Mathur Ritika Passi

37056-013: Chhattisgarh Irrigation Development
Project/ADB/Flickr/Creative Commons
India is self-sufficient in
food grains production
be allowed to stockpile grains to ensure
domestic food security, the situation is
likely to improve.
Another reason for the existence of the
paradox is that despite stable levels of food
production, it was noted that nearly 40%
of the total value of annual food production
is wasted. 17 imilarly, even though India
is the world’s largest milk producer and
the second largest producer of fruits
and vegetables, it also has the dubious
distinction of being the biggest waster of
food. This results in an increase of milk
and vegetable prices, making food products
further unattainable to a large proportion
of the population. Moreover, according to
estimates more than 21 million tonnes of
wheat is either contaminated due to insects,
or rots due to the lack of warehouses
for storage or an erratic electric supply. 18
Demonstrably, although the production
of food in India is stable, the distribution
is faulty given poor management by
government institutions.
Target 2.1 is focused on universalising
access to food. To this end, the Government
of India has already introduced the
National Food Security Act in 2013. The
act aims to alleviate food availability and
accessibility. It focuses primarily on the
expansion of the public distribution system
for increasing food availability. Moreover, it
will expand programmes aimed specifically
at improving the nutritional status of
children and pregnant and lactating women.
Crucially, in acknowledgement of the fact
that existing food distribution mechanisms
have not functioned optimally due to
corruption, leakages, fund embezzlements
and non-transparency in implementation
and execution, the act includes several
provisions for ensuring transparency and
grievance redressal. 19
However, the reports of the High Level
Committee on Long-term Grain Policy and
the Performance Evaluation of the Targeted
Public Distribution System have highlighted
some other major problems in the present
system. Apart from high exclusion errors
due to the improper identification of
beneficiaries, other problems identified
include the non-viability of fair price shops,
the inability to effectively carry out price
stabilisation, and high levels of leakages
that divert grain from the open market. 20
In the context of food consumption and
absorption, some discernible changes in
consumption patterns in India have raised
serious concerns. There has been a decline
in cereal consumption by the three poorest
deciles of the population in both urban
and rural areas. Food consumption by the
bottom 30% of the population came down
from 53.65% in 1970-71 to 29.34% in
2004-05. On the other hand, in urban areas
it declined from 38.85% to 20.59% for
the corresponding years. 21 These groups
continue to meet the larger proportion
of their nutritional requirements through
cereal consumption, since their access to the
27