July 2008

Vol 52

Chief Editor : Anurag Misra Joint Director (Prod) : N.C. Mazumder

Cover Photo: Sarvesh
In-charge : Manogyan R. Pal Cover Layout : Mridula Dave
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Let noble thoughts come to us from every side

Rig Veda

CONTENTS

Freedom from Hunger and Rural Knowledge Food at stake....................................................................... 35

Revolution.............................................................................. 5 Brinda Karat
M S Swaminathan Public distribution system and social
interview Right to food............................................... 8 exclusion.................................................................................. 40
Madhura Swaminathan
The Shadow of Food insecurity................................. 10
V M Rao Woes and Worries of Public Distribution
System...................................................................................... 44
food crisis............................................................................. 13 Manoj Kumar Mishra
Surinder Sud
Food Security in the Post Globalization Milieu........................... 48
Global Food Security and India................................ 16 L P Singh
Suresh Chandra Babu
BEST PRACTICES Food for Human
Facing the Wheat Crisis.................................................. 19 Development........................................................................ 51
Madan Sabnavis Child Malnutrition and ICDS...................................... 54
Not a Grain to spare......................................................... 23 Dipa Sinha
M S Swaminathan Need for research............................................................ 58
The Real Food Problem................................................... 25 Norman E Borlaug
Amartya Sen Role of Women.................................................................... 60
A Crippling Indifference................................................ 27 Sumita Acharya
Ashok Mitra Hrusikesh Patro
Importing food insecurity .......................................... 29 Ranjan Kumar Tarai
Devinder Sharma J&K Window ........................................................................ 62
do you know ? What is pds......................................... 31 In the News ......................................................................... 64

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YOJANA July 2008 1

 economic indicators
ANNUAL INDICATORS Units 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09
(Proj.)
Population (as on 1 Oct) in crores 101.9 103.8 105.5 107.3 109 111 112.2 113.7 115.2
GDP at current market prices (new series) Rs.crore 2102314 2278952 2454561 2754621 3149412 3580344 4145810 4713148 -
GDP:Per Capita (current prices) Rupees 20,632 21,976 23,299 25,773 28,684 32,224 36,771 - -
Gross domestic savings (current prices) % of GDPmp 23.7 23.5 26.4 29.8 31.8 34.3 34.8 - -
Gross domestic capital formation (cur. pr) “ 24.3 22.8 25.2 28.2 32.2 35.5 35.9 - -
Central Govt. Gross Fiscal Deficit “ 5.7 6.2 5.9 4.5 4.0 4.1 3.4 3.1 2.5
Sectoral shares (of GDPfc at current prices)
Agriculture & allied % of GDPfc 23.4 23.2 20.9 21.0 19.2 18.8 18.3 17.8 -
Industry “ 26.2 25.3 26.5 26.2 28.2 28.8 29.3 29.4 -
Services “ 50.5 51.5 52.7 52.8 52.6 52.4 52.4 52.8 -
Prices (Annual Average)
WPI of All commodities (wt 100.00) Apr 155.7 161.3 166.8 175.9 187.2 195.5 206.1 215.7 -
1993=100
CPI-IW General index: India Jul 2001=100 95.93 100.07 104.05 108.07 112.2 117.2 125.0 132.75 -
Agriculture: Production
Foodgrains mln. tns. 196.8 212.9 174.8 213.2 198.4 208.6 217.3 227.3 228.8
Cereals “ 185.7 199.5 163.7 198.3 185.2 195.2 203.1 212.1 213.4
Rice “ 85.0 93.3 71.8 88.5 83.1 91.8 93.4 95.7 96.0
Wheat “ 69.7 72.8 65.8 72.2 68.6 69.4 75.8 76.8 77.0
Pulses “ 11.1 13.4 11.1 14.9 13.1 13.4 14.2 15.2 15.4
Oilseeds “ 18.4 20.7 14.8 25.2 24.4 28.0 24.3 28.2 29.3
Sugar cane “ 296.0 297.2 287.4 233.9 237.1 281.2 355.5 344.2 350.0
Industry & Energy
“Index of industrial production (wt 100) 162.69 166.99 176.64 188.97 204.8 221.52 247.05 267.16 -
(Annual Average)” Apr 1993=100
% change 5.06 2.64 5.78 6.98 8.37 8.16 11.53 8.14 -
Commercial energy production MTOE # 230.9 237.9 246.9 259.2 272.0 283.83 298.55 73.45 -
Electricity generation by public utilities bln. kwh 501.2 517.4 532.7 565.1 594.5 617.5 662.5 704.5 -
External Transactions
Exports US $ mln. 44147 43958 52823 63886 83502 103075 126276 155435 -
Imports “ 50056 51567 61533 78203 111472 149144 185624 235868 -
Forex reserves ^ “ 39554 51049 71890 107448 135571 145108 191924 299147 -
Foreign direct investments in India (net) “ 4031 6125 5036 4322 5987 8901.0 21991 - -
Portfolio investments in India (net) “ 2760 2021 979 11356 9311 12494 7004 - -
Rupee exchange rate (Annual Average) Rs / USD 45.61 47.55 48.30 45.92 44.95 44.28 45.29 40.24 -

