Delhi Public School, Rewari

Subject: Social Science (Geography Notes )

Class- IX

Name………... Roll no……

Prepared By – MR. RAJESH DIXIT

( FOOD SECURITY IN INDIA)

Buffer Stock : Stock of food grains which is replenished by procurement of food grains after the harvest
season; these stocks are released when the arrival of crop to markets stops.
Fair Price Shops : Ration shops.
Famine: A serious shortage of food, primarily due to widespread crop failure caused by drought.
Food Security : It means availability , accessibility and affordability of food to all people at all times.
Issue Price: The price at which the food grains are sold to the consumers by the Fair Price Shops.

Minimum Support Price: A minimum price guaranteed by the government. At this price, the government
provides to purchase any quantity offered to it for sale.
Rationing : A system of distribution; a fixed quantity of a commodity is sold to the identified beneficiary
who is known as a ration cardholder.

Q.1 What is Public Distribution System (PDS)? What is its importance?

Ans Under the public distribution system (PDS) Government of India has opened more than 4.6 lakh
ration shops all over the country to distribute food grains and other essential goods to the poor people at
reasonable rates.
i) It distributes food grains at lesser price than the market price.
ii) It protects the people from high prices.
iii) It discourages black marketing and hoarding.
iv) These help in food security.

Q.2 Explain the current status of the Public Distribution System (PDS).
Ans.
1) The Public Distribution System (PDS) is the most important step taken by the Government of
India towards ensuring food security.
2) Over the years, the policy related to PDS has been revised to make it more efficient and targeted.
3) In 1992, the Revamped Public Distribution System (RPDS) was introduced in 1,700 blocks in the
country.
4) June 1997, Targeted Public Distribuiton System , (TPDS) was introduced first time that a differential
price policy was adopted for poor and non – poor.
5) In 2000 , two special schemes was launched viz, Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and the Annapurna
Scheme (APS) with special target groups of ‘poorest of the poor’ and ‘indigent senior citizens’
respectively.

Q.3 What are the limitations of the public distributed system?

Ans
i) Failed to remove hunger : The PDS has been working many years but still hunger is prevailing in
the Indian society.
ii) Overflowing godwons: The FCI godowns are overflowing with food grains.
iii) Poor food grain quality: As most of godowns have more stock than their capacity this lead to
deterioration in grain quality.
iv) Adverse impact on the environment: Due to incentive by the government most of the states are
producing only rice and wheat led to environmental degradation
Q.4 How is food security ensured in India?
Ans
Food security in India has two components.
a) Buffer stock
b) Public distribution system.

a) Buffer stock :
 Buffer Stock is the stock of food grains, namely wheat and rice procured by the government
through Food Corporation of India (FCI) .
 The FCI purchases wheat and rice from the farmers in states where there is surplus
production.
 The purchased foodgrains are stored in granaries
 . This helps in resolving the problem of shortage of food.
b) Public distribution system.
 The stored food is distributed to the poor people through ration shops.
 The items are sold to the poor people at a price lower than the market price.
c) Other schemes:
 mid – day meal, Antyodaya Anna Yojana , etc. for food security.

Q.5 What happens to the supply of food when there is a disaster or a calamity ?
Ans
i) During any kind of calamity or disaster food supply is adversely affected.
ii) Due to any calamity or disaster like drought, earthquake , flood, tsunami etc. there is
widespread failure of crops, This adversely affects food production.
iii) Due to shortage of food, the prices go up.
iv) Black marketing and hoarding is also one of major factors responsible for high price rise
during any calamity.
v) At the high prices, some people cannot afford to buy food.
vi) If the calamity happens in a very widespread areas or is stretched over a longer time period, it
may cause a situation of starvation.

Q.6 Differentiate between seasonal hunger and chronic hunger.

Ans
1. It is related to cycle of food growing and harvesting.
2. The basic cause of seasonal hunger is lack of work or job.
3. This is prevalent in rural and urban areas.
Chronic hunger
1. It is a consequence of diets persistently inadequate in terms of quality and / or quantity.
2. The basic cause of chronic hunger is very low income.
3. Poor people suffer from chronic hunger.

