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Overview
Food security means availability,accessibility and affordability
of food toall people at all times. The poorhouseholds are more
vulnerable to foodinsecurity whenever there is a problemof
production or distribution of foodcrops. Food security depends on
thePublic Distribution System (PDS) andgovernment vigilance and
action attimes, when this security is threatened.
What is food security?
Food is as essential for living as air is forbreathing. But food
security meanssomething more than getting two squaremeals. Food
security has followingdimensions
(a) availability of food means foodproduction within the
country, foodimports and the previous years stockstored in
government granaries.
(b) accessibility means food is within reachof every person.
(c) affordability implies that an individualhas enough money to
buy sufficient,safe and nutritious food to meet one'sdietary
needs.
Thus, food security is ensured in acountry only if (1) enough
food is availablefor all the persons (2) all persons havethe
capacity to buy food of acceptablequality and (3) there is no
barrier onaccess to food.
Why food security?
The poorest section of the society mightbe food insecure most of
the times whilepersons above the poverty line might alsobe food
insecure when the country faces
Food Security in IndiaChapter4
Food Security in India
a national disaster/calamity likeearthquake, drought, flood,
tsunami,widespread failure of crops causingfamine, etc. How is food
securityaffected during a calamity? Due to anatural calamity, say
drought, totalproduction of foodgrains decreases. Itcreates a
shortage of food in the affectedareas. Due to shortage of food, the
pricesgoes up. At the high prices, some peoplecannot afford to buy
food. If such calamityhappens in a very wide spread area or
isstretched over a longer time period, itmay cause a situation of
starvation.A massive starvation might take a turnof famine.
A Famine is characterised by widespread deaths due to starvation
and
In the 1970s, food security wasunderstood as the availability at
all timesof adequate supply of basic foodstuffs(UN, 1975). Amartya
Sen added a newdimension to food security andemphasised the access
to food throughwhat he called entitlements acombination of what one
can produce,exchange in the market alongwith stateor other socially
provided supplies.Accordingly, there has been a substantialshift in
the understanding of food security.The 1995 World Food Summit
declared,Food security at the individual,household, regional,
national and globallevels exists when all people, at all times,have
physical and economic access tosufficient, safe and nutritious food
to meettheir dietary needs and food preferencesfor an active and
healthy life (FAO, 1996,p.3). The declaration further
recognisesthat poverty eradication is essential toimprove access to
food.
4
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Food Security in India 43
Picture 4.2 During the Bengal Famine of1943, a family leaves its
villagein Chittagong district in Bengal.
Picture 4.1 Starvation victims arriving at arelief centre,
1945.
Lets Discuss1. Some people say that the Bengal famine happened
because there was a shortage
of rice. Study the table and find out whether you agree with the
statement?
2. Which year shows a drastic decline in food availability?
Do you know who were affected themost by the famine? The
agriculturallabourers, fishermen, transportworkers and other casual
labourerswere affected the most by dramaticallyincreasing price of
rice. They were theones who died in this famine.
Year Production Imports Exports Total Availability
(Lakh tonnes) (Lakh tonnes) (Lakh tonnes) (Lakh tonnes)
1938 85 85
1939 79 04 83
1940 82 03 85
1941 68 02 70
1942 93 01 92
1943 76 03 79
Source: Sen, A.K, 1981 Page 61
Table 4.1: Production of Rice in the Province of Bengal
epidemics caused by forced use ofcontaminated water or decaying
food andloss of body resistance due to weakeningfrom
starvation.
The most devastating famine thatoccurred in India was the FAMINE
OFBENGAL in 1943. This famine killed thirtylakh people in the
province of Bengal.
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44 Economics
Nothing like the Bengal Famine hashappened in India again. But
it isdisturbing to note that even today, thereare places like
Kalahandi and Kashipurin Orissa where famine-like conditionshave
been existing for many years andwhere some starvation deaths have
alsobeen reported. Starvation deaths are alsoreported in Baran
district of Rajasthan,Palamau district of Jharkhand and manyother
remote areas during the recentyears. Therefore, food security is
neededin a country to ensure food at all times.
