scholarly journals Gender justice and food security: The case of public distribution system in India

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 252-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mamata Pradhan ◽  
Nitya Rao
Keyword(s):  
Distribution System ◽  
Local Politics ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
Gender Justice ◽  
Equal Rights ◽  
Nutrition Security ◽  
Public Distribution System ◽  
Food And Nutrition ◽  
Indian State ◽  
Access To Food

This article contributes to the debates around food and nutrition security from a perspective of gender justice, central to which is the recognition of men and women as having equal rights and entitlements to a life free from hunger and malnutrition. Using both quantitative and qualitative data from the Indian state of Bihar, we assess various elements of gender justice through the functioning of the Public Distribution System, the largest food-based safety net programme in the world. Despite universal entitlements, we find that power relations embedded in local politics, caste and class heterogeneity and political economy considerations, mediate the gendered access to food through state transfers.

Food and Nutrition Security in Rural Bihar: Dimensions and Determinants

Social Change ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 396-419
Author(s):  
Swati Dutta ◽  
Sunil Kumar Mishra
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Food Consumption ◽  
Distribution System ◽  
Dietary Habits ◽  
Dietary Diversity ◽  
Food Prices ◽  
Household Food Security ◽  
Food And Nutrition Security ◽  
Nutrition Security ◽  
Food And Nutrition

The level of food diversity in any household is an indicator of its healthy dietary habits. It depends on demographic and socio-economic conditions, geographic location, consumption habits and expenditure, cultural practices, income, food prices and the availability, access and utilisation of food. Against this backdrop, our study analyses the pattern of food consumption, dietary diversity, food frequency and the Recommended Dietary Allowance in 12 villages located in 6 districts of Bihar to understand the socio-economic determinants of a household’s food security. The results show that the diversity of food consumption is mainly dependent on the consumption of cereals across various socio-economic classes. Our analysis also emphasises the importance of schemes like the Public Distribution System which has a positive influence on food security outcomes of a household. The logistic regression results show that if the household belongs to the richest consumption class, with better education levels and more salaried members, then the probability of better food and nutrition security is high. In contrast, the low social status of a household, especially those from a Scheduled Caste background, will reveal reduced household food security.

Rethinking the Formation of Public Distribution System: A Class-Focused Approach

2021 ◽  
pp. 048661342110349
Author(s):  
Soumik Sarkar ◽  
Anjan Chakrabarti
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Distribution System ◽  
Social Needs ◽  
Surplus Labor ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Distribution System ◽  
System A ◽  
Historical Condition ◽  
Indian State ◽  
The 1960S

Using the methodology of overdetermination, class process of surplus labor as the entry point and socially determined need of food security, we deliver an alternative class-focused rendition of the public distribution system (PDS) in India. We first surmise our theoretical framework to infer that the overdetermined and contradictory relation of class and social needs matter for PDS. Beyond the reasoning of being pro-poor, fair, or wasteful, we deploy this framework to reinterpret the formation of Indian PDS in the 1960s. Its demonstration requires revisiting the historical condition that shaped capital’s passive revolution through the post-independence Indian state and its subsequent crisis arising out of the contradictions and conflicts in the class-need space. We argue that PDS signals a case of success and not failure of capitalism.

Contradictory Policies of Neoliberalizing India

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 85-97
Author(s):  
Waquar Ahmed ◽  
Ipsita Chatterjee
Keyword(s):  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Distribution System ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Distribution System ◽  
Indian State ◽  
Global North ◽  
Governance Institutions ◽  
The One ◽  
Employment Guarantee

This paper examines the tensions and contradictions within the Indian state in its production of socio-economic policies. Pressure of global governance institutions, multinational corporations, and neoliberal states of the global North that back such corporations, have been instrumental in the production of -friendly economic policy in India. Additionally, in representing the interest of the national bourgeois, the Indian state has been receptive to ideas that favor marketization of the economy. However, public pressure, where the poor constitute the majority of the Indian population, has compelled the Indian state to also strengthen welfare. In examining this contradiction of the simultaneous production of neoliberal and welfare policy, we analyze the case of the public distribution system (which is being marketized) on the one hand, and the employment guarantee scheme (that demonstrates strengthening of welfare) on the other.

