Food is the basic
necessity of all human beings. For India, even in best times, it has been the
key priority. In the time like COVID-19, the need to ensure food safety has
been a major challenge.
The World Bank data
shows that more than 176 million people are living in extreme poverty. The data
also reveals that poor households are more vulnerable to the risk of COVID-19.
Nevertheless, at the same time, these people face food insecurity.
On the other hand, 2019
Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) data can also be referred to, which shows
the number of poor in India is more than 369 million. The number is quite
staggering and poses a great challenge, even in a non-emergency situation. And
in a situation like COVID-19, this challenge becomes even serious when a number
of livelihoods lost for a daily wage and self-employed worker.
Food Security
System in India and Challenges
With a number of over 0.55 million Fair Price Shops, Public Distribution System ensures the regular supply of food grains and other essential commodities.
At the beginning of
March 2020, India has a stock of 77 million tonnes (mt) of rice and wheat and
2.25 mt of pulses in public storage. This three times more than what Food
corporation of India mandates.
Finance Minister
Nirmala Sitaraman on 26 March announced a relief package of 1.76 lakh crore
rupees under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojna. It includes provisions for:
l
80
crore poor people to get 1 kg of rice and 5 kg free for three months.
l
Jan Dhan Account holders to get Rs 500 per
month for the next three months.
l
MNREGA wage increased to Rs 202 from Rs 182.
l
A sum of Rs 1,000 for 3 crore poor widows,
senior citizens and disabled.
l
Building and Construction Workers Welfare Fund
to be used by state governments to provide relief to construction workers.
With all these measures
by the central government, state governments too announced their own Schemes.
However, a big hurdle was lack of updation in the Public Distribution System
and lack of documentation. Another issue was the ration card, which is neither
divided nor portable across locations. Government’s new One Nation, One Ration
Card policy is still a work in progress.
Even if a household
gets wheat, then local millers who convert it into flour were not working. Rice
was the only option available.
Furthermore, inter-state coordination has negatively affected food distribution. Agriculture is a state subject matter, and programs vary from state to state.
Transportation,
storage and distribution of large volumes of food became a problem leading to
spoilage and contamination. Many warehouses were closed due to local law
enforcement. There has been an issue of transportation too. Local
administration is prohibiting the movement of trucks, and there is a scarcity
of labourers as well.