Class 9 (Economics)
Chapter 4 – Food Security in India
Introduction
The concept of food
security in India goes beyond ensuring that food is free from contamination. It
encompasses the availability, accessibility, and affordability of food to
ensure that individuals from diverse financial backgrounds face no challenges
in procuring food. The foundation of food security in India relies on the
watchfulness of the government and the efficiency of the public distribution
system (PDS). In times of potential threats to food security, the PDS
intervenes to address and resolve issues.The study of food security involves an
examination of its various aspects. Officials responsible for food security
grapple with ensuring the availability of food for every individual residing in
India. Additionally, the administration takes diligent measures to identify and
overcome any impediments that local populations may attempt to impose on the
distribution of food.
Important Notes:
1. What is Food Security?
·
Food
security is more than just having two square meals; it encompasses:
·
Availability
of food (production, imports, and stock).
·
Accessibility
of food to every person.
·
Affordability
for individuals to buy sufficient, safe, and nutritious food.
2. Importance of Food
Security:
·
Essential
during national disasters or calamities (earthquake, drought, flood).
·
Affects
both the poorest and those above the poverty line.
3. Who are Food-Insecure?
·
Rural
areas: Landless people, traditional artisans, petty self-employed workers,
destitutes.
·
Urban
areas: Families with underpaid occupations, casual laborers.
·
Those
affected by natural disasters and migrants searching for work.
·
Pregnant/nursing
mothers and children under 5 years.
4. Types of Hunger:
·
Seasonal Hunger:
·
Related
to agricultural cycles, prevalent in rural areas.
·
Urban
areas affected by reduced work during specific seasons.
·
Chronic Hunger:
·
Result
of persistently inadequate diets in terms of quantity and/or quality.
·
Linked
to very low income and inability to buy sufficient food.
5. Buffer Stock:
·
Stock
of food grains (wheat and rice) procured by the government through the Food
Corporation of India (FCI).
·
FCI
purchases from states with surplus production, paying Minimum Support Price
(MSP).
6. Public Distribution
System (PDS):
·
Food
procured by FCI distributed through government-regulated ration shops.
·
Ration
shops, also known as Fair Price Shops, provide essential items at prices lower
than the market.
7. Current Status of PDS:
·
Universal
coverage initially, later modified with Revamped Public Distribution System
(RPDS) in 1992.
·
Introduced
a differential price policy for the poor and non-poor.
·
Special
schemes like Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and Annapurna Scheme (APS) launched in
2000.
8. Issues with PDS:
·
Criticized
for instances of hunger despite surplus stocks.
·
Poor
quality of commodities supplied, including sub-standard wheat and rice.
9. Role of Cooperatives in
Food Security:
·
Cooperative
societies establish shops selling low-priced goods to the poor.
·
In
Tamil Nadu, around 94% of fair-price shops are run by cooperatives.
·
Academy
of Development Science (ADS) in Maharashtra facilitates NGOs in setting up
grain banks in different regions.
Important
Question Answers
1. How is food
security ensured in India?
Answer:
To ensure that
food is available to all segments of society, the Indian government
meticulously built a food security system consisting of two components: (a)
buffer stock and (b) public distribution system. Food security is provided in
India using the following methods:
1. Food
availability refers to domestically produced food and government-saved supplies
from prior years.
2. Access to
food for all citizens of the country.
3. Access to
safe and nutritious food should be affordable for everyone.
2. Which are
the people more prone to food insecurity?
Answer:
People living
below the poverty line may be food insecure at all times, whereas better-off
people may become food insecure as a result of misfortune or disaster. Food
insecurity is also influenced by social factors, such as the inability to
purchase food. SCs, STs, and some OBCs (lower castes included) with either poor
land-based or very low land production are vulnerable to food insecurity. Aside
from these parts, those affected by a natural disaster are more likely to be
food insecure.
3. Which states
are more food insecure in India?
Answer:
The largest
food insecure states in India are eastern and south-eastern Uttar Pradesh,
Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and parts
of Maharashtra.
4. Do you
believe that green revolution has made India self-sufficient in food grains?
How?
Answer:
After
independence, India implemented a new agricultural policy that resulted in the
Green Revolution, particularly in the production of wheat and rice. Since then,
India has avoided famine despite terrible weather circumstances, and a wide
range of crops have been grown throughout the country. The availability of food
grains, even in severe situations at the national level, meant that the
government had a proper food security system. As a result, the green revolution
has helped India become self-sufficient in food grains.
5. A section of
people in India are still without food. Explain?
Answer:
Despite a
significant rise in food grain output, a portion of India's population remains
food insecure. This is due to higher commodity prices and people's inability to
purchase food for themselves and their family. Unemployment can also contribute
to the chronic hunger experienced by low-income persons in rural areas.
6. What happens
to the supply of food when there is a disaster or calamity?