scholarly journals Subsidising rice and sugar? The Public Distribution System and Nutritional Outcomes in Andhra Pradesh, India

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
JANITA BARTELL ◽  
JASMINE FLEDDERJOHANN ◽  
SUKUMAR VELLAKKAL ◽  
DAVID STUCKLER
Keyword(s):  
Distribution System ◽  
Child Nutrition ◽  
Linear Regression Models ◽  
Indian Children ◽  
The Public ◽  
Nutrition Security ◽  
Public Distribution System ◽  
Rice Consumption ◽  
Lower Height ◽  
Height For Age

Abstract India’s main food and nutrition security programme, the Public Distribution System (PDS), provides subsidised rice and sugar to deprived households. Using longitudinal data from Young Lives for Indian children (n = 2,944) aged 5 to 16 years, we assessed whether PDS subsidies skewed diets towards sugar and rice consumption, increasing risk of stunting (low height-for-age). Linear regression models were used to quantify additional rice and sugar consumption associated with accessing the PDS, and the association with stunting linked to consumption. Controlling for sociodemographics, accessing the PDS was positively, significantly associated with consumption of rice (30g/day) and sugar (7.05g/day). There was no evidence that this increase corresponded to nutritional improvements. Each 100g increase in daily rice intake was associated with a lower height-for-age z-score (HAZ) and no decline in stunting. Results were robust to alternative model specifications. There was no evidence that receipt of PDS rice and sugar was associated with improvements in child nutrition.

scholarly journals Role of Public Distribution System in Andhra Pradesh an Analysis

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanguru. Naga Satyanarayana ◽  
Dr. M. Rajasekhara Babu
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Distribution System ◽  
Andhra Pradesh ◽  
Food Policy ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
Fair Price ◽  
Public Distribution System ◽  
The People ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Masses

Public Distribution System in India has been one of the most crucial elements in food policy and food security system in the country. Public Distribution System in has close links with food security for the vulnerable segment of population. It is so because Public Distribution System is considered as a principal instrument in the hands of the government for providing safety net to the poor and thedowntrodden. Public Distribution System is the largest distribution network of its kind in the world. It emerged out as rationing measure in the backdrop of Bengal famine as well as a war-time measure during Second World War. The Government of India in an effort to ensure fair supply of food items to all citizens of India instituted Fair Price Shops (FPS) under Public Distribution System (PDS). Essential commodities such as Rice, Wheat, Sugar, Kerosene, etc., are supplied to the targeted underprivileged sections as per the eligibility and at fixed by the Government of India. In spite of the best efforts by Government officials at various levels, there are a few bottlenecks and inconveniences to the targeted citizens in availing the services provided. Over the years, Public Distribution System has expanded enormously as poverty alleviation and food security measure to become a permanent feature of Indian Economy. The Andhra Pradesh state incorporated various modifications from time to time to make its implementation more relevant for the masses and to increase its effectiveness. This paper analyzes that whether Public Distribution System is able to achieve its objective of providing food security to the people. The present paper discusses a brief review of welfare schemes and also makes a study of existing Public Distribution System in Andhra Pradesh. An attempt has been made in this study to ascertain the problems prevailing in Public Distribution System and to recommend suggestions to make Public Distribution System is more effective.

scholarly journals Cartography And Management Of Food-Insecure Areas In Garut

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 458-463
Author(s):  
Rina Rifqie Mariana, Mohammad Efendi, Malizal Widaningsih
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Food Availability ◽  
Food Access ◽  
Nutrition Security ◽  
Food And Nutrition ◽  
System 2 ◽  
Access To Food ◽  
Food Staples

The objective of this research was to investigate the situation of food insecurity and its handling in Garut District, West Java, Indonesia. An analysis based on the national food insecurity indicators and the Food Insecurity Atlas has identified food-insecure areas, resulting in nine indicators reflecting the three pillars of food security, i.e.,food availability, access to food, and use of food. Results on food insecurity status show that priority 1 belongs to the nine villages under study 1. The local government has imposed five policies to address food insecurity, i.e., 1) setting up a monthly program called the Food and Nutrition Security System, 2) direct assistance in the form of food staples, 3) developing the Food Security and Vulnerability Atlas, 4) improving food access, and 5) developing self-sufficient villages. These attempts are quite efficient. After three years, more areas have moved from Priority 1 to Priority 3 in food security.