Indicators: Monthly Units Feb- Mar- Apr- May- Jun- Jul- Aug- Sep- Oct- Nov- Dec- Jan- Feb- Mar- Apr- May-
07 07 07 07 07 07 07 07 07 07 07 08 08 08 08 08

Prices

“Wholesale price index 1993-94= 100 208.9 209.8 211.5 212.3 212.3 213.6 213.8 215.1 215.2 215.9 216.4 218.2 219.9 225.5 227.2
(All Commodities)”
% change 6.3 6.6 6.3 5.5 4.5 4.7 4.1 3.5 3.1 3.3 3.8 4.5 5.3 7.5 7.41

Agriculture

Actual rainfall (All-India) Millimetres 30 32 27 48 153 259 299 194 75 14 16 19 19 32 37 38

Dev. from normal rainfall Per cent 32 14 -20 -31 8 0 -2 14 -22 -49 1 -19 -14 21 -15 -31

Stock of Rice (Central pool) mln. tns. 14.0 13.2 13.5 12.6 10.6 6.7 10.7 10.1 11.2 13.5 -

Stock of Wheat (-do-) mln. tns. 5.1 4.6 11.6 13.3 12.8 10.9 9.0 8.4 7.4 5.5 - - - -

Investments (CMIE CapEx database) Mar ‘01 Mar ‘02 Mar ‘03 Mar ‘04 Mar ‘05 Mar ‘06 Mar ‘07 Mar ‘08

Investments (CMIE CapEx database) Rs.crore 1,403,025 1,486,938 1,382,122 1,503,040 1,931,500 2,761,339 4,293,108 6,118,218
“Project investments
outstanding* (as on)” project count 4,328 5,805 6,942 8,835 9,434 9,688 12,281 14,501

Note: (a) % change is year on year (y-o-y) basis; (b) # MTOE: Million Tonnes of Oil Equivalent; (c) ^ Total value of foreign currencies held by Govt. of India (excl. gold & SDRs); (d) * It is the sum
total of the project costs of all the outstanding (Live) capital expenditure projects happening in the country. These projects may be under announced or under-implementation stage.

Source: i3 (i-cube) at Planning Commission, New Delhi, Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE)

2 YOJANA July 2008

 About the Issue
Feed India

F
ood security is access to enough food by all people at all time for an active and
healthy life. In the past concerted efforts were made to achieve food security by
increasing food grain production, thanks to impact of green revolution, though
it was limited to same crops and that too in limited States. To ensure easy access to
food at household level, government monopolised grain management and subsidized
food grains. Paradoxically, India attained national food self-sufficiency 35 years ago,
yet about 35% of its population remains food insecure. Low incomes and high food
prices prevent individual food security. Another aspect of India’s food security situation
is that after over three decades of operation, Public Distribution System (PDS) meets
less than 10% of consumption of PDS grains – rice and wheat - by the poor.
At the global level, a poor harvest coupled with rising demand has led to an overall increase in food prices.
Unfavourable weather conditions in parts of Europe and North Africa, together with worst ever drought in Australia,
have put stocks of major food crops, especially wheat, at record low levels. Tight supply pushed up the prices of
wheat to unprecedented heights, significantly affecting food inflation across the world including India.
Surging foodgrain prices and worsening global supplies are now bringing the domestic food crisis to the
boil. The crisis has been building up for sometime. The food grains yields of Indian farmers are not going up.
Grain output has been stagnating for over a decade and there is a growing gap between supply and demand
Attaining long-term food security requires the raising of incomes and making food affordable. To ensure
food security for the vulnerable section of the society, a multi-pronged strategy is to be evolved. To begin
with, all the existing social safety-net programmes need amalgamation and should focus on vulnerable and
underprivileged regions and groups. The existing anti-poverty programmes may be made more transparent with
better governance that minimizes leakages and benefits the poorest of poor. Landless poor and underprivileged
population in rural and urban areas are likely to benefit from such programmes. Simultaneously, agriculture
needs to be reformed by improving incentives, increasing investment etc. so that production of traditional
and high-value commodities can be increased.
Unfortunately, agriculture is in the grip of poor performance. Traditional sources of augmenting income
are ceasing. Production environment is changing, it is now dominated by small holders. With the shrinking
land holdings, their sustainability and viability can not rely solely on production of food grains. To augment
their income, small holders need to diversify their production and crops.

