FOOD SECURITY – SOCIAL ISSUE

News: 81 crore people to get free food grains for one year

 

What's in the news?

       The Union Cabinet on December 23 decided to provide free foodgrains to all 81 crore beneficiaries covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) for one year.

       The beneficiary families which used to pay ₹1 for coarse cereals, ₹2 for wheat and ₹3 for rice per kg will now get 35kg of foodgrains free for the next one year and others will get 5kg for free in a month till December 2023.

       The Centre has estimated an additional amount of ₹2 lakh crore for the scheme.

 

NATIONAL FOOD SECURITY ACT (NFSA), 2013:

Objective:

       To provide for food and nutritional security in the human life cycle approach, by ensuring access to adequate quantities of quality food at affordable prices to people to live a life with dignity.

 

Coverage:

       The Act provides coverage for nearly 2/3rd of the country’s total population, based on Census 2011 population estimates.

 

Selection of beneficiaries:

       Stata/UT wise coverage is determined by the erstwhile Planning Commission which is now NITI Aayog on the basis of the 2011-12 Household Consumption Expenditure Survey of NSSO.

       Many states use the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) data for the identification of beneficiaries.

 

Categories:

       75% of rural and 50% of urban population are entitled to receive highly subsidized food grains under two categories i.e. Antyodaya Anna Yojana(AAY) households and Priority Households (PHH).

 

Foodgrains Entitlement:

       The Act entitles 35 kg of food grains as per Antyodaya Anna Yojana Households per month, whereas 5kg of food grains per Priority Households per person.

 

Prices:

       Rs 1/2/3 per kg for Nutri-cereals/wheat/rice respectively.

 

Nutritional Support to women and children:

       Children in the age group of 6 months to 14 years and pregnant women and lactating mothers will be entitled to meals as per prescribed nutritional norms under Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and Mid-Day Meal(MDM) schemes.

 

Maternity Benefit:

       Pregnant women and lactating mothers will also be entitled to receive maternity benefits of not less than Rs. 6,000.

 

Women Empowerment:

       Eldest woman of the household of age 18 years or above to be the head of the household for the purpose of issuing ration cards.

 

Grievance Redressal Mechanism:

       Grievance redressal mechanism at the district and state levels.

 

Provisions of the Act:

       The NFSA assigns joint responsibilities to the federal and state governments.

       Role of Central government:

       The NFSA mandates the centre with the responsibility of allocating and transporting food grains to designated depots in the states and UTs.

       The centre must provide central assistance to states/UTs for the distribution of food grains from authorized FCI godowns to the doorsteps of Fair Price Shops.

       Role of States:

       States and union territories are responsible for identifying eligible households, issuing ration cards, distributing foodgrain entitlements through fair price shops, licensing and monitoring Fair Price Shop (FPS) dealers, establishing an effective grievance redress mechanism, and strengthening the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS).

       The NFSA also includes provisions for TPDS reforms, such as cash transfers for food entitlement provisioning.

       Direct Benefit Transfer involves the cash equivalent of the subsidy being transferred directly into the bank accounts of eligible households.

 

Significance of NFSA:

       It is beneficial to the agricultural sector.

       It also helps the government control food prices.

       Creation of job opportunities: Because agriculture is a labor-intensive industry, a boost in the agricultural sector would result in more job opportunities. This would boost economic growth and lead to a reduction in poverty.

       Health benefits: Access to nutritious food would improve the public’s overall health.

       Food security is important for the nation’s global security and stability.

 

Concerns:

       The Act fundamentally talks about hunger and its eradication but fails to take into account the evils of undernutrition and removing the same. Thus, the Act should strive to include both, Right to Food as well Right to Nutrition.

       Malnutrition is a major problem faced in India which can’t be solved merely through establishing a Public Distribution System. Besides ensuring the supply of food, measures related to sanitation, health care, and water form an important aspect of the distribution.

       The benefits of Anganwadis are not yet reaching many areas, and their coverage in many areas is poor. It is a challenge to see how the benefits of the Act would be reaped without sufficient means.

       The Act also faced opposition from the Farmer’s Union, contending that the Act would nationalize agriculture, making the government buy, sell and hoard the majority of agricultural production.

       It reduces farmer's bargaining power and minimizes the support extended to marginal and small farmers.

       The Act also allows private entities in the supply chain, which allows room for profit-making and unfair trade practices.

       The leakages and corrupt practices in the Public Distribution System and supply chain also stand as an obstacle to the efficient functioning of the Act.

       The National Food Security Act of 2013 is an important step toward addressing the country’s food insecurity and hunger, but it requires restructuring and the incorporation of new changes in various areas in order to achieve its goal.

       The Act states that the right to food can’t be availed during times of natural calamities and during times of war. States which are highly prone to natural disasters would not be provided with the right to food when required the most.

 

Challenges to Food Security:

1. Climate Change:

       The increase in the global temperatures and the capricious rainfall makes farming difficult.

       A change in the temperatures not only impacts the crops but the other species which are reared for food such as fisheries, livestock, etc.

2. Lack of Access:

       There is a lack of access to remote areas.

       The tribals and other communities living in remote areas do not get the opportunity to avail of the benefits of the schemes implemented for food security due to lack of access.

3. Over-population:

       A substantial increase in the population when not accompanied by an increase in agricultural production results in a shortage of food.

4. Non-food crops:

       Crops grown for commercial purposes such as biofuels and dyes have reduced the area under cultivation for crops.

5. Migration from Rural-Urban cities:

       This causes a problem as it leads to a lot of confusion as to which PDS shop to buy the subsidies from.

6. Lack of storage facilities:

       Improper storage facilities for grains & cold storage facilities.

7. Transportation infrastructure:

       Poor roads and inefficient transport systems & limited reach of mandies.

8. Food Wastage:

       India being the 2nd largest vegetable producer, encounter a waste of close to 18% worth INR 44,000 crore ($7 billion) of produce.

9. Policy & administration issues:

       Fragmented approach & improper implementation & lack of monitoring.

 

Ways to increase the effectiveness of NFSA:

       The Government should provide strategies for better food storage, and adopt an integrated policy framework to facilitate agriculture productivity.

       The usage of Information Technology throughout the process from acquisition of the food grains till distribution will aid in enhancing the effectiveness of the process. For example, in January 2021, Digi-Locker facility was advocated for adoption in the PDS. This is to help make e-ration cards accessible for the beneficiaries anytime from anywhere under One National One Ration Card Scheme.

       Information regarding the entire process from the quality of food grains to the storage facilities where the grains were stored should be available to the beneficiaries.

       A One Nation One Ration card system would be effective in eliminating the confusion, especially for the migrants, as this would provide the beneficiaries the freedom to choose from the PDS shop of their choice.

       Expand the coverage of Integrated Management of PDS (IMPDS) to all the states.