Answer:
A disaster or
calamity has a significant impact on food grain production and cultivation.
Food grain production falls, resulting in a shortage and, eventually, higher
prices. If the tragedy continues for an extended period of time, the afflicted
region may become food insecure.
7.
Differentiate between seasonal hunger and chronic hunger?
Answer:
Hunger is one
of the most crucial indicators of food security. Hunger causes poverty and has
two dimensions: seasonal hunger and chronic hunger.
Seasonal hunger
refers to the form of hunger that occurs when a person is unable to find job
throughout the year. Seasonal hunger is linked to cycles of food production and
harvesting. This is common in rural areas due to the seasonal nature of
agricultural activity, and in cities due to casual labourers.
Chronic hunger
is caused by diets that are consistently inadequate in terms of quantity and/or
quality. Poor people suffer from chronic hunger due of their extremely low
income and, as a result, inability to afford food even for survival..
8. What has our
government done to provide food security to the poor? Discuss any two schemes
launched by the government?
Answer:
The government
has initiated several programs to enhance the well-being of the population and
ensure food security for those in need. Two notable initiatives in this regard
are the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and the Annapurna Scheme (APS).
Antyodaya Anna Yojana
(AAY): Commencing in the year 2000, this program identified one crore of the
most impoverished families falling below the poverty line and covered under the
targeted public distribution system. Eligible families were provided with 25 kg
of food grains at a highly subsidized rate, amounting to Rs. 2 per kg for wheat
and Rs. 3 per kg for rice. The scheme witnessed an expansion in 2003,
benefiting close to 50 lakh families below the poverty line.
Annapurna
Scheme (APS): Also initiated in the year 2000, this scheme is designed to
furnish food to senior citizens who were previously not covered by the National
Old Age Pension Scheme. To qualify, applicants must be 65 years of age or
older.
9. Why buffer
stock is created by the government?
Answer:
The government
creates a buffer stock of food grains to be distributed in food-deficit areas
and among the lowest strata of society at a significantly lower price than the
market price. A buffer stock also aids in the prevention of food shortages
during inclement weather, disasters, or calamities. Thus, the government takes
steps to assure food security by preserving buffer stocks.
10. Explain the
following terms :
(a) Minimum
Support Price – The Food Corporation of India acquires wheat and rice from
farmers in states with surplus production, providing them with a predetermined
price for their crops known as the Minimum Support Price (MSP). Announced by
the government before each sowing season, the MSP is established, and the
procured food grains are stored in granaries.
(b) Buffer
Stock – The government accumulates a reserve of food grains, primarily
wheat and rice, through the Food Corporation of India, known as the Buffer
Stock. This reserve is utilized by the government in the event of calamities,
disasters, or for the welfare of the economically disadvantaged sections of
society.
(c) Issue
Price – To ensure the equitable distribution of food grains in deficit
areas and among economically disadvantaged groups, the government maintains a
stock of food in the form of buffer stock. This stock is made available at a
price lower than the market rate, termed as the Issue Price.
(d) Fair
Price Shops – Also known as Fair Price Shops, ration shops stock food
grains, sugar, and cooking kerosene, which are sold to the public at prices
lower than the market rates. Families holding a ration card can purchase a
specified quantity of these items each month from the nearby ration shop.
11. What are
the problems of the functioning of ration shops?
Answer:
Ration shops,
also referred to as Fair Price Shops, maintain a supply of food grains, sugar,
and kerosene for cooking, all of which are sold to individuals at prices below
the market rate. Nonetheless, operational issues persist in ration shops:
1) The quality of food provided to economically
disadvantaged individuals often falls below the expected standard for food
grains.
2) Malpractices by ration shop dealers
result in the withholding of the full quantity deserved by poor individuals.
3) Some ration shops irregularly open,
causing inconvenience for the economically deprived.
4) Ration shopkeepers may inaccurately
update entries under the names of deserving individuals.
12. Write a
note on the role of cooperatives in providing food and related items.
Answer:
In conjunction with the government,
cooperatives play a vital role in ensuring food security in India, particularly
in the southern and western regions. Cooperative societies establish shops to
offer affordably priced goods to the economically disadvantaged. In Tamil Nadu,
approximately 94 percent of all fair-price shops are operated by cooperatives.
Mother Dairy, located in Delhi, participates in supplying milk and vegetables
at government-regulated rates. Amul, credited with the White Revolution in India,
is a cooperative engaged in providing milk and dairy products.
The Academy of Development Science
(ADS) in Maharashtra actively contributes to the establishment of Grain Banks
in diverse regions. It conducts training programs and capacity-building initiatives
on food security for NGOs. Furthermore, the ADS directs its efforts toward
influencing government policies on food security. These instances underscore
the active role played by cooperatives in the distribution of food and related
items.