YOJANA July 2008 3

4 YOJANA July 2008
food first
Freedom from Hunger and
Rural Knowledge Revolution
O
n the eve of the 50th
anniversary of India’s
independence on August
14-15, 1997, the then
President Shri K R
Narayanan listed our
adherence to a democratic system
of governance and our launching a
green revolution in agriculture as the
two most important achievements of
the first 50 years of what Jawaharlal
Nehru christened as, “India’s tryst
with destiny”. At a Consultation
held at the M S Swaminathan
Research Foundation in Chennai at
the beginning of the new century,
This is the it was proposed that two major
goals for the 60th anniversary
pathway to achieving commemoration should be a hunger-
free India on the lines proposed
sustainable food and by Mahatma Gandhi in 1946 at
Naokhali, and accelerated progress
nutrition security in human resource development
through a knowledge revolution
and thereby the in rural India. Based on a series
of consultations, two Missions
first among the – 2007 were launched through
multi-stakeholder consortia, one
UN Millennium for eliminating chronic under- and
mal-nutrition, and the other for
Development Goals rural knowledge connectivity.
The author is M.P. (Rajya Sabha) and Chairman, MSS Research Foundation.
YOJANA July 2008 5
view point
M S Swaminathan
Unfortunately, the progress made
since 1997 in the elimination of child,
maternal and adult malnutrition as
well as in improving our rank in the
UN Human Development Index has
been poor in relation to our capacity
to achieve them. It will therefore be
worthwhile to review briefly where
we are today.
Mission 2007 : A Hunger-free
India:
Over two hundred million
children, women and men go to bed
now partially hungry. Jointly with
the World Food Programme, MSSRF
scientists have analysed the causes
for the persistence of widespread
chronic hunger and presented the
available information in two Atlases
relating to food insecurity in rural
and urban India. These Atlases
provided valuable guidelines for
the preparation of a road map for
the elimination of chronic, hidden
and transient hunger and resulted in
the development of the following
seven point action plan. This plan
whose major components are
described below was developed on
considerations of both affordability
and ease of implementation.
l Restructure the delivery of ongoing
nutrition support programmes on
a life cycle basis.
l Universalise the Public
Distribution System (PDS) and
enlarge the composition of the
Food Basket by including a
wide range of nutritious cereals,
millets, grain legumes and tubers
based on local preferences.
l Introduce a food cum fortification
approach for eliminating iron,
iodine, zinc and Vitamin A
deficiencies and accord priority
to overcoming chronic and
hidden hunger in pregnant
women, and in children in the
0-2 age. Eliminating pre-natal
malnutrition in women is essential
to minimize the incidence of low
birth weight babies.
l Promote the organization of
Community Grain and Water
Banks by local communities
with the Gram Sabhas providing
social oversight, and promote the
concept, “store food grains and
drinking water in every village”.
l Pay particular attention to safe
drinking water, primary health care
and nutrition education, thereby
achieving synergy between food
and non-food factors.
l Enhance opportunities for on-
farm and non-farm employment
through the biovillage model of
human centred development,
and improve the productivity
and profitability of small farms
(small farm families constitute
over 50% of India’s population)
through integrated crop-livestock
6 YOJANA July 2008
farming systems and improved
post-harvest technology.
l Introduce a Food Guarantee Act
combining the features of Food
for Work and Rural Employment
Guarantee Programmes; the use
of food as currency benefits both
farmers and urban consumers,
since farmers will produce more
if consumption is improved. In
addition, household nutrition
security is strengthened.
While releasing the Food
Insecurity Atlas of Rural India at
New Delhi on 21 April 2001, the
former Prime Minister of India, Shri
Atal Bihari Vajpaye commended the
goal of Mission 2007–Hunger-free
India in the following words,
“Democracy and hunger cannot
go together. A hungry stomach
questions and censures the system’s
failure to meet what is a basic
biological need of every human being.
There can be no place for hunger
and poverty in a modern world in
which science and technology have
created conditions for abundance
and equitable development.
The sacred mission of a “Hunger-
free India” needs the cooperative
efforts of the Central and State
Governments, local self-government
bodies, non-governmental
organizations, international agencies,
and above all, our citizens. We can
indeed banish hunger from our country
in a short time. Let us resolve today
to make this Mission substantially
successful by 2007, which will
mark the sixtieth anniversary of our
independence”.
The National Commission on
Farmers also endorsed the above
strategy for achieving sustainable
nutrition security. The Common
Minimum Programme of the UPA
Government contains a commitment
to achieving universal nutrition
security as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, an integrated
strategy is yet to be put in place
with the result that the goal of a
hunger-free India is no where near
accomplishment.
A Knowledge Centre
The second Mission 2007
relates to the knowledge and skill
empowerment of rural families
