Status of Food Security in India

This paper has analysed all three components of food security, viz. availability, accessibility and affordability and also the reach of government schemes in the eastern states of India. It has been observed that though the per capita net availability of foodgrains has increased around 14 per cent in the past 60 years, it fluctuates between 144 and 185 kg/year. The growth of non-conventional food items like milk, eggs, fish, fruits and vegetables is more than of conventional food items which may be due shift in the dietary pattern. Although there has been some progress in reducing poverty at the macro level, there exist wide inter-state disparities. It has been observed that the per capita net availability of foodgrains and indicators of poverty are negatively correlated. The states with high level of net availability of foodgrains, have low level of poverty and prevalence of malnutrition. To understand the incidence of government schemes, particularly of Public Distribution Scheme (PDS), Mid-Day Meal (MDM), National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) and National Food Security Mission (NFSM), the household level data collected from the states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha in eastern India under VDSA project were used. It has been observed that these schemes though have potential to improve food security, could not achieve the objectives because of low penetration. Proper monitoring and implementation of these schemes is required to provide food security to the people of country.