Food Security in India

The Right to Food in India
The Food Security Scenario in

South Asia
Country
Food
Production
Food Exports
Food Imports
Food Balance
Bangladesh
26,924
1.6
2,827
-4,601
India
1,74,655
9,490
56
23,826
Nepal
5,839
11
39
57
Pakistan
24,936
2,966
288
3,818
Sri Lanka
1,938
9.8
1,307
252
Source: FAO, 2004. Figures in thousand metric tones for 2002
Some Indicators for Child Wellbeing and malnutrition in South Asia
Bangladesh
India
Nepal
Pakistan
Sri Lanka
5
15
23
15
27
36
44
30
15
20
27
20
20
35
33
35
1
3
4
3
48
43
13
46
46
16
48
51
10
38
37
13
29
14
14
Immunization
(%ofchildrenunder3yearswhohavenot
receivedthestatedvaccine)
BCG
DTP3
MCV
Pol3
Child undernutrition
(%ofchildrenwiththestatedcondition)
Underweight
Stunting
Wasting
Infant and child mortality
(per1,000livebirths)
Infantmortalityrate
56
62
59
80
12
Under-fivemortalityrate
77
85
76
101
14
Indias Annual Growth Rate

Year
GDP
Per capita income
1951-79
3.6
1.3
1980-91
5.6
3.5
1992-06
6.5
4.7
Worrying issues
News of starvation deaths & farmers suicides from

many states
Stagnant agricultural production, and falling food
availability
Unemployment has increased from 4 to 8% in ten years
Regional disparities are increasing
IMR stagnating around 60 per 1000, it is 46 in
Bangladesh
Immunisation coverage fell from 60 to 40% in 5 yrs
More than 50% women are anemic
46% children are malnourished
Declining child sex ratio during 1991-2001
There is no will to improve administration in poor states
Index number of Agricultural

Production
Index
of growth
1981-82
annual rate
100
4.4%
1990-91
148
2.8%
1996-97
176
0.2%
2004-05
179
% of Work Force dependent on

Agriculture
Poverty
Percentage below poverty line
1973
56
1987
39
1994
35
1999
26?
2004
28
Social groups
1993-94
1999-2000
Percentage Share in
Percentage Share in
Total Rural Below

Population Poverty
Line
Total Rural Below

Population Poverty
Line
Scheduled
tribes
10.8
48.8
10.5
48.0
Scheduled
castes
21.1
45.7
20.4
38.4
Others
68.1
28.3
69.1
23.2
100.0
34.2
100.0
28.9
All households
There should be no food

insecurity in India
Both GDP and foodgrain production
have risen faster than the growth in
population over the last 50 years
And yet chronic hunger and starvation persist in large
sections of the population. There has been a
declining calorie consumption especially in the
bottom 30% of the population.
Source: Report of Committee on Long Term Grain Policy, 2002
India has the largest food schemes

in the World
Entitlement Feeding Programmes

ICDS (All Children under six, Pregnant and lactating mother)
MDMS (All Primary School children)
Food Subsidy Programmes

Targeted Public Distribution System (35 kgs/ month of subsidised food grains
Annapurna (10 kgs of free food grain for destitute poor)
Employment Programmes
National Rural Employment Scheme (100 days of employment at minimum
wages)
Social Safety Net Programmes

National Old Age Pension Scheme (Monthly pension to BPL)
National Family Benefit Scheme (Compensation in case of death of bread winner
to BPL families)
The Right to Food Case

PUCL petition on hunger in Rajasthan in the Supreme
Court in 2001
Emergence of the Right to Food Campaign
Key Issues:
Making the Right to Food a Fundamental Right

Converting all existing schemes into entitlements
Tackling large scale malnutrition and chronic hunger
Securing employment as a fundamental right linked to the Right to
Food
Longest continuing mandamus on the Right to Food in

the World
51 Interim Orders so far; more than 500 affidavits; nearly 70
Interim Applications
Highlights of Supreme Court