with the help of Information and
Communication Technology (ICT).
Mission 2007 : Every Village a
Knowledge Centre stimulated
developments such as the
following:
l The Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO) launched
a Village Resource Centre
programme at the Block level
involving satellite connectivity
and teleconferencing facilities.
l The Department of Information
Technology, Government of
India, launched a Common
Service Centre (CSC)
programme designed to cover
100,000 villages.
l The Ministry of Panchayati Raj,
Government of India, decided to
provide to each Panchayat the
necessary ICT infrastructure to
enable them to participate in the
e-Governance programme.
l ITC Ltd decided to expand its
e-chaupal programme in order
to cover 50,000 villages
l MSSRF has organized so far our
100 VKCs and VRCs.
l Many State Governments, public
and private sector companies,
Academic and financial
Institutions and NGOs have
organized VKCs in different
parts of the country.
 Thus, Mission 2007 has
triggered a national tele-centre
movement for bridging the urban-
rural digital divide and for ensuring
knowledge connectivity in areas
relevant to the day to day life and
livelihood of rural families. The
Government of India has included
knowledge connectivity as an
important component of Bharat
Nirman or a New Deal for Rural
India.
A National Alliance has been
formed for Mission 2007 – a broad
based coalition of government, non-
government, academic and business
sectors committed to the cause
of taking ICT to all the 600,000
villages of India. In addition, with the
generous assistance of Tata Trusts,
MSSRF has established a Jamsetji
Tata National Virtual Academy
for Rural Prosperity (NVA) and a
Jamsetji Tata Training School. The
NVA has currently 985 Fellows from
India and 25 Foreign Fellows drawn
from the Afghanistan, Philippines,
Sri Lanka, Kenya, Nepal and Nigeria.
These grassroot Academicians are the
torch bearers of the rural knowledge
revolution.
From August 15, 2007, Mission
2007 programme has developed
into a Grameen Gyaan Abhiyan
(GGA) a national movement for
knowledge empowerment of rural
families. It is hoped that by 2010,
the Grameen Gyaan Abhiyan will
cover every village and home or
hut in the country.
The Green Revolution helped to
increase the productivity of crops
like wheat and rice. The Knowledge
Revolution, on the other hand, helps
to enhance human productivity and
creativity in several dimensions.
Grameen Gyaan Abhiyan
YOJANA July 2008 7
will be based on the following
organizational structure.
l Every Block will have a Village
Resource Centre with the help of
ISRO
l Every Panchayat will have
a Gyan Chaupal or Village
Knowledge Centre with the help
of the Department of Information
Te c h n o l o g y, M i n i s t r y o f
Panchayati Raj, Civil Society
Organisations, NABARD and
financial institutions, multilateral
donors, the academic and
private sectors and bilateral and
multilateral donors.
l The last mile and last person
connectivity will be achieved
through combinations of internet
and community radio, and internet
and the cell phone. For example,
fishermen in catamarans will
be guided through cell phones
on wave heights and location of
fish shoals.
While connectivity can be
achieved, content creation and
capacity building will be the greatest
challenges. The content has to be
dynamic, demand driven, locale
specific and in local languages.
Pathways of achieving food and
nutrition security should find a
prominent place in the content
generated for the VKCs.
A major role of the Grameen
Gyaan Abhiyan movement will
be the establishment of linkages
between scientific know-how
and field level do-how. For this
purpose, VRCs and VKCs will
have to be intimately linked with
appropriate programmes such as
Sarva Siksha Abhiyan for literacy,
Yuva and Mahila Sakthi Abhiyans
of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj,
National Rural Health Mission,
National Horticulture Mission,
National Rural Employment
Guarantee Programme, etc.
In order to accelerate progress in
reaching the unreached in terms of
relevant information and services in
retail trade in fruits, vegetables and
grains as well as on methods of safe
handling, packaging and marketing,
a Quality Literacy Movement based
on Codex Alimentarius standards
of food safety is being launched
in association with the Central
Food Technological Research
Institute, Mysore. GGA will launch
a Knowledge on the Wheels
Programme for the provision of
services relevant to rural livelihoods.
To start with, soil healthcare, water
conservation and management, eye
care and post harvest technology
will be covered with mobile vans
designed by eminent institutions
like Sankara Netralaya in the case
of eye care.
As a single step, the Rural
Knowledge Revolution is likely to
have the largest beneficial impact on
the physical, economic and social
well being of the over 700 million
people living in villages. Poverty
will persist under conditions where
the human resource is under-valued
and material resources are over-
valued. Once GGA spreads, there
will be a perceptible impact on
the parameters governing human
resource development. This in turn
will lead to a paradigm shift from
unskilled to skilled work in villages.
This is the pathway to achieving
sustainable food and nutrition security
and thereby the first among the UN
Millennium Development Goals,
namely the eradication of hunger and
poverty. q
(Email : msswani@vsnl.net)
 food first interview

