Introduction Indias economic growth indicators since Independence have largely been impressive, though may not be so year

on year. The success is attributable to a number of interventions- the five year plans, the green revolution, other important revolutions and opening up of the economy, to name just some. Indian population too has been growing at a very high rate over this period and today it is a 1.25 billion strong country. At its current growth rate, India is slated to overtake china by 2050, thus making it the most populous nation in the world. From 1947 onwards, achieving food security for all has been a national goal. Jawaharlal Nehru articulated this goal by emphasizing everything else can wait, but not agriculture.

While a positive growth rate in population is important to ensure that the nation has a sufficiently large young population that can propel its economic growth story and towards the avowed goal of being an economic super power, it also throws up a lot of concerns in a society already under population pressure- more hungry mouths to feed, shrinking per capita land availability, need for enhanced food production from shrinking farm land available for cultivation, pressure on both physical (road, transport and housing etc.) and social infrastructure ( Education, health etc), besides the unhealthy fallout from increasing hiatus between the rich and the poor. Now withstanding the impressive growth of the service and industrial sectors, India still remains predominantly an agricultural society depending on the seasonal rains during the monsoons. Over 57 per cent of the population is still engaged in agriculture and allied activities that generate only 28 per cent of GDP share, thus revealing the poor purchasing power of the vast section of Indian society. Shamefully, many still lack access to adequate food. Many villages still do not have access to basic facilities like safe drinking water, sanitation, health facilities, roads and electricity. With the success of green revolution, characterized by high-yielding varieties of rice and wheat, responsive to intense use of inputs like water and fertilizers, India has largely achieved self sufficiency in the production of food grains. While the nations population has tripled since independence, the food production has more than quadrupled during the same period neutralizing concerns of availability of food.

It is well known that the large section of people in India do not have regular access to food. Data from various sources shows that 35 percent of Indians are food insecure mainly due to low incomes and high food prices prevent individual food security and nearly half of the worlds hungry persons are in India. Another aspect of Indias food insecurity situation is that even after over three decades of operation, Public Distribution System (PDS) meets less than 10% of consumption of grains by the poor. Thus the issues of agriculture performance and food security and also the distribution system hold the top agenda in the country. Agriculture Performance in India India accounts for only about 2.4 % of the worlds geographical area and 4 % of its water resources, but has to support about 17 % of the worlds human population and 15 % of the livestock. Agriculture is an important sector of the Indian economy, accounting for 14% of the nations GDP, about 11% of its exports, about half of the population still relies on agriculture as its principal source of income as Agriculture is the backbone of the Indian economy. Around 58% population of India depends on Agriculture. Indias climate is evident for 15 varied agro climatic zones which are favorable to grow wide variety of crops and Produces 51 major Crops. India ranks second worldwide in farm output. India is the leading producer of Jute, pulses mangoes, bananas, cashew nuts and ginger and is the Second largest producer of wheat, paddy, sugar, cotton, fruits and vegetables. Agriculture accounts for 10% of the total exports earning and provide raw material to a large number of industries. India ranks among worlds 5 largest producers of over 80% of agriculture commodity viz coffee, cotton, livestock and poultry meat. Agriculture contributes 16% to total GDP.

From Food grain deficiency to Self Sufficiency Since independence (from British-rule) in 1947, India, having the second biggest population in the world, faced two key economic challenges: achieving food security and alleviating poverty. In a country which relies predominantly on agriculture, the focus was to promote growth in the agricultural sector to meet both of these challenges. Agricultural promotion was initiated to increase food production for feeding close to 30 crore people (300 million) in the 1950s. It was the time (1950s and 60s) when India faced a huge food shortage and had to import food under PL 480(Public Law 480) agreement with the United States.

Dependence on agricultural imports till the early 1960s convinced planners that India's growing population, as well as concerns about national independence, security, and political stability, required self-sufficiency in food production. This led to formulation of measures such as agricultural improvements called the Green Revolution, the public distribution system and price supports system for farmers.

From a net importer of food in 1950s, India has transformed itself in the production of food grains (mainly rice, wheat, coarse cereals and pulses) during the last few decades. From a mere 50 million tons of annual food grain production in 1950s, India this year (2011-12) has produced a record 259 million tonnes of food grains, mainly attributed to the significant jump in rice and wheat output. The average growth rate of food grains production from 1950 to 2011 was 3.2 per cent per annum. Overall, wheat was the best performer, a hectare of Indian wheat farms that produced an average of 0.8 tonnes in 1948, produced 4.7 tonnes of wheat in 1975 from the same land. By 21st century, Indian farms adopted wheat varieties capable of yielding 6 tonnes of wheat per hectare.Wheat was followed by rice, which had a production increase from 20 million tons to 102 million tons at present.

Table No: 1 Average Productivity of India, growth in average yields from 1970 to 2010. Average Yield, 19701971 Kg/ha Rice Wheat Pulses Oilseeds Sugarcane Tea Cotton 1123 1307 524 579 48322 1182 106 Average Yield, 1990- Average Yield, 2010 1991 2011 Kg/ha 1740 2281 578 771 65395 1652 225 Kg/ha 2240 2938 689 1325 68596 1669 510

Crop

Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Govt of India.

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In the Table no 1 it is clearly evident that Indian agriculture has undergone a phenomenal transformation during the past decades. The metamorphosis was brought by not only technological changes such as the green revolution, but also by institutional innovations in delivering farm inputs and marketing of output. The table revealed that among the cereals Wheat has made an impressive increase in productivity from 1307 kg/ha in 1970-71 to 2938 kg/ha during 2010-11. The productivity of rice increased from 1123 kg /ha to 2240 kg/ha during 197071 to 2010-11 respectively. In pulses the productivity increased from 524 kg/ha to 689 kg/ha during 1970-71 to 2010-11 respectively. The productivity of pulses are not increased to the extent as of cereals because during green revolution the focus was on wheat, due to which the high yielding varieties are not released in oilseeds. The crops like tea, sugarcane and cotton has productivity of 1669, 68596 and 510 kg/ha during 2010-11 respectively.

Mile Stones in Agricultural Development

Early Years of Independence The early years of Independence witnessed accentuation on the development of infrastructure for scientific agriculture. The steps taken are included the establishment of fertilizer and pesticide factories, construction of large multi-purpose irrigation-cum-power projects, organization of community development and national extension programmes and, above all, the starting of agricultural universities as well as new agricultural research institutions across the length and breadth of the country. However, the growth in food production was inadequate to meet the consumption needs of the growing population which necessitated food imports. Special programmes were undertaken to improve food and cash crops supply. The Grow More Food Campaign (1940s) and the Integrated Production Programme (1950s) focused on food and cash crops supply respectively. Five years Plan of India oriented towards agricultural developmentsoon followed. Land reclamation, land development, mechanization, electrification, use of chemicalsfertilizers in particular, and development of agriculture oriented 'package approach' of taking a set of actions instead of promoting single aspect soon followed under government supervision.

Green Revolution (1960) Policy makers and planners, in order to address the concerns about national independence, security, and political stability realized that self-sufficiency in food production was an absolute prerequisite. This perception led to a program of agricultural improvement called the Intensive Agriculture District Programme (IADP) and eventually to the Green Revolution. All these steps led to a quantum jump in the productivity and production of crops. Release of high yielding and pest resistant crop varieties in combination with Fertilizers and pesticides resulted in increased crop output. This made India self sufficient in food grain production.