Q.7 What has our government done to provide food security to the poor? Discuss any two schemes
launched by the government?
Ans
1. The Government of India has established Food Corporation of India (FCI) which purchases
wheat and rice from the farmers and builds buffer stock.
2. The Government has opened more than 4.6 lakh ration shops (Fair price shops) to distribute
food to the poor people at reasonable price.
3. The Government has launched many food distribution schemes like mid-day meal and
Antyodaya Anna Yozana.
Q.8 Write short note on.

1. National Food for Work Programme.

2. Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY)

Ans National Food for Work Programme.

National Food for Work Programme was launched on November 14 , 2004 in 150 most backward districts
of the country with the objective of intensifying the generation of supplementary wage employment. The
programme is open to all rural poor who are in need of wage employment and desire to do manual unskilled
work. It is implemented as a 100 per cent centrally sponsored scheme and the foodgrains are provided to
states free of cost. The Collector is the nodal office at the district level and has the overall responsibility of
planning , implementation , coordination , monitoring and supervision , For 2004 – 05 , Rs 2,220 crore have
been allocated for the programme in addition to 20 lakh tones of foodgrains.

2. Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY)

AAY was launched in December 2000 . Under this scheme in December 2000. Under this scheme
one crore of the poorest among the BPL families covered under the targeted public distribution
system were identified. Poor families were identified by the respective state rural development
departments through a Below Poverty Line (BPL) survey. Twenty five kilogram of food grains were
made available to each eligible family at a highly subsidized rate of Rs 2 per kg for wheat and Rs 3
per kg of rice. This quantity has been enhanced from 25 to 35 kgs with effects from April 2002. The
scheme has been further expended twice by additional 500 lakh BPL families in June 2003 and in
August 2004 . With this increase , 2 crore families have been covered under the AAY.

Q.9 Why is buffer stock created by the Government?

Ans
i) Food security: The main objective of the buffer stock is to distribute the food grains in the
deficit areas and among the poorer strata of society the at a price lower than the market price.
ii) Disaster of Calamity: The second objective of the buffer stock is to resolve the problem of
shortage of food during adverse weather condition s or during the period of calamity.
iii) To save the farmers from the ups and downs of the markets: The third important objective of
the buffer stock is to save the farmers from ups and downs of the market. Under this farmers are
paid a pre- announced price for their crops. This price is declared by the government before the
sowing seasons to provide incentives to the farmers.
iv) Uninterrupted supply of food grains: Buffer stocks are created by the government to maintain
uninterrupted supply of food grains throughout India and throughout the year.

Q.10 What are the problems of the functioning of ration shops?

Ans
i) PDS dealers are sometimes found resorting to malpractices like diverting the grains to open
market to get better margin, selling poor quality grains at ration shops, irregular opening of the
shops etc.
ii) It is common to find that ration shops regularly have unsold stocks of poor quality grains left.
This has proved to be a big problem. When ration shops are unable to sell , a massive stock of
foodgrains piles up with the FCI.
iii) Earlier every family, poor and non – poor had a ration card with a fixed quota of items such as
rice, wheat , sugar etc. But with the introduction of three different cards the price for Above The
Poverty Line Family is almost as high as open market price, so there is little incentive for them.
iv) Food adulterations is another big problem of ration shops.
Q.11 Write a note on the role of cooperatives in providing food and related items.
Ans.
1) The cooperatives are also playing an important role in food security in India especially in the
food security in India especially in the southern and western parts the country.
2) The cooperative societies set up shops to sell low priced goods to poor people. For example,
out of all fair price shops running being run by the cooperatives.
3) Many milk purchasing cooperative like Verka, Mother Dairy, Amul etc. have brought about
the White Revolution in the country.
4) These are a few examples of many more cooperatives running in different parts of the country
ensuring food security of different sections society.
5) In Maharashtra, the Academy of Develop-meant Science (ADS) has facilitated banks in
different regions. The ADS organizes training and capacity building programmes on food
security for NGOs. Grain Banks are now slowly taking shape in different parts of Maharashtra.
6) The ADS efforts to set up Grain Banks, to facilitate replication through other NGOs and to
influence the Government’s policy on food security are thus paying rich dividends. The ADS
Grain Bank Programme is acknowledge as a successful and innovative food security
intervention.

