Food Security in India

"Every man, woman and child has the inalienable right to be free from hunger and malnutrition in order to develop their physical and mental faculties" - 1974 World Food Conference. Food security as a concept originated around the mid-1970s during the discussions of international food problems at a time of global food crisis. The initial focus of food security was primarily on food supply problems of assuring the availability and to some degree the price stability of basic foodstuffs at the international and national level. In India during pre-Independent suffered repeated famines, droughts and food shortages. But during the Green Revolution in the 1960s, the production and yield of food grain rose manifold. This paper looks into the trend of foodgrain production & consumption in India, the linkages between foodgrain production and consumption in India & selected States and the role of PDS (Public Distribution System) in foodgrain consumption in India and States. This paper illuminates some concerns of immediate relevance to policy reform in the context of food security in India through Public Distribution System.