White (1970-1996) and Yellow Revolution (1986-1990). The Green revolution generated a mood of self-confidence in our agricultural capability, which led to the next phase characterized by the Technology Mission. Under this approach, the focus was on conservation, cultivation, consumption, and commerce. An end-to-end approach was introduced involving attention to all links in the production-consumption chain, owing to which progress was steady and sometimes striking as in the case of milk and oilseed production.

Present Times Indian agriculture continues to face internal and external challenges. While monsoon dependence fragmented land-holding, low level of input usage, antiquated agronomic practices, lack of technology application and poor rural infrastructure are some of the key internal constraints that deter a healthy growth, while subsidies and barriers have been distorting international agricultural trade, rendering agri-exports from developing nations such as India uncompetitive. The objective of every policy initiative has been to make Indian agriculture globally competitive by investing it with the ability to produce globally acceptable quality at globally comparable cost.

Fig no: 1 Total Output in last five years

160 150 140 130 120 110 FY07

Agriculture Output in USD(b)

Growth only 2

FY08

FY09

FY10

FY11

FY12

Value In USD (b)

Source: Ministry of Agriculture

In the above bar graph it is evident that the agriculture output from last few five year plans has been increasing but the output in last two five year plan i.e in 11th and 12 five year plan has been stagnant only 2 per cent growth has been occurred in agriculture sector.

Fig no: 2 Agriculture Contributions to GDP

15.0%

14.5%
14.0% 13.5% 13.0%

Contribution to GDP in %

2009-10

2010-11
Years

2011-12

2012-13

Source: Ministry of Agriculture , Govt of India.

The fig no 2 shows the bar diagram for contribution of agriculture sector to total GDP in per centage. The economic contribution of agriculture to India's GDP is steadily declining with
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the country's broad-based economic growth. Still, agriculture is demographically the broadest economic sector and plays a significant role in the overall socio-economic fabric of India.

Trends in Food grain Production In the table no 2. It shows that in Indian agriculture situation the production of food grains has increased to an enormous extent. During 1950-51 after Indian independence India produced 50.8 million tonnes of food grains. In the subsequent years during 1960-61, 1970-71, 1980-81, 1990-91 and 2000-01 India produced 82, 108.4, 129.6, 176.4 and 196.8 million tones. During the current year India produced a bumper production of food grains of about 257 million tones. Table no: 2 Indias food grain (rice, wheat, coarse grains and pulses) production trend. Year 1950-51 1960-61 1970-71 1980-81 1990-91 2000-01 2011-12 Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Govt of India Present production and availability of food grains Indian diet is mainly cereal based. The food and nutritional security of India currently depends to a great extent on the production of wheat and rice. These two crops together constituted 78 per cent of total food grains production in 2010-11, whereas coarse cereals constitute 15 per cent in the same year. As evident from table no 3 for five consecutive years, from 2004 -05 to 2008-09, food grains production recorded an increasing trend. However, it declined to 218.11 million tones in 2009-10 due to severe drought conditions in various parts of the country. Normal monsoon in the subsequent year, 2010-11, helped the country to reach a significantly higher level of 241.57 million tones of food grains production. Food production 50.8mt 82mt 108.4mt 129.6mt 176.4mt 196.8mt 257mt

Table no 3: Food grain production Year 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 Rice 84.98 93.34 71.82 88.53 83.13 91.79 93.36 96.69 99.18 89.09 95.98 105.30 104.40 Wheat 69.68 72.77 65.76 72.16 68.64 69.35 75.81 78.57 80.68 80.80 86.87 94.88 92.46 Other cereals 31.07 33.37 26.06 37.59 33.46 34.08 33.91 40.76 40.04 33.56 43.4 42.02 40.05 Pulses 11.08 13.37 11.13 14.91 13.13 13.38 14.20 14.76 14.57 14.66 18.24 17.09 18.45

(million tones) Total food grains 196.81 212.85 174.77 213.19 198.36 208.60 217.28 230.78 234.47 218.11 244.49 259.29 255.36 Increase per year 8.1 -17.8 21.98 -6.95 5.2 4.2 6.2 1.6 -7.0 12.2 6.1 -1.5

Source: Economic survey, 2011-12 As per the advance estimates, production of food grains during 2011-12 is estimated at all time record level of 250.42 million tones which is a significant achievement mainly due to increase in the production of 192.93 million tones and 88.1 million tones of rice and wheat respectively. During 2012-13 the food grain production was 255.36 million tones which were 1.5 million tons less than last years production which was majorly due late setting of monsoon. As the Indias consumption pattern includes majorly cereals i.e. wheat and rice. But the area under the cereal crops in decreasing and the area under the commercial crops are increasing. When the area, production and productivity of food grains and commercial crops are compared for 10th(2002-03 to 2006-07) and 11th(2007-08 to 2011-12) five year plan in table no 4, it showed that the area under total cereal crops decreased from0.07 to 0.03 per cent per annum in 10th and 11th five per plan respectively. The area under total food grains has been decreased from 0.29 to 0.19 per cent per annum in 10th and 11th five year plan respectively. But the area under the commercial crop like cotton increased from 0.57 to 5.97 per cent per annum in 10th to 11th five year plan.

Table No: 4 All India Average Annual Growth Rates of Area, Production and Yield of Principal Crops Average Annual growth rate Crops 10th plan (2002-03 to 2006-07) Area Rice Wheat Jowar Bajra Maize Ragi Small millets Barley Coarse cereals Total cereals Gram Tur Total pulses Total food grains Sugar cane Ground nut Seasamum Rape and mustard Sunflower Soyabean Total nine oilseeds Cotton Jute Mesta Jute and Mesta Source: Indiastat.com -0.39 1.30 -2.84 1.67 3.77 -5.52 -5.03 -0.28 -0.26 0.07 3.60 1.38 1.31 0.29 3.98 -1.65 0.98 7.32 14.04 5.80 3.55 0.57 -1.82 -3.85 -2.15 Production 1.25 1.11 -0.89 17.12 4.02 -2.67 -2.49 -1.21 2.55 1.21 4.70 1.06 2.66 1.29 4.90 3.61 3.64 11.55 13.83 12.26 7.99 20.01 -0.38 -2.44 -0.58 Yield 1.17 -0.32 2.07 7.28 -0.15 0.40 2.32 -0.90 1.75 0.74 0.28 -0.41 0.65 0.59 0.66 4.32 0.51 3.24 0.37 6.18 3.53 19.40 1.49 1.45 1.45 Average Annual growth rate 11th plan (2007-08 to 2011-12) Area 0.18 1.31 -5.71 -1.38 2.16 0.41 -4.42 0.61 -1.59 -0.03 2.32 3.13 1.36 0.19 0.04 -0.86 2.42 -1.69 -18.74 4.00 -0.07 5.97 0.47 -7.00 -0.59 Production 2.69 4.61 -3.00 7.84 8.90 8.11 -0.13 6.32 5.68 3.79 4.62 4.84 4.28 3.80 0.99 15.82 8.28 -0.37 -14.46 7.71 5.54 10.46 1.26 -5.94 0.62 Yield 2.41 3.29 3.26 8.64 6.74 6.66 4.08 4.64 7.27 3.76 2.27 1.54 2.78 3.55 0.87 13.91 5.30 0.76 6.20 3.90 5.32 3.93 0.62 0.80 1.12