scholarly journals Impact of the Pandemic on Livelihood and Food Security: An Empirical Analysis of the PDS in Delhi

2021 ◽  
pp. 001955612110457
Author(s):  
O. Grace Ngullie ◽  
Arib Ahmad Ansari
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Distribution System ◽  
Empirical Examination ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Distribution System ◽  
The Government ◽  
Access To Food ◽  
The Impact

The sheer extent of the Covid-19 pandemic and its crippling effect on the entire economy gave cold creeps. Suddenly the fragile, one-of-a-kind arrangement through which the daily wagers and the migrant workers were surviving broke down with the imposition of the lockdown, and we had a novel disaster on our hands. In such a hanging-by-thread situation, the adversely affected poor had to rely on the government machinery for sustenance. We attempt to undertake a first-hand evidence-based study of the implementation of the Public Distribution System in Delhi while examining the impact of the pandemic on livelihood and food security. Some policy gaps that we have identified include inconsistency with the quantity and quality of rations received and promised, exclusion and ultimately access to food. Based on the empirical examination of the specific problems faced by the poor on the ground, we recommend policy solutions corresponding to those specific problems which include utilising modern and emerging technologies, creating new cadre for monitoring and upwardly revising the allocation.

scholarly journals Millets for Food and Nutrition Security in India: Determinants and Policy Implications

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shahidul Islam ◽  
Varghese Manaloor
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Distribution System ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Price Support ◽  
Food And Nutrition Security ◽  
Nutrition Security ◽  
Food And Nutrition ◽  
The Impact

Background: Food security has been a target in India since its independence; the primary aim of food security is to ensure enough staple food for the entire population. Although substantial progress was made through the adoption of green revolution (GR) technologies and implementation of the food public distribution system (PDS), desirable food and nutrition security, as defined by the food and agriculture organization (FAO), is far from being realized. This paper scrutinized the potential contribution of millets in achieving food and nutrition security in India. Methods: The present study was conducted based on the secondary data obtained from FAO Corporate Statistical Database and published literature on food and nutrition security. The impact of the GR technologies and the PDS on food and nutrition security was examined using 58 years of acreage, production, and yield of rice, wheat, and millet, as well as comprehensive information on relevant issues including climate. Results: Both GR technologies and PDS unduly favored two principal crops, namely rice and wheat, marginalizing all other crops cultivated for thousands of years to meet the food and nutrition requirement of mostly developing countries including India. Millets constitute one such neglected group of crops in India, which have tremendous potential for contributing to food and nutrition security. Conclusions: Millets are to be included in the PDS alongside rice and wheat so that they receive an appropriate Minimum Price Support. Appropriate implementation of relevant regulations, continued research and development, and adequate support for cultivation and marketing of millets are necessary in this regard.

scholarly journals A life-cycle approach to food and nutrition security in India

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 944-949 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajesh Kumar Rai ◽  
Sandhya Kumar ◽  
Madhushree Sekher ◽  
Bill Pritchard ◽  
Anu Rammohan
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Distribution System ◽  
Poor Performance ◽  
Life Cycle Approach ◽  
Food And Nutrition Security ◽  
Nutrition Security ◽  
Adequate Food ◽  
Food And Nutrition

AbstractIndia’s poor performance on critical food and nutrition security indicators despite substantial economic prosperity has been widely documented. These failings not only hamper national progress, but also contribute significantly to the global undernourished population, particularly children. While the recently passed National Food Security Act 2013 adopts a life-cycle approach to expand coverage of subsidized food grains to the most vulnerable households and address food security, there remains much to be desired in the legislation. Access to adequate food for 1·24 billion people is a multifaceted problem requiring an interconnected set of policy measures to tackle the various factors affecting food and nutrition security in India. In the present opinion paper, we discuss a fivefold strategy that incorporates a life-cycle approach, spanning reproductive health, bolstering citizen participation in existing national programmes, empowering women, advancing agriculture and better monitoring the Public Distribution System in order to fill the gaps in both access and adequacy of food and nutrition.

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