Economics – Ch-4
FOOD SECURITY IN INDIA
Food security means availability, accessibility, and
affordability of food to all people always.
Availability: Food production in the country, import
of food
Accessibility: Food within the reach of every person
Affordability: To have enough money to buy
enough food.
Food security
The poorest section of society remains food
insecure all the time. People above poverty line
might also feel food insecure in times of natural
calamity like earthquake, drought, flood, tsunami,
etc.
Natural calamities may lead to starvation.
Starvation in the longer run turns into famine.
Famine is characterized by widespread deaths due
to starvation and epidemics caused by forced use
of contaminated water or decaying water or
decaying food and loss of body resistance due to
weakening from starvation.
Food-insecure in rural areas, the worst affected
people are landless and small farmers, traditional
artisans (weavers, potters, blacksmith etc.)
providers of services (e.g., barbers, washer men
etc.), petty self-employed workers and destitute. In
the urban areas, persons employed in ill-paid
occupations and casual labourers are food
insecure.
Social composition also plays a role in food
insecurity. The SCs, STs and some sections of OBC
(lower castes) who are landless or with low land
productivity are prone to be food insecure.
A large proportion of pregnant and nursing
mothers and children under the age of 5 years
constitute an important segment of the food
insecure population.
seasonal hunger and chronic hunger
Hunger: Hunger has chronic and seasonal
dimensions. Poor people suffer from chronic
hunger and are food insecure all the time.
Seasonal hunger is caused by the seasonal nature
of agricultural activities in rural areas. In urban
areas, seasonal hunger occurs because of the
casual type of work. Thus, seasonal hunger
exists when people are unable to get work
for the whole year.
Need for self-sufficiency in food grains.
Our government since Independence realized
the need to attain self-sufficiency in food grains
because India experienced acute shortage of
food grains after partition of the country in
1947.
The need for self-sufficiency arises from the
following:
(a) to feed rising population
(b) to fight against droughts, floods, cyclones, etc.
(c) to reduce import of food grains
(d) to control prices of food grains.
Food Security System in India. Since the
advent of the Green Revolution in the 1960s
the country has avoided famine, even during
adverse weather conditions.
India has become self-sufficient in food grains
during the last 30 years because of the variety
of crops grown all over the country. Also, we
have developed a food security system.
Example - Punjab and Haryana have shown
very impressive growth in food production with
7.23 million tons in 1964-65 to a record 218
million tons in 2009-10.
Classwork Q1 Which states are more food
insecure in India?
Ans a) The economically backward
states with high incidence of poverty
are more food insecure in India.
b)The states of Uttar Pradesh (eastern
and south-eastern parts), Bihar,
Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal,
Chhattisgarh, parts of Madhya Pradesh
and Maharashtra account for the largest
number of food insecure people in the
country.
Classwork Q-2 Write a short note on the following :
A] Buffer Stock: Buffer stock is the stock of food
grains (wheat and rice) procured by the
government through the Food Corporation of India
(FCI).
B] Minimum support price: The FCI purchases
wheat and rice for the government from the
farmers of surplus states at pre-announced prices.
This price is called ‘minimum support price’.
C] Public Distribution System (PDS)
PDS refers to a system through which the food
procured by the FCI is distributed among the poor
through government regulated ration shops.
D] Fair price shops: Ration shops are also called
fair price shops. The consumers have issued ration
card.
E] Issue price: The food is distributed to the
poorer strata of society at lower price than
marketplace is known as Issue price.
Rationing was introduced in India around 1940
after the Bengal famine.
F] Kinds of Ration Cards: There are three kinds
of ration cards:
(1) Antyodaya cards for the poorest of the poor,
(2) BPL cards for those below poverty line and,
(3) APL cards for those above the poverty line.
Three Important Food Intervention
Programmes. In the wake of high incidence of
poverty levels in mid-1970s, three important food
intervention programmes were introduced:
(a) Public Distribution System (in existence earlier)
(b) Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)
in 1975
(c) Food for work in 1977-78.
In 2000, two special schemes were launched viz.
Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and the Annapurna
scheme (APS) with special target groups of the
poorest of the poor and indigent senior citizens,
respectively.
PDS has proved to be the most effective for
stabilizing prices and making food available to
consumers at affordable prices.
But it has faced severe criticism on several
grounds.
Granaries are full but hunger prevails. Some of the
grains get rotten or eaten by rats.
Excessive Food Stocks: In July 2002, the stock of
wheat and rice with FCI was 63 million tons, which
was much more than the minimum buffer norms of
24.3 million tons. The stock reduced thereafter but
always remained higher than the buffer norms.
Paradox of Excess Stocks and Starvation: In
fact, India has experienced a paradoxical situation
in recent years. While the granaries (godowns) of
the government are overflowing with excess stocks
of food, we also find people without food. The main
reason for this unfortunate situation is that many
poor families do not have enough money or income
to buy food. Sometimes PDS dealers’ resort to
malpractice.
In southern and western parts of the country
cooperatives are playing an important role in food
security.
Mother's dairy and Amul are some of the success
stories.
In Maharashtra Academy of Development Science
has facilitated a network of NGOs and set up grain
banks
Classwork Questions
Q. How is food security ensured in India?
Ans Food security in India has two components: (a)
Buffer stock. (b)Public distribution system.
a.Buffer Stock: Buffer Stock is the stock of food
grains, namely wheat and rice 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 purchased food grains are
stored in granaries. This is done to distribute
food grains in the deficit areas and among the
poorer strata of society at a price lower than
the market price, also known as Issue Price.
This helps in resolving the problem of shortage
of food.
b.Public distribution system: The stored food is
distributed to the poor people through ration
shops. The items are sold to the poor people at
a price lower than the market price.
Other schemes: Over the years, several new
programmes have been launched like mid-day
meal, Antyodaya Ana Yojana, etc. for food security.
Q. What happens to the supply of food when there
is a disaster or a calamity?
Ans When there is a disaster or a calamity, the
production of food grains decreases in the affected
area. This in turn creates a shortage of food in the
area. Due to the food shortage, the prices go up.
The raised prices of food materials affect the
capacity of many people to buy the same. When
the calamity occurs in a very widespread area or is
stretched over a long period of time, it may cause
a situation of starvation. A massive starvation can
take the form of famine.
Homework questions
Q1 Differentiate between seasonal hunger and
chronic hunger?
Ans Seasonal hunger:
Seasonal hunger 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 labour (e.g., there is less work for
casual construction labour during the rainy
season). This type of hunger exists when a person
is unable to get work for the entire year.
Chronic hunger :
Chronic hunger is a consequence of diets
persistently inadequate in terms of quantity and/or
quality. Poor people suffer from chronic hunger
because of their very low income and in turn,
inability to buy food even for survival.
Q2 Write a note on the role of cooperatives in
providing food and related items.
Ans :
i. The cooperatives are also playing an important
role in food security in India especially in the
southern and western parts of the country.
ii. The cooperative societies up shops to sell low
priced goods to poor people. For example, out
of a fair price shops running in Tamil Nadu,
around 94 per cent are being run by the
cooperatives.
iii. Many milk purchasing cooperatives like Verka,
Mother Dairy, Amul, etc. have brought about
the White Revolution in the country.
These are a few examples of many more
cooperatives running in different parts of the
country ensuring food security of different sections
of society.
