chapter food security in india - prashanth...

42 Economics

Overview

• Food security means availability,accessibility and affordability of foodto all people at all times. The poorhouseholds are more vulnerable to foodinsecurity whenever there is a problemof production or distribution of foodcrops. Food security depends on thePublic Distribution System (PDS),Government vigilance and action attimes when this security is threatened.

What is food security?

Food is as essential for living as air is forbreathing. But food security meanssomething more than getting two squaremeals. Food security has followingdimensions

(a) availability of food means foodproduction within the country, foodimports and the previous years stockstored in government granaries.

(b) accessibility means food is within reachof every person.

(c) affordability implies that an individualhas enough money to buy sufficient,safe and nutritious food to meet one'sdietary needs.

Thus, food security is ensured in acountry only if (1) enough food is availablefor all the persons (2) all persons havethe capacity to buy food of acceptablequality and (3) there is no barrier onaccess to food.

Why food security?

The poorest section of the society mightbe food insecure most of the times whilepersons above the poverty line might alsobe food insecure when the country faces

Food Security in IndiaChapter

4Food Security in India

a national disaster/calamity likeearthquake, drought, flood, tsunami,widespread failure of crops causingfamine, etc. How is food securityaffected during a calamity? Due to anatural calamity, say drought, totalproduction of foodgrains decreases. Itcreates a shortage of food in the affectedareas. Due to shortage of food, the pricesgo up. At the high prices, some peoplecannot afford to buy food. If such calamityhappens in a very wide spread area or isstretched over a longer time period, itmay cause a situation of starvation.A massive starvation might take a turnof famine.

A Famine is characterised by widespread deaths due to starvation and

In the 1970s, food security wasunderstood as the “availability at all timesof adequate supply of basic foodstuffs”(UN, 1975). Amartya Sen added a newdimension to food security andemphasised the “access” to food throughwhat he called ‘entitlements’ — acombination of what one can produce,exchange in the market alongwith stateor other socially provided supplies.Accordingly, there has been a substantialshift in the understanding of food security.The 1995 World Food Summit declared,“Food security at the individual,household, regional, national and globallevels exists when all people, at all times,have physical and economic access tosufficient, safe and nutritious food to meettheir dietary needs and food preferencesfor an active and healthy life” (FAO, 1996,p.3). The declaration further recognisesthat “poverty eradication is essential toimprove access to food”.

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Food Security in India 43

Picture 4.2 During the Bengal Famine of1943, a family leaves its villagein Chittagong district in Bengal.

Picture 4.1 Starvation victims arriving at arelief centre, 1945.

Let’s Discuss1. Some people say that the Bengal famine happened because there was a shortage

of rice. Study the table and find out whether you agree with the statement?

2. Which year shows a drastic decline in food availability?

Do you know who were affected themost by the famine? The agriculturallabourers, fishermen, transportworkers and other casual labourerswere affected the most by dramaticallyincreasing price of rice. They were theones who died in this famine.

Year Production Imports Exports Total Availability

(Lakh tonnes) (Lakh tonnes) (Lakh tonnes) (Lakh tonnes)

1938 85 – – 85

1939 79 04 – 83

1940 82 03 – 85

1941 68 02 – 70

1942 93 – 01 92

1943 76 03 – 79

Source: Sen, A.K, 1981 Page 61

Table 4.1: Production of Rice in the Province of Bengal

epidemics caused by forced use ofcontaminated water or decaying food andloss of body resistance due to weakeningfrom starvation.

The most devastating famine thatoccurred in India was the FAMINE OFBENGAL in 1943. This famine killed thirtylakh people in the province of Bengal.

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Nothing like the Bengal Famine hashappened in India again. But it isdisturbing to note that even today, thereare places like Kalahandi and Kashipurin Orissa where famine-like conditionshave been existing for many years andwhere some starvation deaths have alsobeen reported. Starvation deaths are alsoreported in Baran district of Rajasthan,Palamau district of Jharkhand and manyother remote areas during the recentyears. Therefore, food security is neededin a country to ensure food at all times.

