RBSE Class 9 Social Science Notes Economics Chapter 4 Food Security in India

These comprehensive RBSE Class 9 Social Science Notes Economics Chapter 4 Food Security in India will give a brief overview of all the concepts.

RBSE Class 9 Social Science Notes Economics Chapter 4 Food Security in India

→ Overview:
Food security means availability, accessibility and affordability of food to all people at all times. The role of government is important.

→ What is food security?
The food security is ensured in a country only if enough food is available for all the persons and food is within reach of every person and it is also necessary that each person has the capacity to buy food. Food security in the country depends on the Public Distribution System (PDS) and government vigilance and action at times, when this security is threatened.

→ Why food security?
Food security is necessary in any country to provide food at the time of natural disasters and to provide food to the people below the poverty line. Many times in India, we have faced food crisis due to natural disasters and many times people have died due to starvation. Therefore, food security is necessary to avoid such a situation.

→ How is food security affected during a calamity?
When there is a natural calamity in the country, the total production of foodgrains decreases, due to which there is a shortage of food in the affected area and the prices goes up. Due to this, people are not able to get enough food and starvation and epidemics are caused.

→ Who are food-insecure?
A Large section of people in India are insecure in terms of food and nutrition; such as landless labourers, traditional artisans, people who provide traditional services, destitutes, beggars, people engaged in casual labour etc. Apart from this, some families of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other backward castes are quite insecure in terms of food. Due to lack, of adequate nutrition to the women of food insecure family, their children become malnourished. In some states, the number of food-insecure people is quite high. As a result of efforts made in Five Year Plans in India, there has been significant progress in food production and insecurity has come down.

→ Food Security in India:
With the efforts made in the Five Year Plans and mainly the Green Revolution, India has become self-sufficient in the last few years in terms of food grains. The government’s food security system has two major components-

• Buffer stock
• Public Distribution System. 

Buffer Stock is the stock of foodgrains, namely wheat and rice, procured by the government through the Food Corporation of India (FCI). The government buys this stock from farmers at Minimum Support Price (MSP) and this grain is stored in Granaries and is later distributedin the deficit areas and among the poorer strata of the society at a price lower than the market price also known as the Issue Price.

→ What is the Public Distribution System?
The government distributes the grains stored in buffer stock to the poorer sections of the society through ration shops, also known as Fair Price Shops and this is called as Public Distribution System(PDS). Through this system, the government distributes many essential commodities in addition to food grains.

→ Current Status of Public the Distribution System:
In 1992, Revamped Public Distribution System (RPDS) was introduced in the country. In 1997, Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) was introduced. Further, in 2000, two special schemes were launched viz., Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and Annapurna Scheme (APS).

The National Food Security Act (NFSA) was implemented in the country in 2013, in which food grains are made available to the eligible families at a very low cost. Public Distribution System in India is amended from time to time as per requirement. In the past years, a lot of grain has been collected in the buffer stock of the government and there has been a lot of improvement in the distribution system of food grains. However, there have been some shortcomings in the Public Distribution System.

→ Role of cooperatives in food security:
The cooperatives have played an important role in food security in India. The cooperative societies set up shops to sell low priced goods to poor people. For example: -Mother Dairy in Delhi and Amid Cooperative Society in Gujarat.