Snags in the Food Security Policy of India

Snags in the Food Security Policy of India

The Indian food security policy, while ambitious, faces numerous challenges across its various stages. These can be broadly categorized as follows:

1. Procurement Issues

• Inefficient Procurement System: The current system heavily relies on a few states like Punjab and Haryana, creating regional imbalances and distorting cropping patterns. This leads to ecological issues like groundwater depletion.
• Lack of Diversification: The focus on procuring rice and wheat discourages the production of other nutritious cereals like millets, impacting dietary diversity.
• Climate Change Impacts: Erratic weather patterns and increasing frequency of extreme events (floods, droughts) disrupt crop production and procurement.
• Farmer Distress: Delays in payments to farmers and inadequate price support mechanisms contribute to farmer distress and disincentivize production.

2. Storage and Transportation Challenges

• Inadequate Storage Capacity: A significant portion of procured grains is stored in open plinths or covered storage, leading to wastage due to rain, pests, and rodents. According to a 2022 report by the Food Corporation of India (FCI), approximately 5% of food grains are lost annually due to improper storage.
• Poor Infrastructure: Lack of adequate transportation infrastructure (roads, railways) and cold storage facilities hampers efficient movement of grains, especially to remote areas.
• Decentralized Procurement & Storage Issues: While decentralized procurement aims to reduce transportation costs, it often suffers from lack of coordination and infrastructure at the state level.

3. Distribution and Access Problems

• Leakage and Diversion: A significant portion of subsidized grains is diverted to the open market, benefiting non-eligible beneficiaries. This is particularly prevalent in Public Distribution System (PDS) outlets.
• Exclusion Errors: Despite the NFSA aiming for universal coverage, exclusion errors persist due to issues with beneficiary identification and Aadhar-linking.
• ‘Ghost’ Beneficiaries: The presence of non-existent beneficiaries on the PDS rolls leads to wastage and diversion of resources.
• Limited Reach in Remote Areas: PDS outlets are often inaccessible in remote and tribal areas, hindering access to food grains for vulnerable populations.

4. Policy and Implementation Gaps

• NFSA Coverage: While NFSA covers 67% of the population, the criteria for eligibility are often restrictive, excluding many deserving households.
• Subsidies & Fiscal Burden: The high level of food subsidies places a significant burden on the government’s fiscal resources.
• Lack of Effective Grievance Redressal Mechanisms: Limited access to effective grievance redressal mechanisms hinders accountability and transparency in the system.

Challenge	Impact	Government Initiatives
Storage Losses	Wastage of food grains, economic loss	Construction of godowns, promoting private sector participation in storage
Diversion of grains	Reduced access for eligible beneficiaries, market distortions	Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), Aadhar-enabled PDS, computerization of PDS operations
Regional Imbalance in Procurement	Ecological issues, distorted cropping patterns	Promoting procurement from eastern states, diversifying crops

Recent initiatives like the ‘One Nation One Ration Card’ (ONORC) scheme aim to improve portability and reduce exclusion errors. The fortification of rice under the NFSA is another step towards improving nutritional outcomes.