Right to food

J
ean Dreze is one of the leading development Economist in India. He has made seminal contributions to
the discourse on hunger and public action and has co-authored several books with Nobel laureate Prof
Amartya Sen. He is an Honorary Professor at the Delhi School of Economics and Visiting Professor at
Allahabad University. Dreze is an Indian citizen of Belgian origin. He has travelled extensively across India
over the past three decades and is associated with several campaigns for economic and social rights. He was
a member of the support group that initiated the Right to Food Campaign and is widely acknowledged as
one of the architects of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. He has also been a key figure in the
Right to Information Campaign.

Biraj Patnaik is the Principal Adviser to the Commissioners to the Supreme Court in the Right to Food Case.
This interview is adapted from an earlier conversation for Infochange Agenda.

It is now several years since the Right to Food Campaign was launched. What would you count as the
most significant achievements of the campaign?

JD I am not sure what counts as an “achievement of the campaign”. On almost every important issue, the
campaign has been part of a larger process of democratic practice. For instance, is the Employment
Guarantee Act an achievement of the campaign? Well, the campaign certainly played a major role in
putting this issue on the political agenda, as well as in drafting the Act. But many other actors also
played a crucial role: the Left parties, the National Advisory Council, the trade unions, and so on. There
is no point in trying to apportion the credit. Having said this, I think that major issues on which the
campaign made a useful contribution include employment guarantee, mid-day meals, social security,
and more recently, the universalisation of nutrition and health services for children under the age of
six.

While the right to food has been an important area of work for decades for many trade unions, activists
and civil society organisations, the present RTF campaign has its roots in the PUCL petition in the
Supreme Court. Do you think that the campaign has now grown beyond the issues that are being raised
and debated in the SC and become more rooted in local action?
JD I think that the campaign has certainly outgrown the court case. Of course, the Supreme Court orders
did give the campaign a much-needed tool for action on many issues. For instance, I doubt that mid-day
meals would ever have been introduced in primary schools without the intervention of the Court. But
there have also been important achievements on issues that go beyond the court case. The most obvious
example is the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. This has been a major focus of the campaign
for the last few years, even though it has little to do with the court case.

8 YOJANA July 2008

 Many activists believe that the right to food is a political problem that will lend itself to a political
solution and that the law may not be enough to secure the right. This can also be derived from your
work on famines with Prof Sen, which reasserts the importance of local action in securing rights. Are
you satisfied with civil society’s level of engagement outside the legal framework?

JD Firstly, I think that this contrast between politics and the law is a little misleading. The legal
system is one of the democratic institutions that can be used to assert the right to food, or for that
matter other economic and social rights. There are others – electoral politics, public debate,
media advocacy, street action, and more. So I see legal action as an integral part of democratic
politics. As far as civil society’s “level of engagement outside the legal framework” is concerned,
I am not sure what the relevant yardstick is. But I certainly feel that we are making poor use of
this country’s vast opportunities for effective social action.
Many people argue that the focus on schemes and legal action does not adequately address structural
issues of poverty like land reforms and forest rights and underplays caste and gender dynamics, which
are the root causes of persistent hunger. How would you react to that?

JD Legal action does not exclude “structural issues” as you call them. Land reforms and forest rights, for
example, certainly have important legal dimensions. What is true is that legal action has its limits. In
fact, I am quite disillusioned myself with the legal system. The Supreme Court of India has become an
unaccountable centre of power, which brazenly uses its authority to “legislate at random in all directions”,
as Kropotkin described the lawyers of his time. But while it is important to be aware of the limits of
legal action, shunning it altogether would be a mistake. What is important is to supplement legal action
with other forms of public action. That is what the campaign is all about.
You have made significant contributions to a number of national campaigns. But the interface between
various campaigns and groups is decreasing. Has the RTF campaign been able to create a more inclusive
platform? How can the campaign draw in more networks and groups?

JD I have not noticed any decreasing interface. In this kind of broad-based, informal movement, the patterns
of association between different groups are bound to change over time. Perhaps some of these bonds are
weakening, but I am sure that others are getting stronger. For instance, strong links are emerging between
organisations working on the right to information and the right to work, and similarly between activists
concerned with the right to food and the right to work. As for creating inclusive platforms that work, I think
that this is the holy grail of social action in India, or for that matter anywhere. The search continues.
One of your strengths has been your ability to mobilise young people to volunteer for campaigns you
have been associated with. Would you agree with the perception that there is a decline in the number
of young people willing to participate in political action, especially on an issue like the right to food
which affects some of the poorest sections of Indian society?