Q.12 What do you mean by food security ? What are its dimensions?
Ans
Food security is something more than getting two square meals a day. It means availability,
accessibility and affordability of food to all people at all times. Food security has three dimensions,
which are as follows:
 Availability of Food: It means food production within the country, food imports and the previous
year’s stock stored in government granaries.
 Accessibility : It means food is within the reach of every person.
 Affordability: It implies that an individual has enough money to but sufficient, safe and nutritious
food to meet one’s dietary needs.

Q.13 Why is there a need for food security?

Ans
Although a large section people suffer form food and nutrition insecurity in India, the worst affected
groups are landless people ( with little or not land to depend upon) , traditional artisans, providers of
traditional services , petty self employed workers and destitute, including beggars.

In the urban areas , the food insecure families are those whose working members are generally
employed in ill – paid occupations and casual labor market. These workers are largely engaged in
the seasonal activities and are paid very low wages that just ensure bare survival. The social
composition, along with inability to buy food , also plays a role in food insecurity.

The SCs and Sts and some sections of the OBCs (lower castes among them ), who have either poor
land - base or very low and productivity, are prone to food insecurity,
The people affected by natural disasters , who have to migrate to other areas in search of work , are
also among the most food insecure people.

A high incidence of malnutrition prevails among women. This is a matter of serious concern as it puts
even the unborn baby at the risk of malnutrition. A large proportion of pregnant and nursing mothers
and children under the age of 5 year constitute an important segment of the food insecure population.

Q.14 What is a Famine?

Ans A famine is characterized by widespread deaths due to starvation and epidemics caused by forced use
of contaminated water or decaying food and loss of body resistance due to weakening from
starvation.
Q.15 What was the declaration made by the World Food Summit in1995?
Ans
The 1995 World Food Summit declared , ‘Food Security at the individual, house hold, regional,
national and global levels exists when all people , at all times, have physical and economic access to
sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and
healthy life.’ The declaration further recognized the ‘poverty eradication is essential to improve
access to food’.

Q.16 Identify the area in India where famine –like conditions have existed in recent times.

Ans These may be identified as follows:

 Kalahandi and Kashipur in Orissa.
 Baran district in Rajasthan
 Palamu district of Jharkhand.

Q.17 What is Yellow Card?

Ans
A Yellow Card is a PDS Card for Below Poverty Line (BPL) families. It entitles the cardholder:
 to get sufficient quantity of wheat , rice, sugar and kerosene oil for his use;
 to get their goods at one –half of the market price.

Q.18 What do you mean by minimum support price?

Ans
 Minimum Support Price (MSP) is the price of a crop announced by the government before the
sowing season starts.
 The government commits to purchase any quantity of crop that farmers like to sell at this
promised price.
 In case there is a bumper crop, its price will crash in the market .
 The farmers can always sell their output to the government at the MSP . They need not suffer in
case there is less output , the market price of crop will rice .The farmer need not sell their output
in the market.
Q.19 What is issue price?
Ans
Issue price is the price at which the government sells the food grains to final consumers through the
Fair Price Shops.
The issue price generally does not cover the cost of procurement incurred by the government . The
different between the cost of procurement and the issue price is called subsidy. This subsidy is
extended to the consumers. This burden is borne by the government.

Q.20 What is the Public Distribution System?

Ans: The food procured by the FCI is distributed through government regulated ration shops among
the poorer sections of the society. This is called the Public Distribution System (PDS) . Ration shops
are now present in most localities, villages , towns and cities. There are about 4.6 lakh ration shops
all over the country. Ration shops , also known as Fair Price Shops, keep the stock of food grains,
sugar , and kerosene oil for cooking. These items are sold to people at a price lowers than the market
price. Any family with a ration card can buy a stipulated amount of these items (e.g., 35 kg of grains ,
5 litres of kerosene, 5 kg of sugar) every month from the nearby ration shop.

