Report on the State of Food Insecurity in Urban India, 2010 - M. S. ...

REPORT ON THE STATE OF FOOD INSECURITY IN URBAN INDIA
In an economy where a substantial proportion of the population is food insecure and where markets
for foodgrains are poorly integrated, besides being characterised by significant elements of monopoly,
there is an obvious need for public food delivery systems. It can, in fact, be claimed that public food
delivery systems have an even more important role in the urban context vis-à-vis the rural, where
some amount of own or subsistence cultivation and consumption may be expected of owner-cultivator
households and there is also sometimes payment in kind for labour. The urban population, on the other
hand, is largely dependent on the market, making the urban poor in particular more vulnerable to price
shocks and food and nutrition insecurity.
Historically, the most important of such systems in India has been PDS, which has been an
extremely important instrument of food security in urban India for more than six decades now. In the
1980s, expansion of PDS on a large scale to cover non-urban and non-food-deficit areas took place. In
a major policy shift, a targeted PDS (TPDS) was introduced in 1997 by the Government of India, and
most States fell in line. TPDS, by restricting access to only the BPL households as per the consumer
expenditure figure derived from applying the methodology of the 1993 <strong>Report</strong> of the Expert Committee
set up by the Planning Commission, seems to be excluding large numbers of undernourished BPL as well
as APL households. The universalisation of PDS is imperative to counter food insecurity in urban India.
The exercise presented in this <strong>Report</strong> shows that the fiscal burden of universal PDS to provide 35 kg per
month to all households at two rupees a kg may not be prohibitive. It has to be emphasised, however, that
it is important to improve the functioning of PDS, which is far from satisfactory in many respects.
The National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education (NPNSPE), popularly
known as the Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDMS), started by the Government of India in 1995, seeks to
improve the nutritional status of children in classes I-VIII in government, local body, government body
and government-aided schools; children studying in the centres under the Education Guarantee Scheme
(EGS); and in Alternative and Innovative Education (AIE) centres. The scheme initially provided for
distribution of fixed quantities of dry foodgrains to schoolchildren. This was replaced by cooked meals
with effect from September 2004. While the scheme has had a significant positive impact on enrolment
and retention across the country, concurrent monitoring and evaluation systems of a participatory nature
need to be strengthened to ensure better delivery.
The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme launched in 1975 aims at holistic
development of children up to six years of age as well as adolescent girls and pregnant and lactating
mothers by providing a package of services comprising supplementary nutrition, immunisation, health
check up, referral services, non-formal pre-school education and health and nutrition education. The
Government of India is responsible for the programme planning and infrastructure funding and the State
Governments for programme implementation and supplementary nutrition. The services under ICDS
are offered through a network of anganwadi centres. As on 31 March 2009, around 1 million anganwadi
centres were in operation in the country, covering around 72 million children in the 6 months to 6
years age group as well as 15 million pregnant women and lactating mothers under the supplementary
nutrition programme. The Union Budget for 2009-10 has proposed that all services under ICDS would
be extended to every child under the age of six by March 2012 – a tall order, considering that only
about 30 per cent of the children were covered as on 31 March 2006. The allocations for ICDS in the
xvi