ECONOMICS. FOOD SECURITY IN INDIA.

QUESTIONS ANSWERS.

Q1. What is food security? What are the dimensions of food security?

Ans. Food security means availability, accessibility and affordability of food to all people at all times.
Food security has following dimensions:

a. Availability of food. – It comprises food production within the country, food imports and the
previous year’s stock stored in government granaries.

b. Accessibility – It means food is within the reach of every person.

c. Affordability – It implies that an individual has enough money to buy sufficient, safe and nutritious
food to meet one’s dietary needs.

Q2. Why is food security needed in our country?

Ans. Food security is needed in our society in order to ensure food at all times. The Bengal Famine was
the worst incidence in the country, although such a famine never occurred again. It is unfortunate that
even today, there are places like Kalahandi and Kashipura in Orissa where famine like conditions have
been existing for many years and where some starvation deaths are also reported in Baran district of
Rajasthan, Pala mau district of Jharkhand and many other remote areas during the recent years. Hence,
food security is essential in India.

Q3. Who are the people who are prone to food insecurity?

a. Landless people with little or no land to depend on. b. Traditional artisans. c. beggars

d. Destitute e. Casual workers. d. Petty self-employed workers.

Q4. What do you understand by Hunger? What are the different types of hunger in India?

Ans. Hunger is another aspect indicating food insecurity. Hunger is not just an expression of poverty. It
brings about poverty. The attainment of food security therefore involves eliminating current hunger and
reducing the risks of future hunger.

Types of Hunger:

a. Chronic Hunger – This is a consequence of diets persistently inadequate in terms of quantity or

b. Seasonal Hunger – This is related to cycles of food growing and harvesting. This is prevalent in rural
areas because of the seasonal nature of agricultural activities and in urban areas because of the casual
lab ours. E.g. there is less work for casual construction lab our during the rainy season. This type of
hunger exists when a person is unable to get work for the entire year.

Q5. India is aiming at self-sufficiency in food grains since Independence. Elaborate.

Ans. 1. After Independence many measures were adopted to achieve self-sufficiency in food grains.
India adopted a new strategy in agriculture like “Green Revolution” in rice.

2. The highest rate of growth was achieved in Punjab and Haryana, where food grain production jumped
from 7.23 million tons in 1964-65 to reach an all-time high of 30.33 million tons in 1995-96.

3. Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh on the other hand, recorded significant increases in rice yield.

4. India has become self-sufficient in food grains during the last thirty years because of a variety of crops
grown all over the country.

5. The availability of food grains at the country level has further been ensured with a carefully designed
good security system by the government.

Q6. How is food security affected during a calamity?

Ans.1. Usually the poorest section of the society is food insecure but sometimes people above the
poverty line also become food insecure when the country faces a national disaster like earthquake,
drought, flood, tsunami, widespread failure of crops causing famine, etc.

2. Due to a natural calamity such as drought total production of food grains decreases. It creates a
shortage of good in the affected areas which eventually leads to price rise.

3. At the high prices, some people cannot afford to buy food. And if the situation prolongs it may cause
starvation which can also turn into famine.

Q7. A section of people in India are still without food. Explain.

Ans. 1. In India the worst affected groups are landless poor households in rural areas, people employed
in ill paid occupations, casual laborers engaged in seasonal activities in the urban areas.

2. Others are SCs, STs and some section of the OBCs, who have either poor land-base or very low land
productivity.

3. The people affected by natural disasters, who have to migrate to other areas in search of work, are
also among the most food insecure people.

Q8. Write short notes on

a. Minimum support price (MSP).