Table no: 5 Growth rates of Population and net food grain production Net production of food grains (in million tons) 48.1 72.0 94.9 113.4 154.3 172.2 210.2 123.59 53.57 43.34 CGR per decade of the growth of population 1951 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001 2011 Average S.D C.V 363.2 442.4 551.3 688.5 851.7 1027 1210.2 733.47 28.9 39.40 1.99 2.23 2.25 2.15 1.95 1.65 4.12 2.80 1.80 3.13 1.10 2.89 CGR per decade of the growth of food grains

Years

Population (In millions)

Source: The relevance of the concept of food security in the context of the Indian Economy, Dhirendra Nath Konar, 2012

A minute look in to the table 5 displays the trend of the growth of the population in India in each census from the post independent period (1951) to the latest census of 2011. Besides, it also brings out net production of food grains in the years between 1951 and 2011.it is noticed that between 1951 and 1961 the CGR of the production of food grains, i.e.4.12 per cent per annum was more than twice that of the CGR of population that is 1.99 per cent per annum. In the next decade between 1961 and 1971 also the previous pattern was taken note of the CGR of production of food grains of 2.80 per cent was higher than that of population of 2.23 per cent. However, between 1971 and 19812 we have a different picture: the CGR of population of 2.25 per cent outstripped that of production of food grains of 1.80 per cent. In the next decade between 1981 and 1991 the growth rate of production of food grains of 3.13 per cent had overtaken the growth rate of population of 2.15 per cent. In the last decade of the twentieth century, that is between 1991 and 2001 we have met a totally different picture: the growth rate of

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population that is 1.95 per cent per annum had been far greater than that of the production of food grains (1.10 per cent per annum). In the last three rows of the table we have placed the average (the arithmetic mean) of the population figure and also of the net production of food grains, their standard deviation (S.D) and at the same time their co-efficient of variation (C.V) respectively. We have seen that there is more variability in the figure for population in comparison to that of food grain production as the S.D of population was greater than that food grain production. However the co-efficient of variation of production (39.40 per cent) was lower than that of food grain production (43.34 per cent). So in the overall period of six decades between 1951 and 2011 the production of food grains appeared to be more variable than that of population. .

Food Gap Increase in total demand is mainly due to growth in population and per capita income and as far as supply in concerned, production is constrained by low yield growth. A negative gap indicates that the demand of the commodity is more than its supply and this implies a deficit of the commodity in future (Table 5). The gap between supply and demand is narrowing down over the years for all the food items. The supply-demand gap for total cereals is expected to be at 16.96 million metric tonnes in 2026. If we look at the situation for pulses, edible oil and sugar is alarming. This implies that in the years to come, the country will have to rely on imports of these food items to meet the domestic requirement.

Table No 5: Supply-Demand Gap for selected Food Items Food items 2011 Rice Wheat Total cereals Pulses Edible oil Sugar Source: Surabi (2011)
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(million metric tones)

Gap (Supply-Demand) 2021 8.98 27.33 -2.94 -24.92 -17.68 -39.67 2026 9.13 32.04 -16.97 -39.31 -26.99 -74.13

1.26 21.21 21.19 -8.05 -6.66 -4.31

The demand and supply gap i.e the food gap in India is also measured in terms of percentage which is clearly reflected in the table no 6. When the demand for rice is 1.55 per cent per annum but the supply is only 1.01 and the demand for wheat is 1.42 per cent per annum but the supply will be only 1.34 per cent per annum. The condition for the total cereal is extremely pathetic where the demand will be 3.17 per cent per annum but the supply will be only 1.45per cent per annum. The situation of pulses is extremely alarming in the demand is 6.51per cent per annum but the supply is 0.91per cent per annum. The situation of other crops is also same where the demand is more than the supply. Table No 6: Per cent annual growth rate of projected supply and demand Food items Rice Wheat Total cereals Pulses Edible oil Sugar Source: Surabi (2011) Demand 1.55 1.42 3.17 6.51 5.95 8.22 Supply 1.01 1.34 1.45 0.91 2.13 0.14

Food security Food is as essential for living as air is for breathing. The concept of food security has been explained differently by different institutions and organization. The issue of food security has moved to the forefront of international discussions in recent years and in this context, the question is sometimes asked whether India will be able to feed herself or become dependent on food imports( anonymous, 2011). Realizing the importance of sound food security in the country for enhancing national productivity, the government of India has engaged itself in series of ambitious plans and programmes in recent years.

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According to FAO Food security is defined as All people at all time have both physical and economic access to the basic food they need. The World Food Summit (1996) defined food security as: Food security exists when all people, at all times have physical, social, economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life. At the individual level, food security means that all members of the society have access to the food they need, either from their own production, from the market and or from the governments transfer mechanism. Dimensions of Food Security The three components of food security such as availability, access and absorption (nutrition) as enunciated by the food and agricultural organization (FAO) are interconnected and food security has intrinsic (for its own sake) as well as instrumental (for increasing productivity) value. From the definition, three dimensions of food security can be identified: a) Physical availability of food which addresses the supply side of food security and is determined by the level of food production, stock levels and net trade. b) Economic and physical access to food which refers to an adequate supply of food at the national or international level but does not in itself guarantee household-level food security. Concerns about in sufficient food access have resulted in a greater policy focus on incomes, expenditure, markets and prices in achieving food security objectives. c) Food utilization is commonly understood as the way the body makes the most of result of good care and feeding practices, food preparation, diversity of the diet, and intrahousehold distribution of food. Combined with good biological utilization of food consumed, this determines the nutritional status of individuals. Hence Food security is a complex sustainable development issue.

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Why India still not achieved food security????? a) Growing population Access to adequate food, which is one of the foremost basic needs of life, should be the birthright of every single Indian. In 1970, Indias population was only two thirds it s current size, but food grain production was only half the current level and the country was critically dependent on food aid to prevent wide spread famine, particularly in drought years. Today, India is self sufficient in food grain production. The nation produces and consumes about 206.4 million metric tones of cereals each year. Over the next 20 years, total food grains demand will almost double again to over 340 million ton. The future appears to be facing many supply side constraints with increasing population. b) Shifting of food grains area to non food grains areas. The increase in the area under food grains was meager during the period from 2000-01 to 2011-12. An increasing trend was observed, with regard to the growth in area under non food grain crops. While it was 1.18 per cent in the 90s, it increased to 2.1 per cent in the next decade signifying a significant shift from cultivation of food grain to non food grain crops. It ought to be examined whether such a shift in cropping pattern shall have its impact on food security in general, particularly when the country is reeling under the pressure of food inflation. c) Worrisome food inflation In India, about 60 per cent of the farm land area is with marginal, small and semi medium farmers who are trapped in vicious cycle of poor yield, low processing, high wastage, poor return and low investment. For, economies like India who is self sufficient in the most of the food items, a mild inflation in food prices are good for these marginal, small and medium sized farmers, as higher prices means a part of income being transferred from consumer to these farmers making farming more attractive for them. This general observation does not hold good. While the retail prices have been rising, the wholesale prices are falling. This speaks of the volume of the problem. Rise in consumer price is biggest threat to the food security of the poor at any stage. With the surge in food prices many will be forced to reduce their nutritional intake and defer expenditure on other essential items such as health and education in order to cope. The overall inflation rate is now at a 13 year high but price rises for certain food items including rice, some pulses, vegetables, fruits, tea and edible oils, have been even higher. In effect, India will be facing food security crisis which will threaten to push many more people in to poverty.