Who are food-insecure?Although a large section of people
sufferfrom food and nutrition insecurity inIndia, the worst
affected groups arelandless people with little or no land todepend
upon, traditional artisans,providers of traditional services, petty
self-employed workers and destitutesincluding beggars. In the urban
areas, thefood insecure families are those whoseworking members are
generally employedin ill-paid occupations and casual labourmarket.
These workers are largely
Suggested Activity
(a) What do you see in Picture 4.1?
(b) Which age group is seen in the firstpicture?
(c) Can you say that the family shown inthe Picture 4.2 is a
poor family? why?
(d) Can you imagine the source oflivelihood of the people,
(shown in twoPictures) before the occurrence offamine? (In the
context of a village)
(e) Find out what type of help is given tothe victims of a
natural calamity at arelief camp.
(f ) Have you ever helped such victims (inthe form of money,
food, clothes,medicines etc.)PROJECT WORK: Gather moreinformation
about famines in India.
Story of Ramu
Ramu works as a casual labourerin agriculture in Raipur village.
Hiseldest son Somu who is 10 years oldalso works as a pali to look
after thecattle of the Sarpanch of the villageSatpal Singh. Somu is
employed forthe whole year by the Sarpanch andis paid a sum of Rs
1,000 for thiswork. Ramu has three more sonsand two daughters but
they are tooyoung to work on the field. His wifeSunhari is also
(part time) workingas house cleaner for the livestock,removing and
managing cow dung.She gets litre milk and somecooked food along
with vegetablesfor her daily work. Besides she alsoworks in the
field along with herhusband in the busy season andsupplements his
earnings.Agriculture being a seasonalactivity employs Ramu only
duringtimes of sowing, transplanting andharvesting. He remains
unemployedfor about 4 months during theperiod of plant
consolidation andmaturing in a year. He looks forwork in other
activities. Some timeshe gets employment in brick layingor in
construction activities in thevillage. By all his efforts, Ramu
isable to earn enough either in cashor kind for him to buy
essentials fortwo square meals for his family.However, during the
days when heis unable to get some work, he andhis family really
face difficulties andsometimes his small kids have tosleep without
food. Milk andvegetables are not a regular part ofmeals in the
family. Ramu is foodinsecure during 4 months when heremains
unemployed because of theseasonal nature of agriculture work.
engaged in seasonal activities and are paidvery low wages that
just ensure baresurvival.
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Food Security in India 45
Lets Discuss
Does Ahmad have a regular incomefrom rickshaw-pulling?
How does the yellow card help Ahmad
Story of Ahmad
Ahmad is a rickshaw puller inBangalore. He has shifted
fromJhumri Taliah along with his 3brothers, 2 sisters and old
parents.He stays in a jhuggi. The survival ofall members of his
family depends onhis daily earnings from pullingrickshaw. However,
he does not havea secured employment and hisearnings fluctuate
every day. Duringsome days he gets enough earning forhim to save
some amount after buyingall his day-to-day necessities. Onother
days, he barely earns enoughto buy his daily necessities.
However,fortunately, Ahmad has a yellow card,which is PDS Card for
below povertyline people. With this card, Ahmadgets sufficient
quantity of wheat, rice,sugar and kerosene oil for his dailyuse. He
gets these essentials at halfof the market price. He purchases
hismonthly stock during a particular daywhen the ration shop is
opened forbelow poverty people. In this way,Ahmad is able to eke
out his survivalwith less than sufficient earnings forhis big
family where he is the onlyearning member.
Lets Discuss
Why is agriculture a seasonal activity? Why is Ramu unemployed
for about
four months in a year? What does Ramu do when he is
unemployed? Who are supplementing income in
Ramus family? Why does Ramu face difficulty when
he is unable to have work? When is Ramu food insecure?
run his family even with smallearnings from rickshaw-pulling?The
social composition along with the
inability to buy food also plays a role infood insecurity. The
SCs, STs and somesections of the OBCs (lower castes amongthem) who
have either poor land-base orvery low land productivity are prone
tofood insecurity. The people affected bynatural disasters, who
have to migrate toother areas in search of work, are alsoamong the
most food insecure people. Ahigh incidence of malnutrition
prevailsamong women. This is a matter of seriousconcern as it puts
even the unborn babyat the risk of malnutrition. A largeproportion
of pregnant and nursingmothers and children under the age of 5years
constitute an important segment ofthe food insecure population.