Who are food-insecure?

Although a large section of people sufferfrom food and nutrition insecurity inIndia, the worst affected groups arelandless people with little or no land todepend upon, traditional artisans,providers of traditional services, petty self-employed workers and destitutesincluding beggars. In the urban areas, thefood insecure families are those whoseworking members are generally employedin ill-paid occupations and casual labourmarket. These workers are largely

Suggested Activity

(a) What do you see in Picture 4.1?(b) Which age group is seen in the first

picture?(c) Can you say that the family shown in

the Picture 4.2 is a poor family? why?(d) Can you imagine the source of

livelihood of the people, (shown in twoPictures) before the occurrence offamine? (In the context of a village)

(e) Find out what type of help is given tothe victims of a natural calamity at arelief camp.

(f ) Have you ever helped such victims (inthe form of money, food, clothes,medicines etc.)PROJECT WORK: Gather moreinformation about famines in India.

Story of Ramu

Ramu works as a casual labourerin agriculture in Raipur village. Hiseldest son Somu who is 10 years oldalso works as a pali to look after thecattle of the Sarpanch of the villageSatpal Singh. Somu is employed forthe whole year by the Sarpanch andis paid a sum of Rs 1,000 for thiswork. Ramu has three more sonsand two daughters but they are tooyoung to work on the field. His wifeSunhari is also (part time) workingas house cleaner for the livestock,removing and managing cow dung.She gets ½ litre milk and somecooked food along with vegetablesfor her daily work. Besides she alsoworks in the field along with herhusband in the busy season andsupplements his earnings.Agriculture being a seasonalactivity employs Ramu only duringtimes of sowing, transplanting andharvesting. He remains unemployedfor about 4 months during theperiod of plant consolidation andmaturing in a year. He looks forwork in other activities. Some timeshe gets employment in brick layingor in construction activities in thevillage. By all his efforts, Ramu isable to earn enough either in cashor kind for him to buy essentials fortwo square meals for his family.However, during the days when heis unable to get some work, he andhis family really face difficulties andsometimes his small kids have tosleep without food. Milk andvegetables are not a regular part ofmeals in the family. Ramu is foodinsecure during 4 months when heremains unemployed because of theseasonal nature of agriculture work.

engaged in seasonal activities and are paidvery low wages that just ensure baresurvival.


Let’s Discuss

• Does Ahmad have a regular incomefrom rickshaw-pulling?

• How does the yellow card help Ahmad

Story of Ahmad

Ahmad is a rickshaw puller inBangalore. He has shifted fromJhumri Taliah along with his 3brothers, 2 sisters and old parents.He stays in a jhuggi. The survival ofall members of his family depends onhis daily earnings from pullingrickshaw. However, he does not havea secured employment and hisearnings fluctuate every day. Duringsome days he gets enough earning forhim to save some amount after buyingall his day-to-day necessities. Onother days, he barely earns enoughto buy his daily necessities. However,fortunately, Ahmad has a yellow card,which is PDS Card for below povertyline people. With this card, Ahmadgets sufficient quantity of wheat, rice,sugar and kerosene oil for his dailyuse. He gets these essentials at halfof the market price. He purchases hismonthly stock during a particular daywhen the ration shop is opened forbelow poverty people. In this way,Ahmad is able to eke out his survivalwith less than sufficient earnings forhis big family where he is the onlyearning member.

Let’s Discuss

• Why is agriculture a seasonal activity?• Why is Ramu unemployed for about

four months in a year?• What does Ramu do when he is

unemployed?• Who are supplementing income in

Ramu’s family?• Why does Ramu face difficulty when

he is unable to have work?• When is Ramu food insecure?

run his family even with smallearnings from rickshaw-pulling?The social composition along with the

inability to buy food also plays a role infood insecurity. The SCs, STs and somesections of the OBCs (lower castes amongthem) who have either poor land-base orvery low land productivity are prone tofood insecurity. The people affected bynatural disasters, who have to migrate toother areas in search of work, are alsoamong the most food insecure people. Ahigh incidence of malnutrition prevailsamong women. This is a matter of seriousconcern as it puts even the unborn babyat the risk of malnutrition. A largeproportion of pregnant and nursingmothers and children under the age of 5years constitute an important segment ofthe food insecure population.