JD I don’t know if such a decline is taking place. But if it is, the main reason is that we fail to present
young people with opportunities to participate in effective forms of political action on these issues. In
my experience, there is a vast reservoir of latent energy, imagination and commitment among young
people, waiting to be tapped. For instance, you would be surprised to see how many students are willing
to take part in field surveys during the summer months, without remuneration, even in very difficult
conditions – just to make a difference. This experience often has a lasting influence on their values
and priorities. But how often do they get a chance to do something like this? q

YOJANA July 2008 9

 food first
The Shadow of Food Insecurity
A
fter over t h r e e
decades of relatively
comfortable production
and availability of food
grains, India once again
seems to be sliding back
to those humiliating days of mid-
1960s when the country was living
from “ship to mouth” on imported
wheat obtained as aid from USA.
The country is still away from
that point but the steps it is taking
are indeed in that direction. The
prospects which are grim stand
out clearly in some of the recent
But India assessments by UN agencies and
foreign observers.
has certainly
The latest report of Food and
a good Agriculture Organisation (The
State of Food Security in the World,
chance to 2006) laments that during the period
do that if only 1990-92 to 2001-03 “Significant
progress in reducing the number of
it tries with undernourished people was made in
China and the populous sub-region
earnestness of Southeast Asia. In India, on
the other hand, the prevalence of
and hunger declined, but the outcome
in terms of reducing the number
determination of undernourished was small as
The author is with the Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore.
10 YOJANA July 2008
perspective
V M Rao
a reduction in the first part of the
period (1990-92 to 1995-97) was
subsequently reversed”. According
to FAO, in 2001-03, India had 212
million undernourished which
was much higher than the MDG
(Millennium Development Goals
of United Nations) target.
A report released by a US-based
group says South Asia continues to
face “critical” levels of hunger. The
report says the current hot spots of
hunger and under-nutrition are in
South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.
While there have been dramatic
improvements in South Asia, the
report says the region remains
“an area of great concern”. The
Institute studied 119 countries for
its research and the index ranked
countries on a 100-point scale,
with zero being the best score (no
hunger) and 100 being the worst.
India and most other South Asian
countries score in the region of
20 plus and are categorised in the
group in which the food security
situation is “alarming”. “In India
and Bangladesh, high rates of child
malnutrition are the main reason
for the high Global Hunger Index
value,” says the report.
We have purposely presented
the indicators of under-nourishment
and malnutrition as they capture the
human dimension of food security
much better than the dumb statistics
of foodgrain production and PDS
procurement of foodgrains and
distribution. It is the neglect of
the human dimension which is at
the root of the emerging crisis in
food security. The period since the
early 1990s presents many tell-tale
symptoms of the spreading malaise
of food insecurity. Growth rate in
agricultural production was slowing
down. PDS worked well in relatively
better- off states like Kerala and
Andhra Pradesh but was virtually
non-existent in hardcore poverty
areas like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh
and Madhya Pradesh. The broader
socio-economic context was marked
by powerful poverty-generating
processes like growing landlessness
in villages, casualisation of rural
labour and proliferation of small
and marginal holdings with severe
constraints in raising agricultural
productivity and growth. These
processes operated along with
weak rural programmes for supply
of safe drinking water in adequate
quantities, improved rural sanitation,
provision of houses to the rural
poor etc. The result was growing
development gap between what have
been described in media as India
and Bharat. Today, there are indeed
three entities-the shining India of
urban elites, Bharat of emerging
rural elites and the rural poor. The
last entity is numerically the largest,
suffers from multiple deprivations
including food insecurity and
abysmal levels of health, nutrition,
sanitation and housing. Their poverty
gets perpetuated over time due to
weak access to education, skills,
assets and productive livelihoods
in a globalising and liberalising
YOJANA July 2008 11
economy. It also spills over in urban
areas as vast and dehumanising
slums.
In our view, it is of utmost
importance at the present juncture
to view food insecurity suffered
by the rural and urban poor as
an outcome of India’s largely
infructuous attempts so far to raise
the levels of human development.
India finds itself repeatedly in
recent years in the lowest one-
third of countries ranked by HDI
(Human Development Index) of
UNDP. It is our submission that
viewing food insecurity in isolation