According to the National Health andFamily Survey (NHFS) 199899,
thenumber of such women and children isapproximately 11 crore.
The food insecure people aredisproportionately large in some
regionsof the country, such as economicallybackward states with
high incidence ofpoverty, tribal and remote areas, regionsmore
prone to natural disasters etc. Infact, the states of Uttar Pradesh
(easternand south-eastern parts), Bihar,Jharkhand, Orissa, West
Bengal,Chattisgarh, parts of Madhya Pradesh andMaharasthra account
for largest numberof food insecure people in the country.
Hunger is another aspect indicatingfood insecurity. Hunger is
not just anexpression of poverty, it brings aboutpoverty. The
attainment of food securitytherefore involves eliminating
currenthunger and reducing the risks of futurehunger. Hunger has
chronic and seasonaldimensions. Chronic hunger is aconsequence of
diets persistentlyinadequate in terms of quantity and/or
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46 Economics
quality. Poor people suffer from chronichunger because of their
very low incomeand in turn inability to buy food even forsurvival.
Seasonal hunger is related tocycles of food growing and harvesting.
Thisis prevalent in rural areas because of theseasonal nature of
agricultural activitiesand in urban areas because of the
casuallabour, e.g., there is less work for casualconstruction
labour during the rainyseason. This type of hunger exists whena
person is unable to get work for theentire year.
The percentage of seasonal as well aschronic hunger has declined
in India asshown in the above table.
India is aiming at Self-sufficiency inFoodgrains since
Independence.
After independence, Indian policymakers adopted all measures to
achieveself-sufficiency in food grains. Indiaadopted a new strategy
in agriculture,which resulted in the GreenRevolution especially in
the productionof wheat and rice.
Indira Gandhi, the then PrimeMinister of India, officially
recorded theimpressive strides of the Greenrevolution in
agriculture by releasing a
Table 4.2: Percentage of Households withHunger in India
Type of hunger
Year Seasonal Chronic Total
Rural
1983 16.2 2.3 18.5
199394 4.2 0.9 5.1
19992000 2.6 0.7 3.3
Urban
1983 5.6 0.8 6.4
199394 1.1 0.5 1.6
19992000 0.6 0.3 0.9
Source: Sagar (2004)
special stamp entitled WheatRevolution in July 1968. The
successof wheat was later replicated in rice. Theincrease in
foodgrains was, however,disproportionate. The highest rate ofgrowth
was achieved in Punjab andHaryana, where foodgrain productionjumped
from 7.23 million tonnes in196465 to reach an all-time high of
218million tonnes in 200910. Productionin Maharashtra, Madhya
Pradesh, Bihar,Orissa and the northeastern statescontinued to
stagger. Tamil Nadu andAndhra Pradesh, on the other hand,recorded
significant increases in riceyield.
Suggested Activity
Visit some farms in a nearby village andcollect the details of
food crops cultivatedby the farmers.
Food Security in IndiaSince the advent of the Green revolutionin
the early-70s, the country has avoidedfamine even during adverse
weatherconditions.
India has become self-sufficient infoodgrains during the last
thirty yearsbecause of a variety of crops grown allover the
country. The availability offoodgrains (even in adverse
weatherconditions or otherwise) at the countrylevel has further
been ensured with a
Picture 4.3 A farmer from Punjab standing ina field of one of
the High YieldingVarieties of wheat on which theGreen Revolution is
based.