According to the National Health andFamily Survey (NHFS) 1998–99, thenumber of such women and children isapproximately 11 crore.

The food insecure people aredisproportionately large in some regionsof the country, such as economicallybackward states with high incidence ofpoverty, tribal and remote areas, regionsmore prone to natural disasters etc. Infact, the states of Uttar Pradesh (easternand south-eastern parts), Bihar,Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal,Chattisgarh, parts of Madhya Pradesh andMaharasthra account for largest numberof food insecure people in the country.

Hunger is another aspect indicatingfood insecurity. Hunger is not just anexpression of poverty, it brings aboutpoverty. The attainment of food securitytherefore involves eliminating currenthunger and reducing the risks of futurehunger. Hunger has chronic and seasonaldimensions. Chronic hunger is aconsequence of diets persistentlyinadequate in terms of quantity and/or

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quality. Poor people suffer from chronichunger because of their very low incomeand in turn inability to buy food even forsurvival. Seasonal hunger is related tocycles of food growing and harvesting. Thisis prevalent in rural areas because of theseasonal nature of agricultural activitiesand in urban areas because of the casuallabour, e.g., there is less work for casualconstruction labour during the rainyseason. This type of hunger exists whena person is unable to get work for theentire year.

The percentage of seasonal as well aschronic hunger has declined in India asshown in the above table.

India is aiming at Self-sufficiency inFoodgrains since Independence.

After independence, Indian policymakers adopted all measures to achieveself-sufficiency in food grains. Indiaadopted a new strategy in agriculture,which resulted in the ‘GreenRevolution’ especially in the productionof wheat and rice.

Indira Gandhi, the then PrimeMinister of India, officially recorded theimpressive strides of the Greenrevolution in agriculture by releasing a

Table 4.2: Percentage of Households with‘Hunger’ in India

Type of hunger

Year Seasonal Chronic Total

Rural

1983 16.2 2.3 18.5

1993–94 4.2 0.9 5.1

1999–2000 2.6 0.7 3.3

Urban

1983 5.6 0.8 6.4

1993–94 1.1 0.5 1.6

1999–2000 0.6 0.3 0.9

Source: Sagar (2004)

special stamp entitled ‘WheatRevolution’ in July 1968. The successof wheat was later replicated in rice. Theincrease in foodgrains was, however,disproportionate. The highest rate ofgrowth was achieved in Punjab andHaryana, where foodgrain productionjumped from 7.23 million tonnes in1964–65 to reach an all-time high of30.33 mill ion tonnes in 1995–96.Production in Maharashtra, MadhyaPradesh, Bihar, Orissa and thenortheastern states continued tostagger. Tamil Nadu and AndhraPradesh, on the other hand, recordedsignificant increases in rice yield.

Suggested Activity

Visit some farms in a nearby village andcollect the details of food crops cultivatedby the farmers.

Food Security in IndiaSince the advent of the Green revolutionin the early-’70s, the country has avoidedfamine even during adverse weatherconditions.

India has become self-sufficient infoodgrains during the last thirty yearsbecause of a variety of crops grown allover the country. The availability offoodgrains (even in adverse weatherconditions or otherwise) at the countrylevel has further been ensured with a

Picture 4.3 A farmer from Punjab standing ina field of one of the High YieldingVarieties of wheat on which theGreen Revolution is based.


250

200

150

100

50

01960-61 1970-71 1980-81 1990-91 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04

Source: Economic Survey 2004–05.

