CHAPTER
– FOOD SECURITY IN INDIA
GLOSSARY
1.
Food Security : It means availability,
accessibility and affordability of food to all people at all times.
2. Green Revolution : It refers
to the tremendous increase in agricultural output and productivity that came about with
the introduction of new agricultural technology since late 1960’s and made the
Indian economy self sufficient in terms of food grains.
3.
Famine : Massive starvation deaths and
daeths caused by epidemics due to forced use of contaminated water and decayed
food is called famine.
4.
Public distribution System : It is the system
in which the food procured by the FCI is distributed through the government
regulated ration shops among the poor sections of the society. The items such
as foodgrains, sugar, kerosene etc are sold to the people at a price lower than
the market price.
5.
Minimum Support Price : It is the price
which is paid by the government to the farmers for the purchase of foodgrains.
It is a pre-announced and is declared by the government before the sowing
season.
6.
Issue Price : It is the price at which
the FCI distributes the foodgrains in the deficit areas and among the poor
strata of the society. Issue price is lower than the market price. It is the
subsidised price.
7. Fair Price Shops : Fair price shops
are the ration shops. The food procured by the FCI is distributed through these
government regulated shopsamong the poor strata of the society. Fair price
shops are present in most localities, villages, towns and cities.
8. Seasonal Hunger : It is related to
the cycles of food security and insecurity. Seasonal hunger exists when a
person is unable to get work for the entire year. It is a type of hunger when a
person doesn’t get proper food neither in terms of quantity nor in terms of
quality for some time during the year.
9. Chronic Hunger : It is a consequence
of diets persistently inadequate
in terms of quantity and/or quality.
Poorer sections of the society sufferfrom chronic hunger because of their very low income and in turn inability to buy food even for their survival.
10. Buffer Stock : It is the stock of
foodgrains, namely wheat and rice procured
by the government through the Food
Corporation of India ( FCI ). The FCIpurchases foodgrains from the farmers in the states where there is surplus
production. The purchased foodgrains are stored in granaries.
Q1. What does food security mean ? On
what factors does food security of a country depend ?
Ans. It means availability, accessibility and
affordability of food to all people at all times. Food security depends on :
1)
The public distribution system
(PDS)
2)
Governemnt vigilance and action at
times when this security is threatened.
Q2. What are the dimensions of food
security ?
(a) Availability
of food means food production within the country, food
imports
and the previous years stock stored in government granaries.
(b) Accessibility
means food is within reach of every person.
(c) affordability
implies that an individual has enough money to buy sufficient, safe and
nutritious food to meet one's dietary needs.
Q.3. when is
food security ensured ?
Ans. Food security is ensured under the following conditions :
(a) When food is available in
adequate quantity as well as quality to meet nutritional requirements.
(b) When food is within the reach of
every person.
(c) When an individual has enough
money to buy sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet one’s dietary needs.
Q4. Why do we need food security ?
2) persons above the poverty line might
also be food insecure when the country faces a national disaster/calamity like earthquake,
drought, flood, tsunami,
widespread failure of crops causing famine,
etc.
Q5. What happens to the food security when there
is a natural calamity or a
disaster?
When
there is a disaster or a calamity, total production of foodgrains
decreases.
It creates a shortage of food in the affected areas. As a result, the supply of
foodgrains falls in relation to demand which further results in price rise. In
such a situation, majority of people cannot affoerd food and they begin to
starve and die.
Q6. Which are the people that are more prone to
food insecurity?
1. Landless people with
little or no land to depend upon.
2. Traditional artisans
3. Providers of
traditional services
4. Petty self-employed
workers
5. Destitutes including
beggars
6. People employed in
ill-paid occupations
7. Casual labourers
8. Labourers engaged in
seasonal activities
9. Women, elderly, sick
members and handicapped
10. SCs, STs and some
sections of the OBCs who have either poor land
base or very low land
productivity
11. People affected by the
natural disasters and calamities
Q.7. Which
states are more food insecure in India?