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d) The sick public distribution system In India appropriately 300M people are living below poverty line. Food is a contested commodity, cheap food grains are absolutely essential for the survival of these people. The major policy intervention that is aimed at enhancing food security is the public distribution system. PDS is a rationing mechanism that entitles households to specified quantities of selected commodities at subsidized prices. There is huge uproar over the rotting of food grains in the central pool. The PDS has been increasingly criticized. PDS has failed to achieve the objective of price stabilization through transfer of cereals from surplus to deficit regions of the country. Food that is meant to be sold at fair prices in ration shops sometimes never reaches the cardholders because it is lost or sold illegally to others. The above words can be supported by Supreme Court criticisms on PDS. The Supreme Court, on August 30th 2012 asked the central government to put in place a proper mechanism to check the leakage of food grain in PDS. A bench headed by Justice T S Thakur asked the government to file its reply on how it intends to check the continuing misappropriations in the PDS system. It said that it will pass an order if the government fails to put in place a vigilance mechanism. The apex court had earlier told all states to emulate the PDS model adopted by Tamil nadu which has been supplying rice at Rs 1 per kg and subsidized pulses to BPL families without complaints of pilferage and misappropriation. The court had directed the Centre to allocate additional five million tons of food grains to the 150 poorest districts under the supervision of a committee appointed by it (Deccan herald). e) Food subsidies The system of food security, as it evolved over time, has tended to consume substantial budgetary resources on account of high levels of subsides. Food subsidy, which was less than Rs.20 crore in 1970-71 rose in 1970-71 rose to Rs. 662 crore in 1980-81, accounting for about 0.5 per cent of GDP. By 1996-97, food subsidy bill jumped by a multiple of ten to over Rs.600 crore (0.5% of GDP). A significant proportion of food subsidy represents the cost of carrying buffer stocks. The cost of carrying buffer stocks in recent years has been on an average about 25% of the food subsidy bill. However, these costs have to be seen against the cost of food in insecurity which is incalculable.

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f) Climate change With change in climate yield of crops will decrease as temperature increases in different parts of India. Major impacts of climate of climate change will be on rain fed crops (other than rice and wheat), which account for nearly 6o per cent of cropland area. In India majority farmers practice rain fed agriculture. The loss in farm level net revenue will range between nine per cent and 25 per cent for a temperature rise of 2-3.50c. Overall, temperature increases are predicted to reduce rice yields. An increase of 2-40c is predicted to result in a reduction in yields (Chattopadyay, 2008). All in all, achieving food security seems to be mirage for India against the changing climate, misleading policies of the government and wide spread corruption. Why food security is needed? Food security is needed in India for the following reasons: Ever growing population. As food is one of the basic needs of human life. To meet out the food requirement of ever growing population food security is needed. According to Malthusian theory of population Population is growing like geometric mean but the food grain production is growing like Arithmetic progression. To feed all the citizens of India attaining food security is needed. For the poor section of the society. As there are about 300 million people are under below poverty line. To make them healthy and increase the Human resource for work food security is needed. Natural disasters or natural calamity like earthquake, flood and tsunami. To make India self sufficient and not reliable on imports during the pathetic situations and natural calamities like earthquake, flood and tsunami food security is needed. Wide spread of crop failure due to drought. Stark realities of India India has 872.9 (29%) million undernourished people(FAO) 49% of the world's underweight children(WHO) 34% of the world's stunted children (WHO). Over 46% undernourished children (WHO).
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Dismal performance of India According to global Hunger Index released by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) , 2012 India ranks 65th out of 105 countries, which is much lower than its giant neighbor China which ranks at 38 and some of the under developed countries. U S and Democratic Republic of Congo respectively occupied the top and bottom positions. Today India has 223.6 million hungry and malnourished people according to GHI estimates (Deccan herald). The results of India state hunger index (ISHI) 2008 highlight the continued overall severity of the hunger situation in India, while revealing the variation in hunger across states within India. It is indeed alarming that not a single state within India is either low or moderate in terms of the index score. This fact is very much reflective from table no.7. According to IFPRI,2012 report states that all 17 states have ISHI scores that are significantly worse than the low and moderate hunger categories. Twelve of the 17 states fall into the alarming category (scores>20-29.9), and Madhya Pradesh falls into the extremely alarming category (scores>30). Scores for Indian states range from 13.6 for Punjab to 30.9 for Madhya Pradesh, indicating substantial variability among states in India. Even though few states are described as out performers, no state has come to the standard mark. Overall Indias performance in mitigating hunger has been dismal. Table no: 7 The major States at hunger index and the underlying components State Punjab Kerala AP Assam Haryana Tamilnadu Rajasthan West Bengal UP Maharashtra Karnataka Orissa Gujarat Chhattisgarh Bihar Jharkhand MP India Prevalence of 11.1 calorie 28.6 19.6 undernourishment 14.6 (%) 15.1 29.1 14.0 18.5 14.5 27.0 28.1 21.4 23.3 23.3 17.3 19.6 23.4 20.0 Under weight 24.6 children below 22.7 32.7 (%) 5 years 36.4 39.7 30 40.4 38.5 42.3 36.7 37.6 40.9 44.7 47.6 56.1 57.1 59.8 42.5
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Under 5 5.2 mortality 1.6 rates6.3 (deaths 8.5 per hundred 5.2 3.5 Lives) 8.5 5.9 9.6 4.7 5.5 9.1 6.1 9.0 8.5 9.3 9.4 7.4

Indian state 1 hunger index 2 3 rank 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

Some of the alarming statistics of India which are real cause for worry are 65 per cent of the worlds hungry live only seven countries: India, china, the democratic Republic of Congo, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and Ethiopia. More than 21 per cent of global undernourishment population lives in India, as reported by FAO in 2011 and in the same year UNICEF in its report stated that one in three malnourished children worldwide are found in India, while 42 per cent of the nations children under five surveyed were stunted. The undernourished in India consume on average 240 calories below the minimum daily requirement of 1780 calories per person per day recommended by the FAO. Fig No: 3 showing the global Hunger Index in India

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In the fig no 3 it is clearly evident that the Madhya Pradesh is under extremely alarming condition. The other states like Karnataka Maharashtra, Orissa, and West Bengal are under alarming situation. The states like Kerala, Andhrapradesh, Chandigarh, Punjab and Assam were the Public distribution system is working well, there the situation is serious. Food insecurity will result in Starvation Some of the examples for Famines and starvation deaths in India are: Bengal famine 1943- killed 1.5 million to 3 million people. Bihar famine 1966-67 2353 deaths due to starvation Starvation deaths have also been reported in Kalahandi and Kashipur in Orissa Baran district of Rajasthan. Palamau district of Jharkhand According to report of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, number of hungry people in India had been: During 1979-81: in India there were 261.5 million (38%) hungry people. During 1990-92: in India there were215.6 million (25%) hungry people. During 1998-2000: in India there were 233.3 million (24%) hungry people. During 2000-2012: in India there were 300 million (30%) hungry people. Several Schemes were initiated to improve the condition and achieve food security in india such as: The food for work programme was started in 1977-78where each state is provided with food grains to undertake food for work programme. In September 2001, different programmes were merged in to an umbrella programme called SGRY (Sampoorna Gramina Rozgar Yojana- Comprehensive Rural Employment Scheme).
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In February 2006, a National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREG) Scheme was launched in 200 most backward rural districts under NREG Act. The Rajiv Gandhi Drinking Water Mission. Rastriya Krishi Vikas Yojana with outlay of RS 25000 crore. National food security Mission with an outlay of about Rs 6000 crore.