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Food Security in India 47
Source: Economic Survey 201112
Graph 4.1: Production of Foodgrains in India(Million Tonnes)
before the sowing season to provideincentives to the farmers for
raising theproduction of these crops. The purchasedfoodgrains are
stored in granaries. Doyou know why this buffer stock is createdby
the government? This is done todistribute foodgrains in the deficit
areasand among the poorer strata of societyat a price lower than
the market pricealso known as Issue Price. This alsohelps resolve
the problem of shortage offood during adverse weather conditionsor
during the periods of calamity.
What is the Public DistributionSystem?The food procured by the
FCI isdistributed through governmentregulated ration shops among
the poorersection of the society. This is called thepublic
distribution system (PDS). Rationshops are now present in most
localities,villages, towns and cities. There areabout 5.5 lakh
ration shops all over thecountry. Ration shops also known as
FairPrice Shops keep stock of foodgrains,sugar, kerosene oil for
cooking. Theseitems are sold to people at a price lowerthan the
market price. Any family with
Lets Discuss
Study the Graph 4.1 and answer thefollowing questions:(a) In
which year did our country cross
the 200 million tonnes per year markin foodgrain production?
(b) In which decade did India experiencethe highest decadal
increase infoodgrain production?
(c) Is production increase consistent inIndia since 200001?
carefully designed food security systemby the government. This
system has twocomponents: (a) buffer stock and (b)
publicdistribution system.
What is Buffer stock?Buffer Stock is the stock of
foodgrains,namely wheat and rice procured by thegovernment through
Food Corporationof India (FCI). The FCI purchases wheatand rice
from the farmers in stateswhere there is surplus production.
Thefarmers are paid a pre-announced pricefor their crops. This
price is calledMinimum Support Price. The MSP isdeclared by the
government every year
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48 Economics
a ration card* can buy a stipulated amountof these items (e.g.
35 kg of grains, 5 litresof kerosene, 5 kgs of sugar etc.)
everymonth from the nearby ration shop.
*There are three kinds of ration cards:(a) Antyodaya cards for
the poorest ofthe poor; (b) BPL cards for those belowpoverty line;
and (c) APL cards for allothers.
Suggested Activity
Visit your areas ration shop and get thefollowing details
1. When does the ration shop open?
2. What are the items sold at the rationshop?
3. Compare the prices of rice and sugarfrom the ration shop with
the pricesat any other grocery shop? (for familiesbelow poverty
line)
4. Find out:Do you have a ration card?What has your family
recently boughtwith this card from the ration shop?Are there any
problems that they face?Why are ration shops necessary?
The introduction of Rationing in Indiadates back to the 1940s
against thebackdrop of the Bengal famine. Therationing system was
revived in the wakeof an acute food shortage during the1960s, prior
to the Green Revolution. Inthe wake of the high incidence of
povertylevels, as reported by the NSSO in themid-1970s, three
important foodintervention programmes wereintroduced: Public
Distribution System(PDS) for food grains (in existence earlierbut
strengthened thereafter); IntegratedChild Development Services
(ICDS)(introduced in 1975 on an experimentalbasis) and Food-for
-Work** (FFW)(introduced in 197778). Over the years,several new
programmes have beenlaunched and some have beenrestructured with
the growing experienceof administering the programmes. Atpresent,
there are several PovertyAlleviation Programmes (PAPs), mostly
inrural areas, which have an explicit foodcomponent also. While
some of theprogrammes such as PDS, mid-day mealsetc. are
exclusively food securityprogrammes, most of the PAPs alsoenhance
food security. Employmentprogrammes greatly contribute to
foodsecurity by increasing the income ofthe poor.
Suggested Activity
Gather detailed information about someof the programmes
initiated by thegovernment, which have food component.
Hint: Rural wage employmentprogramme, Employment
GuaranteeScheme, Sampurna Grameen RojgarYojana, Mid Day Meal,
Integrated ChildDevelopment Services, etc.
Discuss with your teacher.Picture 4.4
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Food Security in India 49
**National Food forWork Programme
National Food for Work Programmewas launched on November 14,
2004in 150 most backward districts of thecountry with the objective
ofintensifying the generation ofsupplementary wage employment.
