CBSE Class 9 Social Science Food Security in India Assignment

Food security means availability of food to all people all the time. Food security has following dimensions:
• Availability of food: This means the food production within the country, food imports and previous years’ stock stored in government granaries.
• Accessibility of food: This means food should be within reach of every person.
• Affordability: This means that every individual has enough money to buy sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet one’s dietary needs.

What is need of food security?
Food security is needed for various purposes. The main purpose of food security is the no person should go to bed with empty stomach. The other reason is that in times of natural calamities, surplus food should be available to ensure adequate food supply to those who are affected by the calamity.

Famine
A situation which leads to widespread death because of starvation and epidemics caused by forced use of contaminated water or decaying food. The FAMINE OF BENGAL in 1943 was the most devastating famine which occurred in recorded history. The Bengal famine killed about 30 lakh people in Bengal. 

Historical data suggest that the Bengal famine was not caused due to lack of availability of food but due to lack of access to food. The amount of rice produced was more or less similar from 1938 to 1945.

Food Insecure People
The worst affected people from food-insecurity are the landless poor, traditional artisans, providers of traditional services, petty self-employed workers and destitute. In urban areas; people who are employed in low paid jobs and in seasonal works come under this category of people.

If we look at the socioeconomic groups in India; then the SCs, STs and some sections of the OBCs are people who are either landless or have poor land-base. They are the people most prone to food-insecurity.

People who migrate to other areas in search of work are also food-insecure people. Women; especially pregnant women are also at high risk.

The BIMARU states (Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh) and Orissa have a large portion of population which can be among the food-insecure people.

Hunger is not just an expression of poverty rather it brings about poverty. There can be chronic hunger or seasonal hunger. Chronic hunger is prevalent among those who earn very low and thus suffer from hunger for most of the time. Seasonal hunger is related to agricultural cycle. Many landless farm workers and marginal farmers may be suffering from seasonal hunger. In urban areas; people who suffer from seasonal unemployment can suffer from seasonal hunger.

Question : What is meant by food security? Point out the three dimensions of food security. 
Answer : Food Security means availability, accessibility and affordability of food to all people at all times everywhere in the country.
1. Availability of food means food production within the country, food imports and the previous year’s stock stored in government granaries.
2. Accessibility means food is within reach of every person.
3. Affordability implies that an individual has enough money to buy sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet one’s dietary needs.

Question : How is food security affected during a calamity? 
Answer :
1. Due to a natural calamity, say drought, total production of food grains decreases.
2. It creates a shortage of food in the affected areas.
3. Due to shortage of food, the prices go up. At the high prices, some people cannot afford to buy food.
4. If such a calamity happens in a very wide spread area or is stretched over a longer time period, It may cause a situation of starvation.
5. A massive starvation may become a famine.

Question : Define Famine and point out any two incidents of wide spread famine in India.
Answer :
1. A famine is characterized by wide spread 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.
2. The most devastating famine in India was the famine of Bengal 1943 which killed thirty lakh people in the province of Bengal.
3. Today there are places like Kalahandi and Kashipur in Orissa where famine-like conditions have been existing for many years.
4. Starvations deaths are also recently reported from Baran district of Rajastan, Palamu district of Jharkand and many other remote areas.

Question : Why do you we (the government) need to ensure food security?
Answer :
1. All sections of the society might be food insecure during national disaster or calamity like drought, flood, etc
2. There can be food insecurity due to poverty. Even today there are places where people die of starvation eg. Kalahandi and Kashipur in Orissa, and places in Rajastan and Jharkand.
3. It is the responsibility of a welfare state to make food available, accessible and affordable to its people.

Question : Who are food insecure people? 
Answer :
1. Landless people with little or no land to depend upon, traditional artisans, destitutes including beggars
2. Workers engaged in ill-paid occupations and casual labourers in urban areas.
3. The SCs ,STs and some sections of the OBCs who have either poor land base or very low land productivity .
4. People affected by natural disasters who have to migrate to other areas in search of work.
5. Pregnant women, nursing mothers and children under the age of 5 years, which faces high incidence of malnutrition.

Question : ‘The social composition along with the inability to buy food also plays a role in food insecurity’. Point out such social groups that are food insecure. 
Answer :
1. The SCs ,STs and some sections of the OBCs who have either poor land base or very low land productivity.
2. People affected by natural disasters who have to migrate to other areas in search of work, are also among the most food insecure people.
3. A high incidence of malnutrition prevails among (pregnant) women; this also puts the unborn baby at risk of malnutrition.
4. . A large number of nursing mothers and children under the age of five years constitute an important segment of the food insecure people.
5. According to National Health and Family Survey, the number of such women and children are approximately 11 crore.

Question : Which states are more food insecure in India?
Answer : U.P, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal, Chattisgarh, parts of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Question : Examine the contribution of Green revolution towards food security in India.
Answer :
1. After independence, Indian policy makers adopted all measures to achieve self-sufficiency in food grains. India adopted a new strategy in agriculture, which resulted in Green Revolution.
2. Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India officially recorded the success of Green Revolution by releasing special stamp entitled ‘Wheat Revolution’.
3. The success of wheat was later replicated in rice but this increase was disproportionate.
4. The highest rate was in Punjab and Haryana where food grain production increased from 7.23 million tones to 30.33 million tons in thirty years.
5. Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh recorded significant increase in rice production. On the other hand, Bihar, Orissa and North Eastern states continued to stagger.