Food security Management in India Food management in India has three basic objectives such as: a) Procurement of food grains from farmers at remunerative prices. b) Distribution of food grains to the consumers, particularly the vulnerable sections of the society at affordable prices and c) Maintenance of food buffers for food security and price stability. The instruments for food management are the minimum support price (MSP) and central issue price (CIP). The focus is on incentivizing farmers by ensuring fair value for their produce through the MSP. Establishing grain banks in chronically food scares areas and strengthening the PDS. The nodal agency which undertakes the responsibility of procurement, distribution and storage of food grains is Food Corporation of India (FCI). Procurement at MSP is open-ended, while distribution is governed by the scale of allocation and its off take by the beneficiaries. Provision of minimum nutritional support to the poor through subsidized food grains and ensuring price stability are the twin objectives of the food security systems in India.

Public Distribution System (PDS) Definition: Public distribution system is a government-sponsored chain of shops (Fair price shops) entrusted with the work of distributing basic food and non-food commodities to the needy sections of the society at very cheap prices. The Indian PDS is a national food security system that distributed subsidized food to Indias poor. PDS means distribution of essential commodities to a large number of people through a network of Fair Price Shops (FPS) on recurring basis.

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The commodities distributed are as follows: Wheat Rice Sugar Kerosene In India there are about 4.5 lakh Fair price Shops distributing food grains to about 16 crore families spending more than Rs.30, 000 crore. Each shop covers about 2000 people. PDS in India perhaps the largest distribution network of its type in the world. PDS Evolution in India At the time of World War II British government introduced the first structured public distribution of cereals in India through the rationing system in Bombay and Calcutta. The main objective was to move the food grains from deficit area to surplus area. In 1943 India abolished the rationing system. After independence in 1950 due to inflationary pressure in the economy, India reintroduced rationing. Due to the ineffectiveness of Rationing System to reach the poor, Government of India launched RPDS. Revamped Public distribution System (RPDS) was launched on Jan 1 1992 and made effective from June 1, 1992, in selected blocks (1775 blocks) were in addition to the food grains commodities like tea, pulses soap and iodized salt was distributed. In June, 1997, Targeted Public distribution system (TPDS) was launched. To target the needy people and provide them an assured supply of food grains.In TPDS the main aim was to target the poor in all areas. The distribution of food grains operated under two tier system of delivery to households Below poverty line (BPL) Above poverty line (APL)

In December 2000, Antyodaya Anna Yojana scheme was started were the food grains are supplied or distributed to the poorest of the poor. In December 2000 another scheme named Annapurna Scheme was launched. Under which the food grains are distributed to the senior citizens who were not getting pension under government National Pension Scheme. In August 2001, Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (integrated rural employment scheme) was
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initiated under which each state was provided with five million tons of food grains to carry out food for work progarmme. Mid day meal scheme, wheat based nutrition programmes, scheme for supply of food grains to SC/ST were also started.

Fig No:4 Shows How Public Distribution works

The fig no 4 shows how exactly the public distribution system works. The process starts from farmer who produces variety of grains. For that produced food grains CACP fixes Minimum Support Price (MSP). Based on the MSP Food Corporation of India procures Food grains and maintains the buffer stock. Later after maintaining buffer stock FCI allocates the grains of buffer stock to different states according to the number of population under poverty. The state issue the food grains based on Central issue price. Then states distribute the grains to respective Fair price shops for distributing to targeted consumer.

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Table No: 8 Stock position of food grains in the central pool vis--vis minimum buffer norms As On 1.4.2010 1.7.2010 1.10.2010 1.1.2011 1.4.2011 1.7.2011 1.10.2011 1.1.2012 1.4.2012 1.7.2012 1.10.2012 1.1.2013 Wheat Actual 161.25 stock 335.84 277.77 215.40 153.64 371.79 314.26 256.76 199.52 498.08 431.53 343.83 Minimum 70 Buffer 201 norms 140 112 70 201 140 112 70 201 140 112 Rice Actual 267.13 stock 242.66 184.44 255.80 288.20 268.57 203.59 297.18 333.50 307.08 233.73 322.21 Minimum 142 Buffer 118 norms 72 138 142 118 72 138 142 118 72 138 Total Actual 428.38 stock 578.50 462.21 471.20 441.84 640.36 517.85 553.94 533.02 805.16 665.26 666.04 Minimum 212 Buffer 319 norms 212 250 212 319 212 250 212 319 212 250 (Lakh tones)

Source: Food, Civil supplies and consumer affairs Fig No: 5

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The stock of food grains in the central pool as on 01.01.2013 was 666.9 lakh tones which comprised of 3.221 lakh tones of Rice and 343.83 lakh tones of Wheat and 0.89 lakh tones of coarse grains. The total stock of food grains in the central pool including coarse grains as on 1 st January during the last three years and current year is explained in table no 8. The stock position of wheat and Rice in the central Pool vis--vis minimum buffer norms during the 11 th plan period has been shows in the above table. In 2012, FCI had a new record level of stocks of 805.13 lakh tones of food grains in central pool as on 1st July including a new record level of 498.08 lakh tones of wheat and a new record level of 307 lakh tones of rice. As on 01.01.2013 the buffer stock is 666.04 lakh tones. Table no : 9 Quantum of food subsidies released by government of India Year 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 Amount(crore) 17,494.00 24,176.45 25,160.00 25,746.45 23,071.00 23,827.00 31,259.68 43,668.08 58,242.45 62,929.56 72,370.00 % of Total Govt Expenditure 3.61 4.83 5.17 6.21 7.02 7.90 8.46 9.60 10.42 13.20 14.12