Q8. Differentiate between seasonal and chronic
hunger.
Seasonal Hunger : It is related to the cycles of food security and
insecurity. Seasonal hunger exists when a person is unable to get work for the
entire year. It is a type of hunger when a person doesn’t get proper food
neither in terms of quantity nor in terms of quality for some time during the
year.
Chronic Hunger : It is a consequence of diets persistently
inadequate in terms of quantity and/or quality. Poorer sections of the society
suffer from chronic hunger because of their very low income and in turn inability
to buy food even for their survival.
Q9. What is buffer stock and why is it created by
the government?
government through Food
Corporation of India (FCI). The FCI purchases wheat
and rice from the farmers
in states where there is surplus production.
·
The farmers
are paid a pre-announced price for their crops. This price is called
Minimum Support Price.
·
The MSP is
declared by the government every year before the sowing season to provide incentives to
the farmers for raising the production of these crops.
·
The purchased
foodgrains are stored in granaries by the government.
This is done to distribute
foodgrains in the deficit areas and among the poorer strata of society at a
price lower than the market price also known as
Issue Price. This also helps resolve the problem of shortage of food
during adverse weather conditions or during the periods of calamity.
PDS is one of the most
important steps taken by the Governmnet of India towards ensuring food
security.
In the begining the
coverage of PDS was universal with no discrimination
between the poor and
non-poor. Over the years, the policy related to PDS has
been revised to make it
more more efficient and targeted.
In 1993, Revamped Public
Distribution (RPDS) was introduced in 1700 blocks of the country. The aim was
to provide the benefits of PDS to remote and backward areas.
From June 1997, a new
policy Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS)was introduced to adopt the
principle of targeting the ‘poor in all areas’.
Q11. What are the
problems associated with high minimum support price of the foodgrains?
1. MSP of wheat and rice
has been continuously rising from year to year.
Higher MSP has caused a
number of problems like :higher MSP of wheat and rice has induced the farmers to divert the land from the
production of coarse grains to the production of wheat and rice only.
Coarse grains are the staple diet of the poor. The poor tend to suffer.
2. The intensive
utilization of water in the cultivation of rice has lead to
environmental degradation.
It has also led to a fall in the water level.
Q12. What problems are associated with the high
levels of buffer stock?
The high levels of buffer
stock of foodgrains is undesirable because :
1. It can be wasteful.
2. It results in the
deterioration of quality of food grains.
3. It causes high carrying
costs, storing costs and maintanance costs.
Q13. Mention the problems based in the
functioning of ration shops.
Ration shop dealers are
found resorting to malpractices like
1. Hoarding and black
marketing i.e. Diverting the grains to the open market
to get better margin.
2. Selling poor quality
grains through the ration shops.
3. Irregular opening time
of shops.
4. Use of false weights.
5. Selling of adultrated
grains and other essential commodities of consumption.
Q14. What are the different type of
ration cards?
There are 3 types of
ration cards.
1. Antyodya cards for the
poorest of the poor.
2. BPL cards for those who
lie below the povety line.
3. APL cards for all others who are above the
poverty line.
Q.15. Do
you believe that Green Revolution has made India self-sufficient in foodgrains?
How?
Ans. After Independence, Indian policy-makers adopted all possible measures to achieve self-sufficiency in food grains. India adopted a new strategy in agriculture which resulted in the Green Revolution. Green Revolution took place especially in the production of wheat and rice. The core of this new strategy was the use of HYV seeds along with chemical fertilizer and assured water supplies. As a result, total production of foodgrains increased from 50.8 million tonnes in 1950-51 to 212.0 million tonnes in 2003-04. The largest contribution came from wheat, whose production rose from 6.4 million tonnes to 72.1 million tonnes.
Q.16. A
section of people in India are still without food. Explain?
Ans. Despite large increase in foodgrain
production we find people without food in India. Poor people suffer from
chronic hunger. They find themselves unable to buy food. Over one-fifth of the
country’s population still suffers from chronic hunger.