Question : What is Buffer Stock? Why does the government create it? 
Answer :
1. Buffer stalk is the stalk of food grains namely wheat and rice procured by the government through Food Corporation of India (FCI)
2. The FCI purchases wheat and rice from the farmers in states where there is surplus production. The farmers are paid a pre- announced price for their crops. This is called Minimum Support Price.
3. The MSP declared by the government every year provides incentive to the farmers to increase the production of the crops.
4. The buffer stock is created by the Government to distribute food grains in the deficit areas and among the poorer strata of society at a price lower than the market price also known as ‘Issue Price’
5. This also helps solve the problem of shortage of food grains during adverse weather conditions and during the period of calamity.

Question : Briefly describe the (PDS) ‘Public Distribution System’./ Examine the functioning of Ration Shops/ Fair price Shops in India. 
Answer :
1. The food procured by the FCI is distributed through government regulated ration shops among the poorer sections of the society .This is called PDS.
2. Ration shops are now present in most localities, villages, towns and cities. There are about 4.6 lakh ration shops all over the country.
3. Ration shops are known as Fair Price Shops that keep stock of food grains, sugar, kerosene oil for cooking. These are also sold at a low price than the market price.
4. Any family with a ration card can buy a stipulated amount of these items every month from the nearby shop. (For quantity see page no. 48)
5. The ration cards are three types based on the income level of the people: (1)Antyodaya Cards for the poorest of the poor, (2) BPL Cards (3) APL cards.

Question : Briefly describe the emergence of rationing system in India.
Answer :
1. The introduction of Rationing in India dates back to the 1940s during the Bengal famine, introduced during the British Raj.
2. The rationing system was reviewed and expanded to all parts of the country during the acute shortage of food grains in 1960s prior to the Green revolution.
3. In recent years many poverty alleviation programs (PAP) are a part of rationing and food security such as National Food for Work Program.
4. PDS and Mid Day meal are exclusively food security programs.
5. Government has introduced three types of ration cards as a part of targeted approach to ensure food security.

Question : Examine the role of ‘National Food for Work Programme’ in alleviating Poverty.
Answer :
1. NFWP was launched in 2004 in 150 most backward districts with the objective of intensifying the generation of supplementary wage employment and is open for those who are in need of wage employment and desire to do manual unskilled work.
2. It is implemented in 100% centrally sponsored scheme and the food grains are provided to States free of cost.
3. The collector is the nodal officer at the district level and has the overall responsibility of planning, implementing, coordination, monitoring and supervision.
4. For 2004- 05, Rs. 2,020 cr. have been allocated for the programme in addition to 20 lakh tonnes of food grains.

Question : Discuss the current status of the public distribution system in India and its advantages.
Answer :
1. PDS is the most important step taken by the government of India towards ensuring food security. In the beginning the coverage of PDS was universal with no discrimination between the poor and non-poor.
2. Over the years, the policy has been revised to make it more efficient and targeted. The prices have been under revision in favour of poor households in general.
3. It is the most effective instrument of the Government policy in stabilizing prices and making food available to consumers at affordable prices.
4. It has been instrumental in averting widespread hunger and famine by supplying food from surplus regions of the country to the deficit regions.
5. The system including the minimum support price and procurement has contributed to an increase in food grain production and provided income security to farmers in certain regions.

Question : Examine the role of ‘Antyodaya Anna Yojna’ in ensuring food security. (Write in Note book). 
What are the problems in the functioning of the Public Distribution System?
Answer :
1. Instances of hunger are prevalent despite overflowing granaries and FCI go-downs are overflowing with grains, with some rotting away and some being eaten by rats.
2. High level of buffer stock is very undesirable and can be wasteful like high carrying costs, deterioration of grain quality.
3. Increased MSP encourages farmers to produce less coarse grains, which is the staple food of the poor.
4. Average consumption of PDS grain at all India level, which is very less, also shows ineffectiveness of PDS.
5. PDS dealers are sometimes involved in malpractices like diverting the grains to open market to get better margins, etc.

Question : ‘The Cooperatives are playing an important role in food security in India’. Point out the role of Cooperatives in food security with any four examples.
Answer :
1. The cooperatives set up shops to sell low priced goods to poor people. They are playing an important role in food security in India especially in the southern and western parts of the country.
2. Out of all fair price shops running in Tamil Nadu, around 94% are being run by the cooperatives.
3. In Delhi, Mother Diary is making strides in provision of milk and vegetables to the consumers at controlled rate decided by Government of Delhi.
4. Amul is another success story in milk and milk products from Gujarat.
5. In Maharashtra, ADS has facilitated a network of NGO’s for setting up grain banks in different sections of the society. ADS organizes training programmes on food security for NGO’s. Grain Banks are coming up in different parts of Maharashtra

Question : Examine the steps taken by the Govt. of India to achieve self-sufficiency in food grains since independence and to ensure food security in India. 
Answer :
1. After independence, Indian policy makers adopted all measures to achieve self-sufficiency in food grains. India adopted a new strategy in agriculture, which resulted in Green Revolution.
2. PDS is the most important step taken by the government of India towards ensuring food security.
3. The FCI purchases wheat and rice from the farmers in states where there is surplus production. The farmers are paid a pre- announced price for their crops. This is called Minimum Support Price.
4. The food procured by the FCI is distributed through government regulated ration shops among the poorer sections of the society .This is called PDS.
5. In recent years many poverty alleviation programs (PAP) are a part of rationing and food security such as National Food for Work Program. PDS and Mid Day meal are exclusively food security programs.