Ensuring the availability, accessibility, and affordability of food for all people at all times is crucial. The concept can be broken down into the following components:
Groups most severely affected by food insecurity include landless individuals with limited or no land resources, traditional artisans, providers of traditional services, petty self-employed workers, and the destitute, including beggars. In urban areas, families facing food insecurity often comprise members engaged in poorly compensated occupations and the casual labor market. Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and certain sections of Other Backward Classes (OBCs), particularly those with minimal land holdings or low land productivity, are prone to food insecurity. Those affected by natural disasters often must migrate to other areas in search of work. A significant portion of the food-insecure population includes pregnant and nursing mothers and children under the age of 5 years.
Since the advent of the Green Revolution in the early 1970s, India has successfully averted famine even in the face of adverse weather conditions. Over the past three decades, the country has achieved self-sufficiency in food grains through the cultivation of diverse crops across the nation. The availability of food grains, even in challenging conditions, has been further secured through a well-designed food security system implemented by the government. This system consists of two fundamental components:
Buffer Stock
Public Distribution System (PDS)
Over time, the PDS has undergone several changes, including the introduction of two special schemes in 2000: the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and Annapurna Scheme (APS), targeting the "poorest of the poor" and "indigent senior citizens," respectively.
Challenges in the Functioning of the PDS System
Challenges include overflowing FCI warehouses, high carrying costs, grain wastage, and quality deterioration due to excessive stock levels. Procurement is concentrated in a few prosperous regions, mainly for two crops, wheat and rice, resulting in a shift from coarse grains (the staple food of the poor) to rice and wheat in surplus states. Environmental concerns, such as degradation and declining water levels due to intensive water use in rice cultivation, are also prevalent. PDS dealers occasionally engage in malpractices, such as diverting grains to the open market for better margins, selling poor-quality grains at ration shops, and maintaining irregular shop hours. With the introduction of the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), families above the poverty line receive minimal discounts at ration shops due to varying prices, with the price for above poverty line (APL) families nearly as high as open market prices, reducing their incentive to buy from ration shops.
The Role of Cooperatives in Food Security
Cooperatives play a significant role in food security in India, particularly in the southern and western regions. Examples include cooperatives operating a substantial percentage of fair price shops in Tamil Nadu, Mother Dairy providing milk and vegetables in Delhi at government-controlled rates, and the success of Amul in milk and milk products from Gujarat. In Maharashtra, the Academy of Development Science (ADS) has facilitated a network of NGOs to establish grain banks in different regions and organizes training and capacity-building programs on food security for NGOs.
Key Observations
1. What is food security and why is it important in India? |
2. What are the major challenges to achieving food security in India? |
3. How does the government of India address food security? |
4. How does climate change affect food security in India? |
5. What are some potential solutions to improve food security in India? |
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