Q.17. What
has our government done to provide food security for the poor? Discuss any two
schemes launched by the government.
Ans. Our government has undertaken a
number of measures to provide food security for the poor.
A brief account of these measures is
given below :
1. Maintenance of Buffer Stock. Our government maintains buffer
stock of foodgrains through Food Corporation of India. The FCI purchases wheat
and rice from the farmers in surplus states and stores in granaries.
2. Public Distribution System (PDS). The food procured by the FCI is
distributed among the poor through ration shops. Presently, there are about 4.6
lakh ration shops in the country.
3. Nutritional Programmes. In order to provide nutritional
security, our government has launched various schemes. Mid-day meal scheme for
schoolchildren, scheme for supply of foodgrains to scheduled castes/scheduled
tribes and special nutrition programmes for pregnant/nursing mothers are
examples of such schemes. In 2000, two special schemes were launched. One,
Antyodaya Anna Yojana and second, the Annapurna Schemes. The former relate to
the poorest of the poor, while the latter targets indigent senior
citizens. The functioning of these two schemes
was linked with the PDS.
Under AAY scheme, thirty-five
kilograms of foodgrains are made available to each eligible family at a rate of
Rs 2 per kg for wheat and Rs 3 per kg for rice.
Under APS, 10 kilograms of food
grains is made available to eligible persons free of cost.
(a) Minimum Support Price
(b) Issue Price
(c) Fair Price Shops
d) Antyodaya Anna Yozna
e) Subsidy
f) PDS
Ans. (a) Minimum Support Price : With a view to provide incentives to the
farmers for raising the production of their crops, the government announces
price of some crops before the sowing season. The government remains ready to
purchase their crops at these pre-announced prices. This price is called
minimum support price (MSP).
(b) Issue Price : The purchased food grains are stored in granaries.
This is done to distribute food grains among the poorer section of the society.
The government makes food grains available to the poor at a price much lower
than the market price. This is known as issue price.
(c) Fair Price Shops : The food procured by the government is
distributed among the poor. This task is done through government regulated
shops which are known as fair price shops.
Under the scheme one crore of the poorest
among the BPL families covered under the targeted public distribution system
were identified. Poor families were identified by the
respective state rural development departments
through a Below Poverty Line (BPL) survey. Twenty five kilograms of foodgrains
were made available to each eligible family at a
highly subsidized rate
of Rs 2 per kg for wheat and Rs 3 per kg for rice.
This quantity has been enhanced from
25 to 35 kgs with effect from April 2002.
e) Subsidy -is a payment that a government makes to a producer to supplement
the market price of a commodity. Subsidies can keep consumer prices low while
maintaining a higher income for domestic
producers.
f)
PDS - Public distribution System : It is the system in which the food procured
by
the FCI is distributed
through the government regulated ration shopsamong the pooe sections of the society. The items such as foodgrains, sugar,
kerosene etc are sold to the people at a price lower than the market price
Q.19. What
are the problems of the functioning of ration shops?
Ans. There are various problem of
the functioning of ration shops such as ;
1. Ration cards are issued only to
those people who have their proper residential addresses. Hence a large number of homeless
poor fail to get ration from these shops.
2. The owners of these shops sell
ration in the open market at higher prices.
3. Sometimes shopkeepers make bogus
entries in the ration cards.
Q.20. Write
a note on the role of cooperatives in providing food and related items.
Ans. Role of Cooperatives in
providing food and related items is as follows:-
The cooperatives are playing an
important role in food security in India, especially in the southern and
western parts of the country. The cooperative societies set up shops to sell
goods to the poor people at lower prices. For example, out of all fair price
shops operating in Tamil Nadu, nearly 94 percent are being run by the
cooperatives. In Delhi, Mother Dairy is providing milk and vegetables to the
consumers at controlled prices which are decided by the Delhi Government.
Amul is another example in this regard.
It has brought about the White Revolution in the country. There are many more
cooperatives and NGOs also working intensively towards this direction.
.
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