Source: department of food and public distribution. The food subsidy is the difference between purchase price from farmers and the price at which it sold to poor families In fulfilling its obligation towards distributive justice, government incurs food subsidy. While the economic cost of wheat and rice has continuously gone up, the issue price has been kept unchanged since 1 July, 2002. The government, therefore, continues to provide large and growing amounts of subsidy on food grains for distribution under targeted PDS (TPDS), other nutrition based welfare schemes and open market operations. The food subsidy bill has increased substantially from RS.17, 494 corers in 2001-02 to Rs.62, 929 corers in 2010-11(Table 9) showing an expenditure of about 13.20 per cent of total Government expenditure. In 2011-12 the expenditure is about 14.12 per cent.
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Table no : 10 Allocation and off take of rice and wheat for the year 2012-13 under TPDS (in tonnes) States AP Arunachal Assam Pradesh Bihar Chattisgarh Delhi Goa Gujarat Haryana HP J&K Jharkhand Karnataka Kerala MP Maharashtra Manipur Meghalaya Mizoram Nagaland Orissa Punjab Rajasthan Sikkim TN Tripura UP Uttarakand West Bengal A & N islands Chandigarh D & N haveli Damen and Lakshadweep Diu Pondicherry Total Allotment AAY APL TOTAL BPL 109.04 352.740 637.136 219.00 L 2.664 10.010 16.926 4.336 8 49.282 185.990 314.476 77.737 175.07 160.680 617.312 301.501 50.324 76.080 207.352 78.519 0 10.514 71.190 99.820 21.927 1.018 8.566 10.506 0.922 56.680 199.110 347.518 98.389 20.470 70.770 126.002 34.960 13.790 52.010 87.990 20.854 17.898 74.620 126.134 34.894 64.254 58.860 226.442 98.235 79.635 189.242 408.288 150.498 41.710 136.680 245.448 77.780 110.71 167.340 456.085 170.136 172.48 335.790 793.174 299.549 0 4.454 16.870 28.492 7.531 0 4.914 18.620 31.430 8.271 1.820 6.930 11.690 2.790 3.328 12.466 21.146 6.775 88.520 83.214 365.996 194.262 12.560 105.240 137.995 12.568 65.248 193.080 363.250 101.948 1.159 4.340 7.380 2.340 130.52 280.076 620.472 229.266 7.920 29.890 50.540 13.056 4 286.58 463.890 1211.420 455.633 13.364 52.470 87.332 23.119 0 103.61 280.322 642.855 279.755 0.300 4.480 5.670 0.679 4 0.104 5.400 6.130 0.313 0.366 0.540 1.744 0.840 0.106 0.662 0.942 0.202 0.084 2.560 2.770 0 2.258 4.200 10.052 4.296 1702.7 3714.92 8327.928 3032.99 Off take AAY APL 138.263 245.77 2.631 9.367 9 48.242 150.40 204.842 33.378 1 50.324 66.516 8.942 79.010 1.018 9.927 65.084 119.02 18.152 35.658 2 13.769 52.876 19.055 82.199 62.575 0.955 85.486 196.33 46.998 155.21 1 92.999 71.309 4 181.040 188.61 4.524 19.914 4 5.187 19.661 1.720 6.691 4.524 15.156 84.429 70.652 6.032 68.956 64.014 196.18 1.156 4.409 4 150.537 261.33 8.559 31.670 4 301.191 360.25 12.054 54.534 6 85.637 266.95 0.210 1.772 3 0.010 5.214 0.355 0.540 0.137 0.654 0 1.100 2.379 3.513 1772.08 2888.9 6 89

BPL 175.3 4.254 48 79.20 281.5 4 80.94 62 18.16 8 0.922 6 91.72 34.76 8 22.19 2 33.61 0 103.3 6 139.4 28 67.05 10 178.0 8 284.9 36 7.168 04 7.896 2.940 5.352 194.2 20.19 62 104.9 6 1.884 22 209.8 12.73 72 460.9 0 21.49 50 258.9 8 0.890 30 0.626 0.838 0.174 0.126 3.594 2910.

TOTA 603.14 L 16.604 2 276.38 539.72 0 195.35 1 109.87 9 11.867 9 282.49 88.770 5 87.509 136.14 161.76 8 432.31 6 279.99 5 337.44 2 669.20 5 31.959 3 33.119 11.201 26.455 349.34 87.556 3 362.14 7.905 6 641.13 53.285 7 1117.0 89.707 80 632.34 2.661 5 5.537 1.746 0.993 1.100 10.188 7604.0 69

234 66 8 4 Source: Govt. of KTK. Food, Civil supplies and consumer affairs

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Status of PDS in Karnataka

Karnatakas PDS is loaded with errors of exclusion of actual BPL families from the BPL status, inclusion of APL families in to the BPL category, and the prevalence of ghost cards (cards that exist, but whose owners cannot be verified) or excess BPL cards. Karnataka is among the states that have more cards issued than the people. The Government of Karnataka has distributed 1.6 Crore ration cards while the total number of families in the state itself are1.2 Crore which means there are nearly 40lakh ghost and ineligible cards. In Karnataka there are about 21,026 active fair price shops. The exclusion and inclusion errors are: Exclusion Error Due to miss classification 4.2 lakh household Due to maladministration 1.6 lakh household Inclusion Error Due to miss classification 52.3 lakh household Due to maladministration 6.6 lakh household

Karnatakas PDS system occur an monthly leakage of Rs. 144.8crore.Currently Karnataka food bill is issued under this Anna Bhagya Scheme was introduced spending about Rs 460 crore a year. Fig no 6: Magnitude of loss at different levels of PDS in Karnataka.

Source: Dr.R.Balasubramaniam, 2012

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Distribution loss The loss incurred due to the leakage of grains that happens at all levels of supply chain which includes the wholesale transportation, at the wholesale level, during rural transportation or/and at the FPS level is classified here as Distribution loss. It is estimated to be 39% of the total loss amounting to Rs 56.6Croreeverymonth. Over--allotment loss Allocation of supplies made by the Government towards in-active cards, ghost cards and the additional families that are wrongly included in the BPL and APL category makes up overallotment loss. At present, losses due to over allotment are estimated to be 38% of the total loss amounting to Rs54 Crores every month. (Inactive cardsin active in the data base; card holders possess temporary cards, but they cannot draw rations legally).

Active Suspect loss Households not eligible to rations, but drawing rations cause active suspect losses to the treasury. This loss is estimated to be 17% and amounts to Rs24.5 Crore every month.

Transport loss Transport cost loss is the loss that occurs when there is leakage of grain in distribution, but the cost of the transport is still borne by the state. The cost of transportation is a loss when the grain itself does not reach the intended beneficiaries. It is estimated to be 2% of the total loss and amounts to Rs3.5 Crore monthly.

Stolen subsidy loss Stolen subsidy loss is incurred when FPSs charge a higher price to the consumers thus stealing the benefit intended by the government for them. Such losses are estimated to be 4% and amounts to Rs5.82 Crore in a month.