The FCI purchases wheat and rice from the farmers in states where there is surplus production. The
farmers are paid a pre- announced price for their crops. This price is called Minimum Support Price. The
MSP is declared by the government every year before the sowing season to provide incentives to the
farmers for raising the production of these crops. The purchased food grains are stored in granaries.

b. Buffer Stock – Buffer stock is the stock of food grains procured by the government through Food
Corporation of India (FCI). The FCI purchases wheat and rice from the farmers in states where there is
surplus production. The farmers are paid a pre-announced price for their crops. The purchased food
grains are stored in granaries which are used during any natural calamity such as drought or earthquake.
The buffer stock is created by the government to make available food grains in the deficit areas.

c. Issue Price – The purchased food grains are stored in granaries. The buffer stock is created by the
government to distribute food grains in the deficit areas and among the poorer strata of society at a
price lower than the market price. This price is also known as Issue Price.

d. Fair Price shops - The food procured by the FCI is distributed through the government regulated
ration shops among the poorer section of the society. These ration shops are also known as Fair Price
Shops. These shops keep stock of food grains, sugar and kerosene oil for cooking. These items are sold
to people at a price lower than the market price. Fair price shops are now present in lost localities,
villages, towns and cities.

Q9. Which states are more food insecure in India?

Ans. The states of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, parts of Madhya
Pradesh and Maharashtra account for largest number of food insecure people in India.

Q10. What are the problems of the functioning of ration shops?

Ans. PDS dealers to earn more profit indulge into malpractices like diverting the grains to open market
to get better margin, selling poor quality grains at ration shops and irregular opening of the shops, etc. It
is common to find that ration shops regularly have unsold stocks of poor quality grains left. This has
proved to be a big problem.

e. There are a few examples of many more cooperatives running in different parts of the country
ensuring food security of different sections of society.

Q11. What has our government done to provide food security to the poor? Discuss any two schemes
launched by the government?

Ans. The food procured by the FCI is distributed through government regulated ration shops among the
poorer section of the society. This is called the Public Distribution System.

a. In the mid-1970s important food intervention programs were introduced:

- Public Distribution System (PDS) for food grains – in existence earlier but strengthened thereafter.

- Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) – Introduced in 1975 on an experimental basis.

c. From June 1997 Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) was introduced to adopt the principle of
targeting the poor in all areas. It was for the first time that a differential price policy was adopted for
poor and non-poor.

d. In 2000, two special schemes were launched. – Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and Annapurna
Scheme (APD). These schemes target poorest of the poor and indigent senior citizens respectively.

Q12. When and with what objectives National Food for Work Programme was launched?

Ans.1. National Food for Work program me was launched on November 14, 2004 in 150 most backward
districts of the country with the objectives to increase the generation of supplementary wage
employment.

2. The program me is open to all rural poor who are in need of wage employment and desire to do
manual unskilled work.

3. It is sponsored scheme by the central government and the good grains are providing to states free of
cost. For 20004-05. Ra 2020 crore have been allocated for the program me in addition to 20 lakh tons of
food grains.

Q13. What do you mean by Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY)?

Ans. 1. Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) was launched in December 2000.

2. Under the scheme one crore of the poorest and the Below Poverty Line (BPL) families are covered
under the targeted public distribution system.

3. Twenty five kilo grains of food grains were made available to each eligible family at a highly subsidized
rate of Rs 2 per kg for wheat and Rs 3 per kg for rice.

4. This quantity was further increased from 25 to 35 kgs from April 2002. Subsidy is a payment that a
government makes to a producer to supplement the market price of commodity.

5. Subsidies can keep consumers prices low while maintaining a higher income for domestic producer.
From June 2003 to August 2004 the scheme expanded further.

Q14. The cooperatives are playing an important role in good security in India. Discuss.

Ans. a. The cooperatives are also playing an important role in good security in India especially in the
southern and western parts of the country.

b. The cooperatives societies set up shops to sell low priced goods to poor people.
c. In Delhi, Mother Dairy is making strides in provision of milk and vegetables to the consumers at
controlled rate decided by Government of Delhi.

d. Amul is another success story of cooperatives in milk and milk products from Gujarat. It has brought
about the White Revolution in the country.

e. These are a few examples of many more cooperatives running in different parts of the country
ensuring food security of different sections of society.

f. Similarly, in Maharashtra, Academy of Development Science (ADS) has facilitated a network of NGO s
for setting up grain banks in different regions.

G. It organizes training and capacity building programs on food security for NGOs.
h. Set up Grain Banks, to facilitate replication through other NGOs.