Food Security challenges India faced during the lockdown

Food is the basic necessity of all human beings. For India, even in best times, it has
been the key priority. In the time like COVID-19, the need to ensure food safety has
been a major challenge. 
The World Bank data shows that more than 176 million people are living in extreme
poverty. The data also reveals that poor households are more vulnerable to the risk of
COVID-19. Nevertheless, at the same time, these people face food insecurity. 
On the other hand, 2019 Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) data can also be
referred to, which shows the number of poor in India is more than 369 million. The
number is quite staggering and poses a great challenge, even in a non-emergency
situation. And in a situation like COVID-19, this challenge becomes even serious
when a number of livelihoods lost for a daily wage and self-employed worker. 
Food Security System in India and Challenges
With a number of over 0.55 million Fair Price Shops, Public Distribution System
ensures the regular supply of food grains and other essential commodities. 
At the beginning of March 2020, India has a stock of 77 million tonnes (mt) of rice
and wheat and 2.25 mt of pulses in public storage. This three times more than what
Food corporation of India mandates. 
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman on 26 March announced a relief package of 1.76
lakh crore rupees under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojna. It includes provisions
for:

 80 crore poor people to get 1 kg of rice and 5 kg free for three months.
 Jan Dhan Account holders to get Rs 500 per month for the next three months.
 MNREGA wage increased to Rs 202 from Rs 182.
 A sum of Rs 1,000 for 3 crore poor widows, senior citizens and disabled.
 Building and Construction Workers Welfare Fund to be used by state
governments to provide relief to construction workers.
With all these measures by the central government, state governments too announced
their own Schemes. However, a big hurdle was lack of updation in the Public
Distribution System and lack of documentation. Another issue was the ration card,
which is neither divided nor portable across locations. Government’s new One
Nation, One Ration Card policy is still a work in progress.
Even if a household gets wheat, then local millers who convert it into flour were not
working. Rice was the only option available.
Furthermore, inter-state coordination has negatively affected food distribution.
Agriculture is a state subject matter, and programs vary from state to state.
Transportation, storage and distribution of large volumes of food became a problem
leading to spoilage and contamination. Many warehouses were closed due to local law
enforcement. There has been an issue of transportation too. Local administration is
prohibiting the movement of trucks, and there is a scarcity of labourers as well.