FOOD SECURITY IN INDIA
Food security is a condition of availability and accessibility of food in all circumstances and to all people at all times. Food is an essential item like air, but food security is not just getting a meal it has dimensions of the following.
- Availability- food production within the country, food imports and the previous year’s stock stored in government warehouses
- Accessibility-food has to be within the ambit of an individual
- Affordability-every individual has to have enough money to buy sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet
1. Why food security
- Poor people will have food insecurities and poor people will also face food insecurities when the country faces some calamities.
- In calamities, the production of all kinds of foods decreases which leads to a shortage of foods.
- If a calamity is happening in larger areas, then it leads to starvation and massive starvation leads to a famine.
- The most devastating famine that has ever occurred in India was the Bengal famine in 1943. This famine killed 30 lakh people in the province of Bengal.
2. Who are Food Insecure
- Although a large section of the people are food insecure, the most affected ones are landless people, artisans etc.
- The social inability and composition to buy food also play a major role in food security.
- The SCs and STs and some sections of OBCs who have either poor land or low productive land and the people engaged in Seasonal employment.
- Malnutrition among pregnant women is a huge problem, which puts the unborn at risk too
- A large section of pregnant women and nursing mothers as well as children under the age of 5 years constitute the major part of food-insecure people.
- Food insecure people are disproportionately large in some regions of the country, such as economically backward states with high incidences of poverty.
- Hunger is an aspect of indicating food Insecurity, hunger is not just an expression of poverty it brings out poverty.
- Hunger has chronic and seasonal dimensions.
- Chronic hunger is a consequence of diets persistently inadequate in terms of quantity and quality.
- Seasonal Hunger is related to the cycles of food growing and harvesting and this is prevalent in rural areas because of the seasonal nature of agriculture and in urban areas because of casual labourers.
- India has aimed for self-sufficiency in food grains since Independence.
- Indira Gandhi, the then-prime minister of India saw impressive results from the Green revolution, especially the wheat revolution.
3. Public Distributed System (PDS)
The food procured by FCI is distributed from the government shops among the poor section of society. This is called a Public Distribution System (PDS). The Introduction of rationing goes back to the 1940s in the backdrop of the Bengal famine. In the mid-1970s three major food intervention programs were introduced.
- Public Distribution System (PDS)
- Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)
- Food for Work (FFW)
Antyodyaya Anna Yojana (AAY): AAY was launched in 2000, under this scheme 1 crore of the poorest among the BPL families are covered under the Targeted Public Distribution Scheme. Respective State governments will identify the poor through the Below Poverty Line (BPL) procedure.
Role of Cooperatives in Food Security: Cooperatives play an important role, especially in south and western India. The cooperatives have set up shops to sell low-priced goods to the poor. Amul is a Cooperative which is hugely successful in bringing Milk and products and it is from Gujarat.
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Previous Year Questions
1. Consider the following statements: (upsc 2020)
Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (a) 1 and 2 only (b) 2 only (c) 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3 Answer: A
2. In India, ‘extend producer responsibility’ was introduced as an important feature in which of the following? (UPSC 2019) (a) The Bio-medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1998 (b) The Recycled Plastic (Manufacturing and Usage) Rules, 1999 (c) The e-Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011 (d) The Food Safety and Standard Regulations, 2011 Answer: C 3. The economic cost of food grains to the Food Corporation of India is Minimum Support Price and bonus (if any) paid to the farmers plus (UPSC 2019) (a) transportation cost only (b) interest cost only (c) procurement incidentals and distribution cost (d) procurement incidentals and charges for godowns Answer: C 4. Consider the following statements: (UPSC 2017)
Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (a) 1 only (b) 2 only (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2 Answer: A
Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (a) 1 and 2 only (b) 2 only (c) 1 and 3 only (d) 3 only Answer: B Mains
1. Elaborate the scope and significance of the food processing industry in India. (upsc 2022)
2. What are the salient features of the National Food Security Act, ZUL6 c now has the Food Security Bill helped in eliminating hunger and malnutrition in India? (upsc 2021)
3. What are the challenges and opportunities of food processing sector in the country? How can income of the farmers be substantially increased by encouraging food processing? (upsc 2020)
4. What are the reformative steps taken by the Government to make food grain distribution system more effective? (upsc 2019)
5. Elaborate the policy taken by the Government of India to meet the challenges of the food processing sector.(upsc 2019)
6. Examine the role of supermarkets in supply chain management of fruits, vegetables and food items. How do they eliminate number of intermediaries? (upsc 2018)
7. Explain various types of revolutions, took place in Agriculture after Independence in India. How these revolutions have helped in poverty alleviation and food security in India? (upsc 2017)
8. What are the reasons for poor acceptance of cost effective small processing unit? How the food processing unit will be helpful to uplift the socio-economic status of poor farmers? (upsc 2017)
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