Prevalence of Hunger and Status of Food Security in Puruliya District, West Bengal: A Micro Level Analysis

Puruliya, a frequently drought-hit district is located in the western plateau region of West Bengal. This district suffers from very poor status of human development among the districts of West Bengal and ranked sixteenth out of seventeen districts in 2004. Not only the precarious condition of human development but also lower per capita income coupled with poor purchasing power leads to intra-district variation in food insecurity and malnutrition in the district. The starvation deaths took place in the district also depicts the hidden hunger prevailing throughout the undulating forest clad landscape. Recent government report also reveals serious state of nutrition in the district. The present study is an endeavour to portray the real picture of food security along with pattern of food consumption and expenditure in the district through a detail household survey. It is evident that agricultural inefficiency, lower income level, illiteracy and absence of basic amenities like sanitation and safe drinking water as well as distributive injustice are the focal concern of this kind of adverse situation. High disparity in spatial pattern of food insecurity is evident in the district. An integrated approach of agricultural development, generation of higher income and efficient public distribution system can play a vital role to overcome such a constraint.