From Food Security to Nutrition Security

When the federal government not too long ago introduced that fortified rice could be supplied by way of Public Distribution System (PDS) and PM-POSHAN in three phases by the election-year of 2024, it captured in letter and spirit how the 77-year-long journey of the meals safety initiative has been guided by good authorities intent with political curiosity packaging.

The greatest meals safety initiative on the planet has helped in averting main famines widespread until Seventies and it supplies meals safety to 810 million folks, however it has not been in a position to present vitamin safety as a result of for many years, foodgrain self-sufficiency – and never vitamin – has been a part of the political discourse.  

India ranks 101 on the Global Hunger Index 2021 primarily based on indicators like undernourished inhabitants and youngsters struggling losing and stunting. The rating has been contested by the Indian authorities.

PDS supplies meals and non-food-items to recognized households having ration playing cards at subsidised costs. The meals basket includes largely foodgrains like rice and wheat, which give energy to beneficiaries, however haven’t been in a position to deal with protein and micronutrient deficiencies, that are prevalent in India. Some of the dietary deficiencies might be offset to some extent by extra deal with promotion of meals nutrient dense meals gadgets like millets by way of PDS. The system might additionally serve higher with deal with pregnant and lactating girls and youngsters, who’re extra susceptible to malnutrition. It can be a bane that the centralised procurement and distribution results in mismatch between grains supplied centrally and native meals preferences, which at occasions embrace domestically grown coarse grains.

Line-managed by central and state governments, PDS is regulated by National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA) handed earlier than the then upcoming nationwide elections. NFSA goals to supply meals and vitamin safety in a life cycle method. Though the Act supplies for worth revision each three years, the governments have stored pricing fixed at Rs 3 for every kg of rice, Rs 2 for wheat and Re 1 for millet.

NFSA covers different authorities programmes just like the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme, which incorporates the Supplementary Nutrition Programme (SNP) for providing sizzling cooked meals to 3-6-years-old kids and take-home ration of 600 energy to pregnant girls and lactating moms and Rs 6,000 maternity profit for at the very least six months. ICDS together with POSHAN Abhiyaan launched in 2018 had been extra not too long ago introduced below POSHAN 2.0 introduced within the Union Budget 2021-22.

The rights-based framework of NFSA offers authorized entitlement to subsidised foodgrains to 75 per cent of the agricultural and 50 per cent of the city inhabitants. The proper to meals is a justiciable proper, however NFSA freezes the variety of beneficiaries on the inhabitants figures primarily based on the 2011 census. The NFSA doesn’t present for bringing below PDS purview extra individuals who might have grow to be eligible because of development in inhabitants or poverty. The freeze is until the following Census, which was due in 2021, however the enumeration is anticipated to start solely later this 12 months as a result of delay brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.

But there’s scope to increase the protection of PDS. It requires political will. A working example is in current occasions through the Covid-19 lockdown when Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) catered to nearly 80 crore folks over and above NFSA. During the lockdown, the central authorities supplied for extra subsidised meals rations for ration card holders and a few state governments supplied rations to even non-ration card holders barring accessibility challenges in some cases as a result of lockdowns.

It is clear that the prevailing PDS mechanism is versatile sufficient to cater to a bigger inhabitants base and/or ship extra amount. It additionally strengthens the argument that universalisation of PDS, which is a long-felt demand of the civil society, is viable from the infrastructure viewpoint at the very least.

Political prerogatives haven’t been exercised solely on the nationwide degree, but in addition at state ranges. In 1983, NT Rama Rao, the-then chief minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh, introduced a rice scheme of Rs 2 per kg rice to fulfil his election promise of the earlier 12 months.

Apart from political points, there are systemic points in PDS. The procurement of foodgrains is finished by the central authorities at Minimum Support Price (MSP) largely by way of the Food Corporation of India (FCI), which can be accountable for the storage. Most of the storage is concentrated in Punjab, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh, however excessive consumption states like Rajasthan and Maharashtra are missing in ample storage. At the identical time, storage is usually underutilised, regardless of storage limitation in FCI, in accordance a 2013-report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).

Government procurement has downsides, too. The provision of MSP has led farmers to focus on rice and wheat as a substitute of native coarse grains. Rice and wheat cultivation practices being climate-unfriendly have contributed to reducing of water tables and soil fertility, significantly in Punjab and Haryana. Besides, centralised procurement and distribution are accompanied by greater carbon emissions throughout transportation.

The central allocation of foodgrains for states relies on the supply of foodgrains and a state’s common lifting of meals grainsover the final three years. The distribution is finished by state governments by way of honest worth outlets. The identification of beneficiaries is a reason for concern. According to an earlier examine by an skilled group, these excluded from the under poverty record (BPL) comprise 61 per cent of the eligible inhabitants and embrace 25 per cent of the ineligible inhabitants.

Most of rice and wheat for provide by way of PDS is procured from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, and Telengana and distributed by way of the nation. Leakage is a matter. An earlier Planning Commission working group report discovered 36 per cent leakage of foodgrains at nationwide degree in transportation and from ration outlets.

Issues of identification of beneficiaries, hunting down of ghost beneficiaries, leakage, transparency and accountability might have been addressed to some extent by the federal government’s current measures like digitisation of ration playing cards and beneficiary information, seeding of Aadhaar in PDS, and automation of honest worth outlets utilizing digital Point of Sale (ePoS) units. Besides, recently-launched One nation, One Ration Card, which remains to be largely an inter-state initiative, wants to make sure operation of inter-state operability.

The pilots of direct financial institution switch into the financial institution accounts of PDS beneficiaries of Union Territories of Chandigarh, Puducherry, and Dadra & Nagar Haveli should be examined on a bigger scale. Though direct financial institution transfers might help eradicate leakage and empower folks to train their selections of meals grains, the jury remains to be out on its advantages in rural areas.

Going ahead, it’s time to enhance the tempo of change to make PDS reply to at this time’s challenges. PDS was launched by the British as a war-time rationing measure following the Second World War and continued in free India. The Revamped Public Distribution System (RPDS) was launched in 1992 to enhance its attain in distant areas and the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) in 1997 to focus extra on the poor.  

Repurposing of PDS from the lens of meals safety to vitamin safety known as for with deal with each nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive approaches. It would require adjustments in procurement, storage, transportation, distribution, and extra importantly in constituents of meals basket. More so as a result of securing human well being may also assist safe the well being of the planet and vice-versa.