Theprogramme is open to all rural poorwho are in need of wage
employmentand desire to do manual unskilledwork. It is implemented
as a 100 percent centrally sponsored scheme andthe foodgrains are
provided to Statesfree of cost. The Collector is the nodalofficer
at the district level and has theoverall responsibility of
planning,implementation, coordination, monitoringand supervision.
For 200405, Rs 2,020crore have been allocated for theprogramme in
addition to 20 lakhtonnes of foodgrains.
Name of Year of Coverage target Latest volume Issue pricescheme
Introduction group (Rs per kg.)
PDS Up to 1992 Universal W-2.34R-2.89
RPDS 1992 Backward blocks 20 kg of W-2.80food grains R-3.77
TPDS 1997 Poor and non-poor 35 kg of BPL W-2.50food grains
R-3.50
APL-W-4.50R-7.00
AAY 2000 Poorest of the poor 35 kg of W-2.00food grains
R-3.00
APS 2000 Indigent senior 10 kg of Freecitizens food grains
Table 4.3: Some Important Features of PDS
Note: W - Wheat; R - Rice; BPL - Below poverty line; APL - Above
poverty lineSource: Economic Survey
Current Status of Public DistributionSystem
Public Distribution System (PDS) is themost important step taken
by theGovernment of India (GoI) towardsensuring food security. In
the beginningthe coverage of PDS was universal withno
discrimination between the poor andnon-poor. Over the years, the
policy relatedto PDS has been revised to make it moreefficient and
targeted. In 1992, RevampedPublic Distribution System (RPDS)
wasintroducted in 1,700 blocks in the country.The target was to
provide the benefits ofPDS to remote and backward areas. FromJune
1997, in a renewed attempt, TargetedPublic Distribution System
(TPDS) wasintroducted to adopt the principle oftargeting the poor
in all areas. It was forthe first time that a differential price
policywas adopted for poor and non-poor.Further, in 2000, two
special schemeswere launched viz., Antyodaya AnnaYojana*** (AAY)
and the AnnapurnaScheme (APS) with special target groups
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50 Economics
of poorest of the poor and indigent seniorcitizens,
respectively. The functioning ofthese two schemes was linked with
theexisting network of the PDS.
Some important features of PDS aresummarised in Table 4.3.
The PDS has proved to be the mosteffective instrument of
government policyover the years in stabilising prices andmaking
food available to consumers ataffordable prices. It has been
instrumentalin averting widespread hunger and famineby supplying
food from surplus regions ofthe country to the deficit ones. In
addition,the prices have been under revision infavour of poor
households in general. Thesystem, including the minimum
supportprice and procurement has contributedto an increase in food
grain productionand provided income security to farmersin certain
regions.
However, the Public DistributionSystem has faced severe
criticism onseveral grounds. Instances of hunger areprevalent
despite overflowing granaries.FCI go-downs are overflowing with
grains,
Source: Economic survey 2012.
Graph 4.2: Central Foodgrains (Wheat + Rice) Stock and
MinimumBuffer Norm (Million Tonnes)
with some rotting away and some beingeaten by rats. The Graph
4.2 shows therising stocks of foodgrains till 2012.
***Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY)
AAY was launched in December 2000.Under the scheme one crore of
thepoorest among the BPL familiescovered under the targeted
publicdistribution system were identified.Poor families were
identified by therespective state rural developmentdepartments
through a Below PovertyLine (BPL) survey. Twenty fivekilograms of
foodgrains were madeavailable to each eligible family at ahighly
subsidised+ rate of Rs 2 perkg for wheat and Rs 3 per kg for
rice.This quantity has been enhancedfrom 25 to 35 kgs with effect
fromApril 2002. The scheme has beenfurther expanded twice by
additional50 lakh BPL families in June 2003and in August 2004. With
thisincrease, 2 crore families have beencovered under the AAY.
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Food Security in India 51
Lets DiscussStudy the Graph 4.2 and answer thefollowing
questions:
In which recent year foodgrain stockwith the government was
maximum?
What is the minimum buffer stocknorm for the FCI?
Why were the FCI granariesoverflowing with foodgrains?
