Food Security and the PDS in India
Food Security: The Basic Idea
Food security means everyone has reliable physical and economic access to enough safe, nutritious food, and India's system rests on a huge public distribution network.
Food security has several parts: food must be available, people must be able to afford it, and it must be nutritious and safely used.
Availability and access
A country can grow enough grain yet still have hungry people if they cannot afford it.
Famines in history
The Bengal famine of 1943 was worsened by policy failures and shaped India’s concern for food security.
The Indian answer
India built a system of procurement, storage and distribution that reaches hundreds of millions of people.
A family without enough income buys subsidised grain at the local fair price shop.
Access and affordability matter too.
- Food security has availability and access.
- Affordability is key.
- The Bengal famine left a mark.
- India relies on public distribution.
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