Graph 4.1: Production of Foodgrains in India(Million Tonnes)

before the sowing season to provideincentives to the farmers for raising theproduction of these crops. The purchasedfoodgrains are stored in granaries. Doyou know why this buffer stock is createdby the government? This is done todistribute foodgrains in the deficit areasand among the poorer strata of societyat a price lower than the market pricealso known as Issue Price. This alsohelps resolve the problem of shortage offood during adverse weather conditionsor during the periods of calamity.

What is the Public DistributionSystem?

The food procured by the FCI isdistributed through governmentregulated ration shops among the poorersection of the society. This is called thepublic distribution system (PDS). Rationshops are now present in most localities,villages, towns and cities. There areabout 4.6 lakh ration shops all over thecountry. Ration shops also known as FairPrice Shops keep stock of foodgrains,sugar, kerosene oil for cooking. Theseitems are sold to people at a price lowerthan the market price. Any family with

Let’s Discuss

Study the Graph 4.1 and answer thefollowing questions:(a) In which year did our country cross

the 200 million tonnes per year markin foodgrain production?

(b) In which decade did India experiencethe highest decadal increase infoodgrain production?

(c) Is production increase consistent inIndia since 2000–01?

carefully designed food security systemby the government. This system has twocomponents: (a) buffer stock and (b) publicdistribution system.

What is Buffer stock?

Buffer Stock is the stock of foodgrains,namely wheat and rice procured by thegovernment through Food Corporationof India (FCI). The FCI purchases wheatand rice from the farmers in stateswhere there is surplus production. Thefarmers are paid a pre-announced pricefor their crops. This price is calledMinimum Support Price. The MSP isdeclared by the government every year

48 Economics

a ration card* can buy a stipulated amountof these items (e.g. 35 kg of grains, 5 litresof kerosene, 5 kgs of sugar etc.) everymonth from the nearby ration shop.

*There are three kinds of ration cards:(a) Antyodaya cards for the poorest ofthe poor; (b) BPL cards for those belowpoverty line; and (c) APL cards for allothers.

Suggested Activity

Visit your area’s ration shop and get thefollowing details

1. When does the ration shop open?2. What are the items sold at the ration

shop?3. Compare the prices of rice and sugar

from the ration shop with the pricesat any other grocery shop? (for familiesbelow poverty line)

4. Find out:Do you have a ration card?What has your family recently boughtwith this card from the ration shop?Are there any problems that they face?Why are ration shops necessary?

The introduction of Rationing in Indiadates back to the 1940s against thebackdrop of the Bengal famine. Therationing system was revived in the wakeof an acute food shortage during the1960s, prior to the Green Revolution. Inthe wake of the high incidence of povertylevels, as reported by the NSSO in themid-1970s, three important foodintervention programmes wereintroduced: Public Distribution System(PDS) for food grains (in existence earlierbut strengthened thereafter); IntegratedChild Development Services (ICDS)(introduced in 1975 on an experimentalbasis) and Food-for -Work** (FFW)(introduced in 1977–78). Over the years,several new programmes have beenlaunched and some have beenrestructured with the growing experienceof administering the programmes. Atpresent, there are several PovertyAlleviation Programmes (PAPs), mostly inrural areas, which have an explicit foodcomponent also. While some of theprogrammes such as PDS, mid-day mealsetc. are exclusively food securityprogrammes, most of the PAPs alsoenhance food security. Employmentprogrammes greatly contribute to foodsecurity by increasing the income ofthe poor.

Suggested Activity

Gather detailed information about someof the programmes initiated by thegovernment, which have food component.

Hint: Rural wage employmentprogramme, Employment GuaranteeScheme, Sampurna Grameen RojgarYojana, Mid Day Meal, Integrated ChildDevelopment Services, etc.

Discuss with your teacher.Picture 4.4


**National Food forWork Programme

National Food for Work Programmewas launched on November 14, 2004in 150 most backward districts of thecountry with the objective ofintensifying the generation ofsupplementary wage employment. Theprogramme is open to all rural poorwho are in need of wage employmentand desire to do manual unskilledwork. It is implemented as a 100 percent centrally sponsored scheme andthe foodgrains are provided to Statesfree of cost. The Collector is the nodalofficer at the district level and has theoverall responsibility of planning,implementation, coordination, monitoringand supervision. For 2004–05, Rs 2,020crore have been allocated for theprogramme in addition to 20 lakhtonnes of foodgrains.