Orders on the Right to Food
Converted all food and employment schemes into legal
entitlements
Universalised food entitlement programmes for children
(ICDS for children under six and Mid Day Meal Scheme
for all primary school children)
Instituted the independent mechanism of Commissioners
to the Supreme Court to monitor all food and
employment programmes
Prevented the reduction of the poverty line from 36% to
26%
Hauled up Government periodically by serving notice of
contempt of court on senior most Government
functionaries (Chief Secretaries)
Office of the Commissioners to the

Supreme Court (Writ 196/ 2001)
Appointed by the Supreme Court to monitor all
food schemes in the Country
Mandate extends to:
Entitlement Feeding Programmes
MDMS, ICDS
Employment Programmes
NREGS, SGRY I & II, NFFWP, RSVY
Food Subsidy Programme

TPDS, Antodaya Anna Yojana (AAY), Annapurna Yojana
Social Security Programmes

Pensions (NOAPS, NMBS, NFBS)
How does the Office of the

Commissioners function?
Honorary positions; work supported by funds
mandated by the Supreme Court
Works through a secretariat (Delhi) and a
network of Advisers across India
Make policy recommendations through:
Rigorous participatory research
Articulating alternative demands of State policy
Participating in policy bodies such as Planning
Commission Steering Groups
How does the Office of the

Commissioners function? (contd.)
Monitors programmes
Through analysis of macro-data
Addressing complaints at the micro-level
Holds the State accountable by:

Regular engagement with the GoI and State
Governments
Joint Commission of Enquiries
Regular reports on non-compliance to the
Supreme Court
Impact so far
Universalisation of MDMS (120 million children get
school meals) and ICDS (Government would need to
double the ICDS centres to 1.4 million centres covering
60 million children under the age of six)
Managed to restrict the lowering of BPL quotas by GoI
from 36% to 26%
Increase in off-take of subsidised food-grains through the
targeted public distribution system
Increased budgetary allocation for ICDS, Old Age
Pensions (3 times the amount)
Passage of the National Rural Employment Guarantee
Act which guarantees 100 days of employment a year (at
minimum wages)
Impact so far (contd.)

Provided Civil Society an anchor to engage/
confront the State and created spaces for civil
society to engage in food/ employment
programmes
Brought the discourse on food rights to the
centre-stage of governance in the States and
GoI
Has been largely effective in provision of
gratuitous relief (Tea Garden Workers in West
Bengal).
Created the environment for the passage of the
National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
Off-take of BPL/ AAY Food Grains
Figure 3.1: Percentage off-take of BPL/AAY food grains from 2001-02 to 2004-05
Pe rce ntage offtak e
100
90
81.9%
80
73.7%
70
60
59.2%
64.2%
50
40
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
Source: Various issues of Monthly food grain bulletin, Department of food and public distribution, GoI
2004-05
Some Challenges that we face

Attempting reforms in an era of overall
weakening governance and state commitment to
social sectors
Has powers (including filing contempt charges
against Chief Secretaries) which are best used
by not being exercised
Operates in the domain of judicial activism
Challenge of individual redressal versus
systemic policy engagement
Has proved to be marginally effective in harder
areas of governance reforms

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Food Security in India

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The Right to Food in India

The Food Security Scenario in

Source: FAO, 2004. Figures in thousand metric tones for 2002

Some Indicators for Child Wellbeing and malnutrition in South Asia

Indias Annual Growth Rate

Per capita income

News of starvation deaths & farmers suicides from

Index number of Agricultural

% of Work Force dependent on

Total Rural Below

Total Rural Below

There should be no food

Source: Report of Committee on Long Term Grain Policy, 2002

India has the largest food schemes

Entitlement Feeding Programmes

Food Subsidy Programmes

Social Safety Net Programmes

The Right to Food Case

Making the Right to Food a Fundamental Right

Longest continuing mandamus on the Right to Food in

Highlights of Supreme Court

Office of the Commissioners to the

Food Subsidy Programme

Social Security Programmes

How does the Office of the

How does the Office of the

Holds the State accountable by:

Impact so far (contd.)

Off-take of BPL/ AAY Food Grains

Pe rce ntage offtak e

Some Challenges that we face

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