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Table no: 11 off take of Rice and wheat during 2012-13 by Karnataka. Scheme (A)TPDS AAY BPL APL Sub Total Special/Adhoc Poorest districts Sub Total (A) (B) Welfare Schemes MDM WBNP EFP Hostels/Welfare Institutions Annapurna RGSEAG-SABLA VGB Sub Total (B) (C) Other schemes WEF, RELIEF,DEFENCE etc Open sale/tendersale/export 1.53 0.46 1.99 240.21 0.10 56.42 56.52 231.35 15.33 1.88 0.13 1.78 0.39 0.19 0.00 19.70 3.27 6.31 0.00 0.22 0.10 0.47 0.01 10.39

(In tonnes)

Rice 51.31 86.82 52.95 191.08 14.38 13.06 218.52

Wheat 25.34 49.82 74.81 150.01 7.76 6.71 164.44

Total 76.65 136.64 127.75 341.08 22.14 19.77 382.95

18.60 8.19 0.13 2.00 0.49 0.66 0.01 30.09

1.63 56.88 58.51 471.56

Sub total(C) Grand total (A+B+C)

Source: Food, Civil supplies and consumer affairs The above table reveals that food grains distributed under various schemes in Karnataka such as Targeted public distribution, welfare Schemes and other Schemes. In total the food grains distributed are 471.56 tonnes. For the below poverty line people about 136.64 tonnes Including Wheat and Rice were distributed. For welfare schemes like mid day meal, wheat based nutrition Programme 30.09 tonnes of grains are distributed.
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Table no 12: Leakages from PDS Type of leakage

Leakages Abnormal leakage

Percent >70 % 25-50% <25 % >50% 25-50% 10-25 % <10% >30% 10-50% <10%

States Bihar and Punjab Assam, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Rajasthan AP, Kerala, Orissa, TN and west Bengal Bihar, Haryana and Punjab UP & Rajasthan Bihar, Gujarat, KTK, Maharashtra,Orissa,TN and West Bengal Assam,HP,MP, Orissa,TN & West Bengal. Assam,HP &MP. Bihar, Gujarat,Ktk,Maharashtra, Orissa, Uttarpradesh and west Bengal AP,Haryana,Kerala,Punjab, Rajasthan and TN

Total leakage

Very high leakage Low leakage Very high leakages

Leakage at fair price shop

High leakage Moderate leakage Low leakage Very high Leakage

Leakage through ghost card

High leakage Moderate leakage

Source: Food Security in India: Biswajit Chaterjee,2012

In the table no 12 it shows the per cent of leakages from Public Distribution System in India. The leakages are divided into Leakages at Fair price shop and Leakages through Ghost Card. Total leakages include both the leakage at fair price shops and leakages through Ghost Card. The total leakages of about more than 70 per cent i.e. abnormal leakages more in Bihar followed by Punjab. The very high leakages about 25- 50 per cent is found in Assam followed by Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. The low leakage is found in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Orissa, Tamilnadu and West Bengal i.e. about less than 25 per cent.

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Table no 13: Diversion of Food grains State Off take by States 466.16 490.76 138.13 320.24 416.16 492.22 480.80 407.58 365.57 347.29 276.37 364.24 366.53 525.95 285.16 336.78 Off-take by identified BPL families 197.62 227.32 12.24 169.47 138.79 266.14 139.91 248.58 124.04 227.27 175.88 38.25 238.43 181.14 92.73 246.19

(Kg/BPL Family/annum) Food Grains not reaching the poor house hold 268.51 263.44 125.89 150.77 277.37 226.08 340.89 159.00 241.53 120.02 100.49 326.00 128.10 344.81 192.43 90.59 219.75

AP Assam Bihar Gujarat Haryana HP KTK Kerala MP Maharashtra Orissa Punjab Rajasthan TN UP West Bengal

16 states 380.00 160.25 total Source: Plannning Commission Government of India New Delhi 2005

The above table shows the diversion of food grains from Public distribution system to open market. On an average 219.75 kg/BPL Family/annum is diverted to the open Market for sale. The highest diversion is going on in Tamilnadu (344.81 kg/BPL Family/annum), followed by Karnataka (340.89 kg/BPL Family/annum),Punjab(356 kg/BPL Family/annum),

Haryana(226.08 kg/BPL Family/annum),Andhra Pradesh (268.51 kg/BPL Family/annum), Assam (263.44 kg/BPL Family/annum), Madhya Pradesh (241.53 kg/BPL Family/annum) and other states.

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The Major reasons for leakage are: Inclusion Error Inclusion Error is error occurred due to inclusion of people who are not eligible in BPL category but they are included under BPL families. Ghost Cards Bogus ration cards in the name of fictitious owners and thus the grains not reach to the targeted people and diverted to the open market. Shadow Ownership This is caused due to the migrant families in search of work not able to avail their quota or poor families due to paucity of funds keep the ration cards with FPS owners or others to avail credits or get small portions of cash. Non-accountability of FPS This is one of the Major drivers for the diversion of food grains from Fair price shops. As the shops open only for 4-6 days a month. If a target consumer fails to collect the grains, then he cant collect it next month. Then the fair price shops owner divert it to open market

Fallouts of P.D.S. 1. Inferior quality food grains. 2. Deceitful dealers replace good supplies received from the F.C.I(Food Corporation of India) with inferior stock and sell FCI stock in the black market. 3. Illicit fair price shop owners have been found to create large number of bogus cards to sell food grains in the open market. 4. Many FPS dealers resort to malpractice, illegal diversions of commodities, hoarding and black marketing due to the minimal salary received by them. 5. Regional allocation and coverage of FPS are unsatisfactory and the core objective of price stabilization of essential commodities has not met.

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Aadhaar and PDS: The primary focus Public distribution system (PDS) is critical to achieving food security. One of the important objectives of food grains policy in India is that the government must make sure, that the poor and the vulnerable have access to food at all times. Even though only 1/3 rd of the population is today served by the PDS, with focused reforms, the reach could easily be extended. Specially, PDS can benefit immensely by dovetailing with Aadhaar. At present, the government delivers subsidized grain to the store owner and the owner is then instructed to hand this over at the pre-specified price to BPL households and to some other categories of vulnerable households. But, in reality the Fair Price Shops (FPSs) in the country have not functioned up to the level of satisfaction. A recent study by Khera (2010) shows that 67 per cent of the wheat meant to reach the poor ended up missing the target, being pilfered or sold in the open market enroot. Aadhaar can be potent tool for the government in making the PDS effective. What is Aadhaar? Fig No : 7 Shows the Feature of Aadhaar

Demographic Name

Biometric

Address Iris Unique Identity Gender

Date of birth Finger print

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Aadhaar (A national unique identity): it is a 12 digit unique identification number provided to each resident of India by UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India). The unique identity is created by liking biometric attributes (Iris and finger prints) with the demographic attributes of the individual. Following are the key features of Aadhaar: Only one Aadhaar Number per person, valid all over India. Anywhere online authentication of identity using biometrics or and demographics of the individual.

Aadhaar can be a potent tool for the government in making the PDS effective in these identified area in the following manner: One Aadhaar one beneficiary: Aadhaar is a unique number, and no resident can have a duplicate number since it is linked to the individual biometrics. Using Aadhaar to identify beneficiaries in PDS database wil eliminate duplicate and fake beneficiaries from the rolls, and make identification for entitliements very effective. Savings from eliminating duplicates and fakes through Aadhaar based identification wil enable governments to expand benefits to more poor residents. The problem in reaching benefits to BPL families that often lack the identification documents they need to recieve ration cards can be addressed through Aadhaar. The UIDAI issues Aadhaar numbers to residents through multiple registrar agencies as well as through identity wil receive their first identification through the UID initiative. Once the PDS accepts Aadhaar as sufficient Proof of Identity(POI) and Proof of Address (POA), these individuals can provided with ration cards. Poratability in Identification: Aadhaar is a universal number and agencies and services can contact the central unique identification database from anywhere in the country to confrim a beneficiarys identity. The number thus gives individuals a universal, portable from of identification. This will ensure that a PDS beneficiary need not be tied to a single Fair Price Shop (FPS) but could avail, himself of his benefits across the system. Aadhaar based authentication: Aadhaar enables remote, online biometric and demographic authentication of identity in real time. This can be performed through even
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a mobile phone. Using Aadhaar for real time identity verification at the FPS, when beneficiaries collect their entitlements, wil help governments verify that the benefits reached the person they were meant for. Through Aadhaar based authentication at the FPS, the government can ensure that the rations are not collected without the beneficiaries knowledge, there by addressing the issue of leakages and proxy withdrawals. Aadhaar based authentication can also be implemented across the supply chain which will enable Governments to track food grain as it is exchanged between PDS intermediaries. This would curb diversions and help identify bottlenecks in delivery. Flexibility: Beneficiaries would be able to collect their entitlements on a weekly and monthly basis and also claim entitlements to preganant women, infants and young children. Linking Aadhaar to ration card holders enables the government to provide individual, rather than household entitlements. This would make allocations maore transparent and also address the challenge of larger hoseholds receiving insufficient food grain. Aadhaar in Karnataka In Karnataka about 103 Biometric Machines are introduced each machine costs about 46,000. Karnataka in total is spending about 97 crore to install biometric machine in all fair price shops. This machine weighs the food grains and spells it in local language. This reduces the diversion of food grains.

