text: NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Economics CBSE Chapter 4: Food Security in India | TopperLearning
  NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Economics Chapter 4 - Food Security in India
  Plan chapter revision according to your schedule with TopperLearning's NCERT Solutions for CBSE Class 9 Economics Chapter 4 Food Security in India. Revise the three dimensions of food security by practising our solutions created by subject experts. In this chapter, learn how the government is trying to tackle food shortage with agricultural strategies.
  Relearn the lessons taught in class on India's food security concerns with our NCERT textbook solutions. Prepare for your exam with our CBSE Class 9 Economics sample papers, online practice tests and other self-study resources.
  - Choose Chapter - Chapter 1 - The Story of Village Palampur Chapter 2 - People as Resource Chapter 3 - Poverty as a Challenge Chapter 4 - Food Security in India
  Chapter 4 - Food Security in India 53
  Availability of food ? Presence of enough food for all the persons
  Accessibility of food ? Absence of barrier on access to food
  Affordability of food ? Capability of all persons to buy food of acceptable quality
  (i) Self-sufficiency of food grains ? India has become self-sufficient in food grains (as was its aim since Independence) during the last thirty years. This has been because of a variety of crops grown all over the country.
  (ii) Food-security system ? The availability of food grains has been ensured by the government with the help of a carefully designed food-security system. This system involves the maintenance of a buffer stock of food grains, and the distribution of this food among the poorer sections of the society with the help of a public distribution system.
  (iii) Implementation of several poverty-alleviation programmes having an explicit food security component ? Apart from the distribution of food through fair-price shops, the government has come up with several poverty-alleviation programmes that enhance food security; for example, mid-day meals and food-for-work.
  (iv) Involvement of cooperatives and NGOs ? In addition to the role of the government in ensuring food security, various cooperatives and NGOs are also working intensively towards this direction. Mother Dairy and Amul are two examples of cooperatives involved in ensuring food security.
  A large number of people in India suffer from food insecurity.
  (1) In the rural areas the following types of people are more prone to food insecurity:
  (i) Landless people with little or no land.
  (ii) Traditional artisans who provide traditional services.
  (iii) Petty self-employed workers.
  (iv) Destitute including beggars.
  (2) In the urban areas the following types of people are more prone to food insecurity:
  (i) Casual labourers.
  (ii) Workers employed in the ill paid occupations.
  (iii) Workers employed in seasonal activities.
  Incidentally these people suffering from food insecurity come from the regions such as economically backward states with high poverty, tribal and remote areas, and regions more prone to natural disaster etc.
  When India became independent there was acute shortage of food grains. The country had to import large quantities of food grains from other countries. To meet this situation in late 1960s, the government adopted certain strategies in agriculture to make this country self-sufficient in food grains. These strategies included:
  1. Use of HYV seeds.
  3. New scientific methods of farming.
  4. Several schemes for irrigation were undertaken to bring more land under cultivation.
  All these resulted into 'Green Revolution' especially in the production of wheat and rice. Since the advent of the Green Revolution, India has not only attained self-sufficiency in food grains but also could avoid famine even during the adverse climates.
  When there is a disaster or calamity the production of food grains decrease. This in turn creates shortage of food in the affected areas. Due to the shortage of food, the prices go up. When the prices rise many people can not afford to buy food. Thus, the food security of many people is adversely affected because of disaster or calamity. If such calamity happens in a very wide spread area or continues for a long period of time, it may cause a situation of starvation. Massive starvation can result into a 'famine'.
  A buffer stock of food grains is created by the government so that it can be distributed in the food deficit areas and among the poorer strata of the society at a price much lower than the market price. A buffer stock also helps to resolve the problem of food shortage during adverse weather conditions, disaster or calamity. Thus maintaining buffer stock is a step taken by the government in order to ensure food security.
  The food procured by FCI is supplied to the poor through the ration shops which have been set up in most of the localities, villages, towns and cities. This is a part of the Public Distribution System (PDS) which is the most important step taken by the government towards ensuring food security in the country. These ration shops supply foodgrains, kerosene, sugar etc. to the poor at a price much lower than the market price. Any family with a ration card can purchase stipulated amount of these items every month from the nearby ration shop.
  But recently, many problems have crept up in the functioning of the ration shops, such as -
  1. The quality of the rationed articles issued to the poor is much less than what it should be. As a result the poor have to depend on the market for their needs.
  2. Some of the ration shop dealers resort to malpractices. They illegally divert the grains to the open market for better gains.
  3. Some of the ration shop dealers sell only poor quality of grains.
  4. Some dealers do not open their shops regularly and the poor people can not draw their ration quota timely.
  5. Still others weigh less and cheat the illiterate poor fellows.
  6. Some ration shops are unable to sell their poor quality grains, which become a great headache for FCI then.
  7. With the introduction of cards and three different prices for the same articles to the different people, the whole system of PDS has become much complicated.
  8. The APL card holders get very little discount at the ration shop because of which they have lost their interest to buy these articles from the ration shops etc.
  Along with the government, cooperatives are also playing an important role in ensuring food security in India, especially in the southern and western parts of the country. The cooperative societies set up shops to sell low-priced goods to the poor. Out of all fair-price shops running in Tamil Nadu, around 94 per cent are being run by cooperatives. Mother Dairy, in Delhi, is involved in providing milk and vegetables at controlled rates decided by the government. Amul, responsible for the White Revolution in India, is a cooperative involved in providing milk and milk products. The Academy of Development Science (ADS) in Maharashtra has been involved in the setting up of Grain Banks in different regions. It organises training and capacity-building programmes on food security for NGOs. Its efforts are also directed towards influencing the government's policy on food security. Thus, through these examples, it can be seen that cooperative are playing an active role in the distribution of food and related items.