Name of Year of Coverage target Latest volume Issue pricescheme Introduction group (Rs per kg.)

PDS Up to 1992 Universal – W-2.34R-2.89

RPDS 1992 Backward blocks 20 kg of W-2.80food grains R-3.77

TPDS 1997 Poor and non-poor 35 kg of BPL – W-2.50food grains R-3.50

APL-W-4.50R-7.00

AAY 2000 Poorest of the poor 35 kg of W-2.00food grains R-3.00

APS 2000 Indigent senior 10 kg of Freecitizens food grains

Table 4.3: Some Important Features of PDS

Note: W - Wheat; R - Rice; BPL - Below poverty line; APL - Above poverty lineSource: Economic Survey

Current Status of Public DistributionSystem

Public Distribution System (PDS) is themost important step taken by theGovernment of India (GoI) towardsensuring food security. In the beginningthe coverage of PDS was universal withno discrimination between the poor andnon-poor. Over the years, the policy relatedto PDS has been revised to make it moreefficient and targeted. In 1992, RevampedPublic Distribution System (RPDS) wasintroducted in 1,700 blocks in the country.The target was to provide the benefits ofPDS to remote and backward areas. FromJune 1997, in a renewed attempt, TargetedPublic Distribution System (TPDS) wasintroducted to adpot the principle oftargeting the ‘poor in all areas’. It was forthe first time that a differential price policywas adopted for poor and non-poor.Further, in 2000, two special schemeswere launched viz., Antyodaya AnnaYojana*** (AAY) and the AnnapurnaScheme (APS) with special target groups

50 Economics

of ‘poorest of the poor’ and ‘indigent seniorcitizens’, respectively. The functioning ofthese two schemes was linked with theexisting network of the PDS.

Some important features of PDS aresummarised in Table 4.3.

The PDS has proved to be the mosteffective instrument of government policyover the years in stabilising prices andmaking food available to consumers ataffordable prices. It has been instrumentalin averting widespread hunger and famineby supplying food from surplus regions ofthe country to the deficit ones. In addition,the prices have been under revision infavour of poor households in general. Thesystem, including the minimum supportprice and procurement has contributedto an increase in food grain productionand provided income security to farmersin certain regions.

However, the Public DistributionSystem has faced severe criticism onseveral grounds. Instances of hunger areprevalent despite overflowing granaries.FCI go-downs are overflowing with grains,

Source: Economic survey 2004–05.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Jul-02Jul-01 Jul-03 Jul-04

Buffer Norm

Actual Stock61.7 63

35.229.9

21.7

16.824.324.324.324.3

Graph 4.2: Central Foodgrains (Wheat + Rice) Stock and MinimumBuffer Norm (Million Tonnes)

with some rotting away and some beingeaten by rats. The Graph 4.2 shows therising stocks of foodgrains till 2002.

***Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY)

AAY was launched in December 2000.Under the scheme one crore of thepoorest among the BPL familiescovered under the targeted publicdistribution system were identified.Poor families were identified by therespective state rural developmentdepartments through a Below PovertyLine (BPL) survey. Twenty fivekilograms of foodgrains were madeavailable to each eligible family at ahighly subsidised+ rate of Rs 2 perkg for wheat and Rs 3 per kg for rice.This quantity has been enhancedfrom 25 to 35 kgs with effect fromApril 2002. The scheme has beenfurther expanded twice by additional50 lakh BPL families in June 2003and in August 2004. With thisincrease, 2 crore families have beencovered under the AAY.


Let’s Discuss

Study the Graph 4.2 and answer thefollowing questions:• In which recent year foodgrain stock

with the government was maximum?• What is the minimum buffer stock

norm for the FCI?• Why were the FCI granaries

overflowing with foodgrains?

