9th SA 2 Economics

CHAPTER 4
FOOD SECURITY IN INDIA
Q1. What is food security?
Food is essential for living as air is for breathing. But food security means something more than getting two square meals. Food security has the following dimensions
 Availability of food means food production within the country, food imports and the previous year’s stock stored in government granaries.
Accessibility means food is within reach of every person.
 Affordability implies that an individual has enough money to buy sufficient safe and nutritious food to meet one’s needs.
 Thus, food security is ensured in a country only if (1) Enough food is available for all persons.
 All persons have the capacity to buy food of acceptable quality.
 There is no barrier on access to food.
Q2. Why is Buffer Stock created by the government?
Buffer Stock is the stock of food grains, namely wheat and rice procured by our government through Food Corporation of India (FCI). FCI purchases wheat and rice from the farmers in states where there is surplus productions. The farmers are paid a pre-announced price for their shops. This price is called minimum support price. The MSP is declared by the government every year before the sowing season to provide currencies to the farmers for raising the production of these crops.
Q3. A section of people in India are still without food. Explain. Or Who are food insecure?
A large section of people suffer from food and nutrition insecurity in India, the worst affected groups are landless people with little or no land to depend upon, traditional artisans, providers of traditional services, petty self-employed workers and destitutes including beggars. On the urban areas casual labourers and ill paid workers are the worst affected.
Q4. Do you believe that green revolution has made India self-sufficient in food grains?
India believes in self sufficiency in food grains. India has made several policies and programmes to achieve food security.
It has adopted a new strategy in agriculture, which resulted in the ‘Green Revolution’ especially in the production in wheat and rice.
Co-operative societies are set up to provide goods at cheaper rates. 94% of co-operatives are found in Tamil Nadu.
• Maharashtra Academy of Development Science (ADS) has facilitated a network of NGOs for setting up grain banks in different regions. ADS organizes training and capacity building programes on food security for NGOs
• Delhi, mother Dairy in making strider in provision on milk and vegetables to the consumer at controlled rate decided by Government of Delhi. Anand is another example of co-operative in Gujarat.
Q5. Describe the famine of Bengal in 1943.
The Bengal famine was the most devastating that occurred in 1943. This famine killed 30 lakh people. Some people say that Bengal famine occurred due to shortage of rice.
Q6. Name a few other areas which are often affected by famine in Inda.
Places like Kalahandi, and Kashipur in Orissa where famines occur frequently.

[ ‘Story of Ramu and Story of Ahmad’ - read the text book from page 44 and 45 respectively ]

Q7. Name a few states is largely affected by food insecurity.
The states of Uttar pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal, Chattisgarh, parts of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra account for largest number of food insecure people in the country.
Q8. What are the aspects of food insecurity?
Poverty, calamities, socially and economic backward conditions, chronic hunger and seasonal hunger are some of the aspects of food insecurity.
Q9. Define chronic hunger and seasonal hunger.
Chronic hunger: Chronic hunger is a condition occurs due to inadequate diet in terms of quantity and quality. Poor people suffer from chronic hunger because of their very low income and in turn inability to buy food even for survival.
Seasonal hunger: It is related to seasonal employment in agriculture. In the off seasons the farmer’s family starve out of hunger.
Q10. What is the Public Distribution system?
The food procured by the FCI is distributed by government through ration shops among the poorer section of the society. This is called public distribution system (PDS). They are found in most cities, town and villages. The ration shop is also known as Fair price shops.
Any family with ration card can buy a specific amount of kerosene, food grains sugar etc.. at fair price. In 1992, Revamped public distribution System (RPDS)ntroduced in 1,700 blocks in the country. In 1997, Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS)
Q11. Name the three kinds of ration cards.
a. Antyodaya cards for the poorest of the poor
b. BPL cards for those below poverty line
c. APL cards for all others.
Q12. Write on the introduction of Rationing in India.
Rationing in India dates back the 1940s against the Bengal famine. It was revived in 1960.
Q!3. What are the three important food intervention programmes introduce by the government?
• Public Distribution system (PDS) for food grains
• Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)
• Food for work (FFW)
Q!4. Expand PAP.
Poverty Alleviation Programmes
Q15. Explain any 2 PAP programmes launched by the government which ensures food security.
National Food for work programme
This programme was launched on November 14, 2004 in 150 most backward districts. The main objective was to generate supplement wage employment. Food grains are provided to the states free of cost. The collector is the nodal officer at the district level.
Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY)
AAY was launched in Dec. 2000. Under the scheme two crore poor families were targeted under the scheme. All the families belong to Below Poverty Line (BPL) were to be identified.
Under this scheme 25 kilograms of foodgrains were made available to each eligible family at a rate of 2 rupees per Kg for wheat and 3 rupees per kg rice. It further expanded twice by additional 5o lakh BPL families in June 2003
Q16. Write short note on
• Minimum support price: The farmers are paid a pre- announced price for their crops. This price is called minimum support price.
• Issue Price: Food –grain distributed in the deficit areas and among the poor lower than market price.
• Fair price shops:These are the ration shops found in villages, towns and cities. There are about 4 to 6 lakh ration shops all over the country.
Q17. Write a note on the role of cooperatives in providing food and related
items.
• The co-operatives play an important role in food security in India. There are 94% co-operatives run by Tamil Nadu government.
• Delhi, Mother Dairy is making provision of milk and vegetables to the consumer at controlled rate decided by the government.
• Anand is another successful cooperative in Gujarat.
• Maharashtra Academy of Development Science (ADS) has facilitated a network of NGOs for setting up grain banks in different regions. ADS organizes training and capacity building programmes on food security for NGOs.
Q18. What are the problems in running the ration shops?
• PDS dealers sometime involve in malpractices like diverting the grain to open market to get profit and keep poor quality grains left.
• Unsold poor quality grains are piled up with the FCI.
• Earlier every poor and non poor had a ration card with a fixed quota of items such as food grains, sugar etc..,
• But now with TPDS of three different prices, any family about the poverty line gets very little discount at the ration shops.