food Habits in Madras State’ prepared in 1964. Nambiar had undertaken the survey using the liberal policy of the then Registrar-General of India, A. Mitra, to enrich census literature, which allowed the Census Superintendents to take up special studies on any subject relating to their States.

Cereals had supplied 70%-80% of the energy requirements of the population in the State in the early 1960s. Wheat was not produced in any considerable measure. “Naturally wheat was not consumed in this State until rationing was introduced in 1943. With a view to popularising wheat in Madras, elaborate propaganda was done by the Government. The total quantity consumed in the State is still negligible,” the report observed.

Cereals were the cheapest food available. The poorer people preferred less expensive millet, such as cholam, cumbu and ragi, to rice. Interestingly, the report pointed out that the difference in cost between a millet meal and a rice meal was not only the difference in cost between millet and rice but also the cost of the side dishes needed for such meals.

“No side dish is normally consumed with the millet meal, but rice meal requires kuzhambu, rasam or butter-milk. So, the cost of a rice meal is much more than that of a millet meal. This factor has influenced people in the lower income group in their food habits. Whenever their purchasing capacity improves, they prefer to go in for more and more rice. For millet eaters, rice is an item of luxury,” Nambiar recorded.

Time was also an important factor in the formation of food habits. As such, rice can be got ready for cooking in the least possible time. Millet needs lot of cleaning and processing. Due to this, even in rural parts a higher percentage of rice eaters was found among small traders and village artisans than among cultivators and farm workers. The report also notes that in spite of the general shortage of food in the preceding two decades, people stuck to the old habits and preferences, with the result that there was a large movement of cereals in the State which could have been avoided. “This is the gloomy aspect of food situation,” Nambiar said, though by then the State was self-sufficient in food production.

Incidentally, during the survey it was found that in Kanniyakumari district, owing to the low level of the economic condition, 19% of the households consumed rice meal only once a day. It was generally taken at night. In the morning and the noon, the people ate tapioca tuber. Only 54% of the people there ate three rice meals a day.