In July 2002, the stock of wheat andrice with FCI was 63 million tonneswhich was much more than theminimum buffer norms of 24.3 milliontonnes. The stock eased after 2002–03due to relief opertations undertaken bythe goverment as the year was declaredas drought year due to failure ofmonsoon. The decline in stockscontinued in the subsequent years.However, these remained consistentlyhigher than the buffer norms. Thesituation improved with the distributionof foodgrains under different schemeslaunched by the government. There isa general consensus that high level ofbuffer stocks of foodgrains is veryundesirable and can be wasteful. Thestorage of massive food stocks has beenresponsible for high carrying costs, inaddition to wastage and deteriorationin grain quality. Freezing of MSP for afew years should be consideredseriously.

The increased food grainsprocurement at enhanced MSP# is theresult of the pressure exerted by leading

foodgrain producing states, such asPunjab, Haryana and Andhra Pradesh.Moreover, as the procurement isconcentrated in a few prosperousregions (Punjab, Haryana, WesternUttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and toa lesser extent in West Bengal) andmainly of two crops— wheat and rice—increase in MSP has induced farmers,particularly in surplus states, to divertland from production of coarse grains,which is the staple food of the poor, tothe production of rice and wheat. Theintensive utilisation of water in thecultivation of rice has also led toenvironmental degradation and fall inthe water level, threatening thesustainability of the agriculturaldevelopment in these states.

# The rising Minimum Support Prices(MSP) have raised the maintenancecost of procuring foodgrains by thegovernment. Rising transportationand storage costs of the FCI are othercontributing factors in this increase.

Picture 4.5 Farmers Carrying Bags of Grainsto the Granaries.

+Subsidy is a payment that agovernment makes to a producer tosupplement the market price of acommodity. Subsidies can keepconsumer prices low while maintaininga higher income for domestic producers.

52 Economics

Another major area of concern is themarked ineffectiveness of PDS, which isapparent from the fact that the averageconsumption of PDS grain at the all-Indialevel is only 1 kg per person per month.The average consumption figure is as lowas less than 300 gm per person per monthin the states of Bihar, Orissa and UttarPradesh. In contrast, the averageconsumption in most of the southernstates like Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Naduand Himachal Pradesh is in the range of3–4 kgs per person per month. As a resultthe poor have to depend on markets ratherthan the ration shops for their food needs.In Madhya Pradesh only 5% of wheat andrice consumption of the poor are metthrough the ration shops. In Uttar Pradeshand Bihar the percentage is still lower.

PDS dealers are sometimes foundresorting to malpractices like divertingthe grains to open market to get bettermargin, selling poor quality grains atration shops, irregular opening of theshops, etc. It is common to find that rationshops regularly have unsold stocks of poorquality grains left. This has proved to bea big problem. When ration shops areunable to sell, a massive stock offoodgrains piles up with the FCI. In recentyears, there is another factor that hasled to the decline of the PDS. Earlier everyfamily, poor and non-poor had a rationcard with a fixed quota of items such asrice, wheat, sugar etc. These were sold atthe same low price to every family. Thethree types of cards and the range ofprices that you see today did not exist. Alarge number of families could buyfoodgrains from the ration shops subjectto a fixed quota. These included lowincome families whose incomes weremarginally higher than the below povertyline families. Now, with TPDS of three

different prices, any family above thepoverty line gets very little discount atthe ration shop. The price for APL familyis almost as high as open market price,so there is little incentive for them to buythese items from the ration shop.

Role of cooperatives in food securityThe cooperatives are also playing animportant role in food security in Indiaespecially in the southern and westernparts of the country. The cooperativesocieties set up shops to sell low pricedgoods to poor people. For example, outof all fair price shops running in TamilNadu, around 94 per cent are being runby the cooperatives. In Delhi, MotherDairy is making strides in provision ofmilk and vegetables to the consumersat controlled rate decided byGovernment of Delhi. Amul is anothersuccess story of cooperatives in milkand milk products from Gujarat. It hasbrought about the White Revolution inthe country. These are a few examplesof many more cooperatives running indifferent parts of the country ensuringfood security of different sectionsof society.

