Public distribution system-A case study on food security in India

India is a proud nation having attained food security for its 1.3 billion populations despite several odds and challenges. According to Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations, food security is a situation when all people at all times have sufficient food to meet their dietary and nutritional needs to lead a healthy and productive life. In this sense, food security necessary includes nutritional security. Soon after independence, especially in post-green revolution era, India strived for ‘Food for All’ by developing technological interventions, supporting policies and strategies and a vast network of public distribution system. These initiatives enabled the country to increase the production of food grains by 5-fold, horticultural crops by 6-fold, fish by 12-fold, milk by 8-fold, and eggs by 27-fold since 1950–51. Such steep enhancements improved per capita availability of major food commodities and made a visible impact on national food and nutritional security. Food security also implies food affordability, that is, an individual's capacity to purchase proper, safe, healthy and nutritious food to meet one's dietary needs. Realizing the wide-spread poverty as a major threat to food security, government of India launched several social welfare schemes which ensure food to poor and ‘poorest of poor’ sections of the society. However, to sustain food security in future, India faces several challenges of varied nature.