Bio-metric mac
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Case Study
Role and Effectiveness of Public Distribution System in providing Food Security in India By Ms. Gurdeep kaur Ghumaan and Dr. Pawan Kumar Dhiman June 2013 Objective of the study: 1. To study the performance and challenges of food security in India. 2. Role and Effectiveness of Public Distribution System in providing Food security in India. Nature of Data Secondary data were collected from NSSO (National Sample Survey Organisation). Information on purchases of rice, wheat, sugar, and kerosene from fair price shops were also collected. Study area The study was conducted all over India. Table no: 1 Per capita consumption and percentage of households reporting consumption from PDS of rice, wheat/atta, sugar and kerosene in 2004-05 and 2009-10, all-India 2009-10 2004-05 Per capita % share consumption(kg) % share Per capita of PDS of PDS in consumption(kg) in qty. Item Sector qty. consume PDS Other consumed d Other PDS source 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 Rice 1.408 4.594 23.5 0.839 5.537 13.2 Wheat/atta 0.619 3.625 14.6 0.307 3.885 7.3 Rural Sugar 0.097 0.563 14.7 0.062 0.587 9.6 Kerosene 0.511 0.081 86.3 0.477 0.142 77.1 Rice 0.814 3.706 18.0 0.530 4.181 11.3 Urban Wheat/atta Sugar Kerosene 0.371 0.080 0.295 3.706 0.700 0.169 9.1 10.3 63.6 0.167 0.054 0.350 4.192 0.763 0.268 3.8 6.6 56.6

% of hhs reporting consn. From PDS during 30 days 2009- 2004-05 10 9 10 39.1 24.4 27.6 11.0 27.6 15.9 81.8 72.8 20.5 13.1 17.6 18.7 33.0 5.8 11.5 32.8

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Table no: 2 Percentage of households reporting: Wheat, Rice, Sugar and Kerosene consumption from PDS; share of PDS in quantity consumed: major States Wheat share of PDS in consumption Rural Andhra Pradesh Assam Bihar Chhattisgarh Gujarat Haryana Jharkhand Karnataka Kerala Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Orissa Punjab Rajasthan Tamilnadu Uttar Pradesh West Bengal All India 5.1 1.5 5.1 39.1 15.6 14.2 20.6 51.5 39.7 21.8 32.7 17.0 14.6 10.5 85.8 6.8 41.4 14.6 Urban 7.5 1.3 2.4 17.9 5.0 8.0 4.0 13.5 33.1 13.2 8.6 10.2 9.0 6.1 64.7 7.6 11.7 9.1 Sugar share of PDS in consumption Rural 24.5 53.2 0.9 28.6 14.5 2.1 4.6 18.9 11.2 14.1 9.8 16.0 0.0 0.9 73.2 7.0 11.2 14.7 Urban 12.3 31.0 1.7 11.0 3.3 1.9 1.7 5.4 8.5 6.0 4.6 8.9 0.3 0.7 62.6 2.1 4.3 10.3 Kerosene share of PDS in consumption Rural 91.46 72.46 83.99 89.34 93.47 92.89 67.32 85.36 95.59 90.95 86.43 83.53 82.13 93.51 91.49 85.99 80.01 86.24 Urban 67.14 54.55 70.16 82.38 56.52 53.64 36.68 50.84 90.37 79.33 47.64 52.52 23.50 79.80 72.05 82.69 73.22 63.58

State

Rice share of PDS in consumption Rural 32.9 11.2 5.1 41.2 20.3 0.5 14.0 45.0 27.9 20.1 34.2 24.8 0.1 0.3 52.7 17.6 6.3 23.5 Urban 21.5 5.1 2.2 25.7 5.8 0.4 7.4 17.7 24.0 8.3 7.5 13.3 0.1 0.2 40.9 7.8 2.9 18.0

The study revealed that the percentage of households consuming PDS rice has risen in rural India from 24.4 percent in 2004-05 to 39 percent in 2009-10,while households in urban India consuming PDS rice has risen from 13 percent 2004-05 to 20.5 percent in 2009-10.

Consumption of PDS wheat by households in rural India has raised from 11 percent to 27.6 percent between the two surveys and in rural India the corresponding rise been from 5.8 percent to17.6 percent between the two surveys.
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The study suggests that the PDS plays a relatively more important role in food security of the households rather than poverty reduction. But scientific studies revealed that in 2001-02, 18.2 percent of PDS rice and 67 percent PDS wheat were diverted. In India, over 40 percent of all grains targeted at the poor did not reach. Using the NSS expenditure survey of 2004-05 overall diversion was of 55 percent of the grain meant for the poor. Thus the current system is beset with significant level of adulteration, pilferage and corruption and in order to remove pilferage, adulteration, and corruption, there seem to be some improvements in the functioning of PDS

Conclusion India is self sufficient in food grain production (259 million tons), even then about 872.9 million people in India are undernourished. To meet food security of these people government has initiated many programmes among them PDS is one of the important programme. But because of diversions and leakages of food grains in PDS, it is not able to meet the target. Hence India is still under the threat of food insecurity. References: Anonymous, 2013, Case for a food security programme, Economic and political weekly,48(30):7-8. Anonymous,Annual Report 2012-13, Department of Food and Public Distribution, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Government of India. Anonymous2011, Annual report on PDS of Karnataka. Government of Karnataka . A. P. J., Abdul Kalam and Y. S., Rajan,India 2020-A vision for the new millennium Ashok Dalwai.,Rajendra Poddar and Sudhir Narayana, 2013,Agriculture growth, food security and Aadhaar,National seminar on Current concerns in Indian Agriculture,87-100. Balasubramaniam,R., Swami drrbalu@gmail.com Vivekananda Youth Movement,Mysore Email:

Dhirendra Nath Konar, 2012, The relevance of the concept of food security in the context of the Indian Economy, Food security in India.96-105. Economic Survey 2013. Gundegowda and Nagaraj,G.H., 2011, Public distribution system in Karnataka: A study, Southern Economist,50(10):25-28.

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Websites: www.indiastat.com www.PDSportal.com

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