Similarly, in Maharashtra,Academy of Development Science (ADS)has facilitated a network of NGOs forsetting up grain banks in differentregions. ADS organises training andcapacity building programmes on foodsecurity for NGOs. Grain Banks are nowslowly taking shape in different parts ofMaharashtra. ADS efforts to set upGrain Banks, to facilitate replicationthrough other NGOs and to influence theGovernment’s policy on food security arethus paying rich dividends. The ADSGrain Bank programme is acknowledgedas a successful and innovative foodsecurity intervention.


Exercises

1. How is food security ensured in India?

2. Which are the people more prone to food insecurity?

3. Which states are more food insecure in India?

4. Do you believe that green revolution has made India self-sufficient in foodgrains? How?

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

6. What happens to the supply of food when there is a disaster or a calamity?

7. Differentiate between seasonal hunger and chronic hunger?

8. What has our government done to provide food security to the poor? Discussany two schemes launched by the government?

9. Why is a buffer stock created by the government?

10. Write notes on:(a) Minimum support price(b) Buffer stock(c) Issue price(d) Fair price shops

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

12. Write a note on the role of cooperatives in providing food and related items.

Summary

Food security of a nation is ensured if all of its citizens have enough nutritious foodavailable, all persons have the capacity to buy food of acceptable quality and thereis no barrier on access to food. The people living below the poverty line might be foodinsecure all the time while better off people might also turn food insecure due tocalamity or disaster. Although a large section of people suffer from food and nutritioninsecurity in India, the worst affected groups are landless or land poor householdsin rural areas and people employed in ill paid occupations and casual labourersengaged in seasonal activities in the urban areas. The food insecure people aredisproportionately large in some regions of the country, such as economicallybackward states with high incidence of poverty, tribal and remote areas, regionsmore prone to natural disasters etc. To ensure availability of food to all sections ofthe society the Indian government carefully designed food security system, which iscomposed of two components: (a) buffer stock and (b) public distribution system. Inaddition to PDS, various poverty alleviation programmes were also started whichcomprised a component of food security. Some of these programmes are: IntegratedChild Development Services (ICDS); Food-for-Work (FFW); Mid-Day Meals; AntyodayaAnna Yojana (AAY) etc. In addition to the role of the government in ensuring foodsecurity, there are various cooperatives and NGOs also working intensively towardsthis direction.

54 Economics

References

DEV, S. MAHENDRA, KANNAN, K.P. AND RAMCHANDRAN, NEERA (EdS.). 2003. Towards a FoodSecure India: Issues and Policies; Institute for Human Development, New Delhi.

SAGAR, VIDYA. 2004. “Food Security in India”, Paper presented in ADRF-IFRI FinalMeeting on Food Security in India, September 10–11, New Delhi.

SAXENA, N.C. 2004. “Synergising Government Efforts for Food Security” in Swaminathan,M.S. and Medrano, Pedro (Eds.), Towards Hunger Free India, East-West Books,Chennai.

SAXENA, N.C. 2004. “Reorganising Policies and Delivery for Alleviating Hunger andMalnutrition” Paper presented at National Food Security Summit, New Delhi.

SEN, A.K. 1983. “Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation”.Oxford University Press.

SHARMA, REKHA AND MEENAKSHI, J.V. 2004. “Micronutrient Deficiencies in Rural Diets”.Towards Hunger Free India: From Vision to Action. Proceedings of Consultationon “Towards Hunger-free India: Count Down from 2007”. New Delhi.

FAO 1996. World Food Summit 1995. Food and Agricultural Organisation, Rome.

Government of India. Economic Survey. 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05. Ministry ofFinance. New Delhi.

IIPS 2000. National Health and Family Survey – 2. International Institute ofPopulation Sciences. Mumbai.

UN 1975. Report of the World Food Conference 1975. (Rome), United Nations, NewYork.

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