leads to ad hoc fire-fighting types
of measures which papers over the
symptoms without going to the
roots of the problem. Considering
food insecurity as a part of the
problem of low human development
would ensure that India has its sight
focused on the objective of bringing
about enduring improvement in
food security rather than hastily
implemented measures providing
only temporary relief. To see why
this is important, one should go back
to that glorious Green Revolution
chapter in India’s development.
I
n response to the looming food
crisis of the mid-1960s, Indira
Gandhi and her dedicated team
worked out a holistic strategy based
on combining programmes dealing
with all the major development
dimensions-introducing miracle
seeds from abroad, adaptive research
and extension to nurture them in
the field, coordinated supply of
modern inputs, price and marketing
support, bank credit for agriculture,
employment programmes for the
poor, making the small and marginal
farmers viable and programmes to
meet the minimum basic needs. The
outcome was a grand synergistic
success-unprecedented growth in
rice and wheat, a wide range of
poverty alleviation programmes,
noticeable reduction in BPL
numbers, accelerated agricultural
growth which continued for almost
two decades with wide coverage
of areas, crops and farmer groups
much beyond the initial coverage
by green revolution and, above all,
enhanced dignity of India in the
comity of nations and increased
capacity of the country to counter
the political pressures from the
big powers. It is sad that over the
years the Green Revolution period
has come to be identified with only
the achievement of self-sufficiency
in food which from hindsight
looks too modest an achievement
to boast about. Green Revolution
was, in fact, a model of successful
development planning with a
carefully designed combination of
programmes supported by strong
political commitment at the highest
level and implemented by line
departments with an admirable
drive and capacity to work as a
cohesive team.
Over the years India has slipped
back again into the old line-
department culture of top-down
approach, pursuit of expenditure and
coverage targets with little concern
about benefits delivered to the poor
and lack of co-ordination with other
departments.As a result, programmes
routinely report achievement of
targets but the conditions of the
poor show little improvement.
The signs of crisis in food
security could prove to be an
opportunity to make an enduring
improvement in food security if
it triggers a change from the line-
department type of development
planning to the Green Revolution
type. Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh and his colleagues have
excellent credentials to emulate
Indira Gandhi. In fact, the current
context is marked by several
positive factors as compared to
the conditions in which Green Revolution was
born. The Panchayati Raj institutions have now
a constitutional status and the recently launched
National Rural Employment Guarantee programme
has assigned a leading role to them in identifying
the poor and in making them participants in
the programme. Mission mode for designing
and implementing programmes, e-governance,
Right to Information, Public Interest Litigations,
growing role of NGOs, activists and civil society
groups in supporting and mobilising the poor
and proactive judiciary are some of the notable
recent changes providing a congenial setting for
the Green Revolution approach to development
planning. There are also positive factors capable
of directly contributing to improvements in food
security if only policy makers are alert enough
to make effective use of them. India now has an
impressive body of research and experiences to
promote growth and development of rain-fed
agriculture which accounts for nearly two-thirds
of cultivated land. This is also true of value
addition and export of value-added products. Self
Help Groups which have an impressive record
in empowering women can prove in the coming
decades to be a life-saver for the small and marginal
farmers by strengthening their capacity to deal
with government officials, banks, traders etc. and
to undertake-IGAs (Income Generating Activities).
There are welcome move towards decentralisation
of Public Distribution System and inclusion in
them of local staples which the poor consume. All
these provide an opportunity unequalled in the
past to have institutions and procedures enabling
the poor to take care of their own food security.
Indira Gandhi worked tirelessly to help a famine-
prone country to achieve self-sufficiency in foodgrains.
It is time India takes the next step of ensuring food
security of the household of the poor and of the
worst victims of lack of food security viz. women
and children in these households. Professor Amartya
Sen, a strong admirer and critic of India, has been
urging India to accord high priority to elimination of
latent hunger, under-nourishment and malnutrition.
He has a theory that democracies take quick notice
of famines but not of the invisible famines which
affect many more millions than famines. It is not
easy to prove him wrong but India has certainly
a good chance to do that if only it tries with
earnestness and determination. q

