Food Security in India ||Economics|| Chapter 4 Notes
Overview
→ Food security
→ Public Distribution System (PDS)
→ Government vigilance
→ Government action at times, when this security is threatened.
What is food security?
• Food is as essential as air. Food security means availability of food to all, and available food is accessible to all and accessible food is affordable to all people at all times.
- Availability: Adequate food production within the country, food imports, and previous years’ stock stored in government granaries.
- Accessibility: Food is within reach of every person.
- Affordability: Individuals have enough money to buy sufficient, safe, and nutritious food.
Why Food security
Food security ensures that people do not suffer from hunger and starvation, especially during natural calamities like droughts, floods, or earthquakes, which can disrupt food supply and increase prices.
Who are food-insecure
- People with little or no land: These individuals often lack the means to produce their own food.
- Traditional artisans and service providers: Those who rely on traditional crafts or services may struggle to earn a stable income.
- Petty self-employed workers: Small-scale entrepreneurs and workers in informal sectors often face economic instability.
- The destitute, including beggars: These individuals are the most vulnerable and often have no means of securing food.
Seasonal Hunger
Seasonal hunger refers to the periodic lack of food that occurs at certain times of the year, typically linked to the agricultural cycle.
- Rural Areas: Seasonal hunger is prevalent in rural areas due to the seasonal nature of agricultural activities. For instance, during the lean periods between planting and harvesting, there is less work available, leading to reduced income and food insecurity.
- Urban Areas: In urban areas, seasonal hunger affects casual laborers who may find less work during certain seasons, such as construction workers during the rainy season.
What is Buffer Stock
Buffer stock refers to the reserve of food grains, primarily wheat and rice, that the government procures and maintains to ensure food security.
- Procurement: The Food Corporation of India (FCI) purchases wheat and rice from farmers in states with surplus production. Farmers are paid a pre-announced price for their crops, known as the Minimum Support Price (MSP).
- Storage: These food grains are stored in FCI warehouses as buffer stock.
- Purpose: The buffer stock is used to distribute food grains in deficit areas and among the poorer sections of society at prices lower than the market rate, known as the Issue Price.
- Usage: It helps prevent food shortages during adverse conditions like crop failures, natural calamities, or other emergencies.
What is the Public Distribution System?
The Public Distribution System (PDS) is a government program in India aimed at providing food grains and other essential items to the poor at subsidized rates.
- The PDS was introduced to ensure the availability of food grains to the public at affordable prices.
- It aims to stabilize food prices and distribute food grains equitably.
Current Status of Public Distribution System
The Public Distribution System (PDS) is a crucial component of India’s food security system
- Introduced in 1992 to target remote and backward areas.
- Covered 1,700 blocks in the country.
- Launched in June 1997 to focus on the poor in all areas.
- Aims to provide food grains to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families at subsidized rates.
- Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY): Launched in December 2000 to provide highly subsidized food grains to the poorest of the poor.
- Annapurna Scheme (APS): Targets indigent senior citizens, providing them with food grains.
- Issues like corruption, leakage of food grains, and inefficiencies in the distribution process.
- Instances of hunger persist despite overflowing granaries.
- Efforts to make the PDS more efficient and targeted.
- Use of technology to reduce leakages and improve transparency.
Role of Cooperatives in food security
Cooperatives thus play a crucial role in enhancing food security by making essential goods affordable and accessible, especially in rural and economically weaker sections of society.
Subsidy
• It is a form of financial aid made by the government to a producer to fix the price of a commodity.
• It leads to a fall in price of subsidized product with maintaining producer’s profit.