In July 2012, the stock of wheat andrice with FCI was 82 million
tonneswhich was much more than theminimum buffer norms of 33
milliontonnes. The decline in stocks continuedin the subsequent
years. However, theseremained consistently higher than thebuffer
norms. The situation improvedwith the distribution of
foodgrainsunder different schemes launched bythe government. There
is a generalconsensus that high level of bufferstocks of foodgrains
is very undesirableand can be wasteful. The storage ofmassive food
stocks has beenresponsible for high carrying costs, inaddition to
wastage and deteriorationin grain quality. Freezing of MSP for afew
years should be consideredseriously.
The increased food grainsprocurement at enhanced MSP# is
theresult of the pressure exerted by leadingfoodgrain producing
states, such asPunjab, Haryana and Andhra Pradesh.
Moreover, as the procurement isconcentrated in a few
prosperousregions (Punjab, Haryana, WesternUttar Pradesh, Andhra
Pradesh and toa lesser extent in West Bengal) andmainly of two
crops wheat and riceincrease in MSP has induced
farmers,particularly in surplus states, to divertland from
production of coarse grains,which is the staple food of the poor,
tothe production of rice and wheat. Theintensive utilisation of
water in thecultivation of rice has also led toenvironmental
degradation and fall inthe water level, threatening
thesustainability of the agriculturaldevelopment in these
states.
# The rising Minimum Support Prices(MSP) have raised the
maintenancecost of procuring foodgrains by thegovernment. Rising
transportationand storage costs of the FCI are othercontributing
factors in this increase.
Picture 4.5 Farmers Carrying Bags of Grainsto the Granaries.
+Subsidy is a payment that agovernment makes to a producer
tosupplement the market price of acommodity. Subsidies can
keepconsumer prices low while maintaininga higher income for
domestic producers.
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52 Economics
Another major area of concern is themarked ineffectiveness of
PDS, which isapparent from the fact that the averageconsumption of
PDS grain at the all-Indialevel is only 1 kg per person per
month.The average consumption figure is as lowas less than 300 gm
per person per monthin the states of Bihar, Orissa and
UttarPradesh. In contrast, the averageconsumption in most of the
southernstates like Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Naduand Himachal
Pradesh is in the range of34 kgs per person per month. As a
resultthe poor have to depend on markets ratherthan the ration
shops for their food needs.In Madhya Pradesh only 5% of wheat
andrice consumption of the poor are metthrough the ration shops. In
Uttar Pradeshand Bihar the percentage is still lower.
PDS dealers are sometimes foundresorting to malpractices like
divertingthe grains to open market to get bettermargin, selling
poor quality grains atration shops, irregular opening of theshops,
etc. It is common to find that rationshops regularly have unsold
stocks of poorquality grains left. This has proved to bea big
problem. When ration shops areunable to sell, a massive stock
offoodgrains piles up with the FCI. In recentyears, there is
another factor that hasled to the decline of the PDS. Earlier
everyfamily, poor and non-poor had a rationcard with a fixed quota
of items such asrice, wheat, sugar etc. These were sold atthe same
low price to every family. Thethree types of cards and the range
ofprices that you see today did not exist. Alarge number of
families could buyfoodgrains from the ration shops subjectto a
fixed quota. These included lowincome families whose incomes
weremarginally higher than the below povertyline families. Now,
with TPDS of three
different prices, any family above thepoverty line gets very
little discount atthe ration shop. The price for APL familyis
almost as high as open market price,so there is little incentive
for them to buythese items from the ration shop.
Role of cooperatives in food securityThe cooperatives are also
playing animportant role in food security in Indiaespecially in the
southern and westernparts of the country. The cooperativesocieties
set up shops to sell low pricedgoods to poor people. For example,
outof all fair price shops running in TamilNadu, around 94 per cent
are being runby the cooperatives. In Delhi, MotherDairy is making
strides in provision ofmilk and vegetables to the consumersat
controlled rate decided byGovernment of Delhi. Amul is
anothersuccess story of cooperatives in milkand milk products from
Gujarat. It hasbrought about the White Revolution inthe country.
