STRENGTHENING INDIA'S FOOD SECURITY

Context: Measures to provide food security during the monsoon as it is the hardest time of the year for poor families in large parts of rural India.

Vulnerability of poor states 

• Extraordinarily poor: large sections of the population on the margins of subsistence.
• Higher concentration of extreme poverty and hunger (E.g. Bihar)
• A prolonged period of mass unemployment owing to the pandemic.
• Meagre wages: of casual labour in ordinary times.
• Disproportionate burden of the current economic crisis: on the working population, in particular.
• Swelling labour pool: as migrant workers return, further diminishing the employment prospects of local workers.
• Future crisis: They are yet to be seriously hit by the COVID-19 crisis and preparedness of the health system is abysmal with high population density.
• The cash crunch: hindering the state governments (E.g. Jharkhand tax collections have crashed to 30% of their normal levels

Existing Government measures and issues associated:

• National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA): to provide employment generation and social security in India.
• National Food Security Act

• Extending the doubled rations: through the PDS for the majority of poor households.
• Central pool stock: 80 million tonnes of reserves as on April 30, 2020

• Issues:

• Exclusion errors: Ration cards issued under the National Food Security Act leave out more than 500 million people.
• Identifying poor households: a problematic exercise in this crisis.
• Food stock reserves were depleted by the lockdown

Way forward:

• Temporary ration cards: to all left-out households in rural areas and urban slums. 
• Continued doubling of food rations.

• Provide additional food grain allocations: to the poorest of states on a temporary basis along with Universalising the PDS.
• Raising the borrowing limits of state governments.
• Persisting with cooperative federalism.
• Constructive use of the country’s foodgrain stocks: over the next few months.