Q.21 What are different kinds of ration cards?

Ans There are three kinds of ration cards:
 Antyodaya cards for the poorest of the poor.
 BPL cards for those who belong to below the line of poverty
 APL cards for all others.
Q.22 Trace, in brief , the history of rationing in India.
Ans The introduction of rationing in India dates back of the 1940s , against the backdrop of the Bengal
famine. The rationing system was revived in the wake of an acute food shortage during the 1906s.
prior to the Green Revolution.
 In the wake of high incidence of poverty levels, as reported by NSSO in the mid – 1970s , three
important food intervention programmes were introduced.
 Public Distribution System (PDS) for food grains ( in existence earlier but strengthened
thereafter)
 Integrated Child Development Services(ICDS) , introduced in 1975 on an experimental basis.
 Food for Work (FFW) , introduced in 1977 – 78.

Q.23 What are the problems associated with a high level of buffer stocks?

Ans A high level of buffer stocks of food grains is not desirable because:
 It can be wasteful .
 It results in deterioration of quality of food grains.
 It causes high carrying costs.

Q.24 What are the problem associated with high minimum support prices of food grains?
Ans
MSP of wheat and rice has been continuously rising from year to year. This has bee so because of the
pressure exerted by the wheat and rice producing states. Higher MSP has cuased a number of
problems; among these, the important ones have been as follows:

 Higher MSP of wheat and rice has induced farmers to divest land from production of coarse
grains. Coarse grains are the staple food of the poor. The poor tend to suffer.
 The intensive utilisaton of water in the cultivation of rice has lead to environmental degradation.
It has also led to a fall in the water level . This threatens the sustainability of agricultural
development.
 The rising MSP has also led to general rise in the market prices of these products. Food is the
basic wage food. An increase in its price results in all round increase in prices.
 Although issue prices have been raised, these did not keep pace with rising MSP . As a result , the
burden of subsidy of the government has been rising.
Q.25 Discuss briefly three important food intervention programmes introduced by the Indian
Government.
Ans The following three important food intervention programmes were introduced in mid 1970s:

(a) Integrated Child Development Services (ICD) introduced in 1975 on experimental basis.
(b) Food for work (FFW) introduced in 1977-78.
(c) Public Distribution System (PDS) for foodgrains was strengthened.

Q.26 How does food security get affected during a natural calamity? Explain two ways in which we
can ensure food security in India.
Ans Food security is severely affected during a calamity. Due to a natural calamity like floods, droughts,
etc., total production of foodgrains decreases apart from destruction of existing crops.
(a) Due to shortage of food, prices shoot up making it very costly for a particular section of society.
If this gets on for a long period, it can lead to starvation and famine.
(b) Food security is essential to protect malnutrition, famine and widespread loss of life.
(c) Food security in a country is ensured when enough food is available for all the people.
(d) All people have the capacity to buy food of acceptable quality, there is no barrier on access to
food.
Q.27 What are the functions of the Food Corporation of India?

Ans Functions of the Food Corporation of India

(a) The Food Corporation of India (FCI) procures wheat and rice from the farmers in States where
there is surplus production.
(b) The farmers are paid a pre-announced price ( minimum support price) for their crops and thus
provides incentive to the farmers to raise their production.
(c) FCI stores the purchased foodgrains in granaries to create buffer stock.
(d) FCI distributes foodgrains in the deficit areas and among the poorer strata of society at a price
lower than the market price.
(e) FCI also helps to provide foodgrains during adverse weather conditions or during any
calamity(floods and droughts)

Q.28 Why is there need for self-sufficiency in foodgrains in India?

Ans Need for self –sufficiency in foodgrains arises from the following:
(a) To feed growing population
(b) To fight against any natural calamity.
(c) To reduce import of foodgrains.
(d) To control prices of foodgrains.