These are a few examplesof many more cooperatives running
indifferent parts of the country ensuringfood security of different
sectionsof society.
Similarly, in Maharashtra,Academy of Development Science
(ADS)has facilitated a network of NGOs forsetting up grain banks in
differentregions. ADS organises training andcapacity building
programmes on foodsecurity for NGOs. Grain Banks are nowslowly
taking shape in different parts ofMaharashtra. ADS efforts to set
upGrain Banks, to facilitate replicationthrough other NGOs and to
influence theGovernments policy on food security arethus paying
rich dividends. The ADSGrain Bank programme is acknowledgedas a
successful and innovative foodsecurity intervention.
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Food Security in India 53
Exercises
1. How is food security ensured in India?
2. Which are the people more prone to food insecurity?
3. Which states are more food insecure in India?
4. Do you believe that green revolution has made India
self-sufficient in foodgrains? How?
5. A section of people in India are still without food.
Explain?
6. What happens to the supply of food when there is a disaster
or a calamity?
7. Differentiate between seasonal hunger and chronic hunger?
8. What has our government done to provide food security to the
poor? Discussany two schemes launched by the government?
9. Why buffer stock is created by the government?
10. Write notes on:(a) Minimum support price(b) Buffer stock(c)
Issue price(d) Fair price shops
11. What are the problems of the functioning of ration
shops?
12. Write a note on the role of cooperatives in providing food
and related items.
Summary
Food security of a nation is ensured if all of its citizens have
enough nutritious foodavailable, all persons have the capacity to
buy food of acceptable quality and thereis no barrier on access to
food. The people living below the poverty line might be
foodinsecure all the time while better off people might also turn
food insecure due tocalamity or disaster. Although a large section
of people suffer from food and nutritioninsecurity in India, the
worst affected groups are landless or land poor householdsin rural
areas and people employed in ill paid occupations and casual
labourersengaged in seasonal activities in the urban areas. The
food insecure people aredisproportionately large in some regions of
the country, such as economicallybackward states with high
incidence of poverty, tribal and remote areas, regionsmore prone to
natural disasters etc. To ensure availability of food to all
sections ofthe society the Indian government carefully designed
food security system, which iscomposed of two components: (a)
buffer stock and (b) public distribution system. Inaddition to PDS,
various poverty alleviation programmes were also started
whichcomprised a component of food security. Some of these
programmes are: IntegratedChild Development Services (ICDS);
Food-for-Work (FFW); Mid-Day Meals; AntyodayaAnna Yojana (AAY) etc.
In addition to the role of the government in ensuring foodsecurity,
there are various cooperatives and NGOs also working intensively
towardsthis direction.
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54 Economics
Re f e r enc e sRe f e r enc e sRe f e r enc e sRe f e r enc e
sRe f e r enc e s
DEV, S. MAHENDRA, KANNAN, K.P. AND RAMCHANDRAN, NEERA (EdS.).
2003. Towards a FoodSecure India: Issues and Policies. Institute
for Human Development, New Delhi.
SAGAR, VIDYA. 2004. 'Food Security in India', Paper presented in
ADRF-IFRI FinalMeeting on Food Security in India, September 1011,
New Delhi.
SAXENA, N.C. 2004. 'Synergising Government Efforts for Food
Security' in Swaminathan,M.S. and Medrano, Pedro (Eds.), Towards
Hunger Free India, East-West Books,Chennai.
SAXENA, N.C. 2004. 'Reorganising Policies and Delivery for
Alleviating Hunger andMalnutrition' Paper presented at National
Food Security Summit, New Delhi.
SEN, A.K. 1983. 'Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement
and Deprivation'.Oxford University Press.
SHARMA, REKHA AND MEENAKSHI, J.V. 2004. 'Micronutrient
Deficiencies in Rural Diets'.Towards Hunger Free India: From Vision
to Action. Proceedings of Consultationon 'Towards Hunger-free
India: Count Down from 2007'. New Delhi.
FAO 1996. World Food Summit 1995. Food and Agricultural
Organisation, Rome.
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