(Email :vmadiman@hotmail.com)

12 YOJANA July 2008

food first
Food Crisis
I
ndia is in a position
to increase production of
wheat by over 30 million
tonnes, or around 40 per
cent, and double paddy
production while using
both current levels of technology
and well tried out agronomic
practices. This can be done by
bridging the existing gap in the
actual crop yields and the potential
yields, within any state, or by
narrowing them down substantially.
If yields Narrowing the yield gap across
across states states will increase production
levels a lot more, but this article is
can be hiked to not talking about that.
levels already This has been shown by various
studies based on the data recorded
achieved within in 2003-04 and 2004-05 on yields
realised with improved agronomic
the state, as they practices and the existing actual
average yields in different states.
can with extension The results have been quoted by the
services, wheat National Development Council’s
sub-committee on agriculture and
output can rise related issues in its report presented
to the Planning Commission in
by 40% May 2007. The Annual Report
The author is a known Agricultural Journalist.
YOJANA July 2008 13
opinion
Surinder Sud
(2007-08) of the Indian Council of
Agricultural Research (ICAR) also
points to the available exploitable
production potential that can be
gainfully harnessed to boost overall
grain availability.
In the case of wheat, the crop in
news in recent years, the productivity
in Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar
Pradesh and parts of Rajasthan
is already very high, around 3.5
to 4.5 tonnes a hectare, which is
comparable to China’s 4.25 tonnes
and better than that in the US (2.9
tonnes) and Australia (1.64 tonnes).
Yet, there is room for further
increase in wheat production in
this belt because the actual average
yield of the region as a whole still
falls short of the obtainable level by
around 1.7 tonnes a hectare.
Indeed, the differences in the
present average wheat yields
and those that can be had with
improved practices vary from 6
per cent in Punjab to a whopping
50 per cent in UP, the state with
the largest area under this crop
in the country. UP alone, with
9 million hectares under wheat,
can add over 12 million tonnes to
the country’s total wheat output.
In Haryana, the wheat output can
be pushed up by about 20 percent
and in Rajasthan, by over 40 per
cent.
In areas outside this key wheat
bowl the scope for production surge
is, in fact, several times higher. In
Madhya Pradesh, the state having
the second largest area under wheat
(over 4 million hectares), wheat
productivity can be pushed up by
over 84 per cent. Elsewhere, it can
be enhanced by 100 per cent (Bihar)
and much more (155 per cent in
Maharashtra) through better farm
practices.
Thus, Madhya Pradesh can swell
the country’s wheat kitty by over 6
million tonnes, Bihar by another
3.8 million tonnes and Maharashtra
by an additional 1.5 million tonnes.
These three states together can
provide over 11 million tonnes of
additional wheat.
In the case of rice, the range of
variation in the productivity is far
wider than that in wheat because rice
is grown under more diverse agro-
climatic conditions. Cultivation
practices, crop varieties and other
production technology vary widely
for different eco-systems as also for
rainfed uplands, rainfed lowlands
and irrigated fields. Only ablut 56
per cent of the total paddy acreage
in the country has assured irrigation
facilities.
The difference in the actual
and obtainable yields, therefore,
ranges from 35 per cent in the
rainfed (upland) fields in Jharkhand
to a whopping 222 per cent in the
irrigated tracts of Uttar Pradesh and
Bihar, which together account for
over 20 per cent of the country’s
total paddy acreage. These two
states together can throw up
additional 25 to 30 million tonnes
of rice every year.
Significantly, the comparative
yield statistics indicate that the
opportunities for scaling up rice
production are the maximum in the

Ground Reality
Potential increase in production if yields within state rise to best within that state
(yield in tonnes per hectare, 2002-03 to 2004-05

Wheat
State Improved Actual Yield Gap Area Possible Additional
Practice 2003-04 % tonnes/ha (mn ha) Production (mn tonne)
Uttar Pradesh 4.20 2.79 50.5 1.41 9.00 12.69
Bihar 3.65 1.78 104.8 1.87 2.03 3.79
Punjab 4.46 4.20 6.1 0.26 3.48 0.90
Haryana 4.75 3.96 19.8 0.79 2.32 1.83
Rajasthan 3.94 2.79 41.3 1.15 2.01 2.31
Gujarat 4.03 2.68 50.5 1.35 0.73 0.98
Madhya Pradesh 3.29 1.78 84.3 1.51 4.14 6.25
Maharashtra 3.41 1.33 155.5 2.08 0.76 1.58
Himachal Pradesh 2.61 1.38 89.6 1.23 0.36 0.44
West Bengal 2.76 2.31 19.4 0.45 0.40 0.18
Uttarakhand 3.38 1.87 80.5 1.51 0.39 0.58
Total 31.53

Rice
State Improved Actual Yield Gap State Improved Actual Yield Gap
Practice 2003-04 % Practice 2003-04 %
a) Rainfed (upland) rice Tripura 1.36
Chhattisgarh 3.74 1.45 1.57 Uttar Pradesh 3.65 2.18 67.2
Jharkhand 2.29 1.69 35.2 c) Irrigated Rice
Manipur 4.27 - - Chhattisgarh 3.91 1.45 169.4
Uttar Pradesh 3.62 1.94 86.4 Bihar 4.88 1.51 222.1
b) Rainfed (shallow lowland)/Boro Rice Gujarat 5.58 1.89 195.3
Assam 4.52 1.53 194.7 J&K 7.48 1.94 285.8
Chhattisgarh 3.55 1.45 144.2 Uttar Pradesh 7.05 2.18 222.4
Jharkhand 3.48 1.69 105.3 Uttaranchal 3.85 1.94 98.2

14 YOJANA July 2008

irrigated areas of most paddy-growing states, barring
Punjab and Haryana, where productivity is already
quite high. While the average paddy production can be
increased by nearly 170 per cent in the irrigated areas
of Chhattisgarh, it can be catapulted by 195 per cent
in the irrigated tracts of Gujarat.
In the case of rainfed paddy grown on elevated
lands where the rainwater does not stay in the fields for
long, improved agronomic practices can help push up
per-hectare yields by over 86 per cent in Uttar Pradesh
and 157 per cent in Chhattisgarh.
Similarly, in paddy grown on shallow lowlands and
also the “boro paddy” planted in north-eastern states,
including West Bengal and Assam, crop productivity
can be more than doubled in most places with better
farming methods. The yield gap is about 195 per cent in
Assam, 144 per cent in Chhattisgarh and 105 per cent
in Jharkhand. In Uttar Pradesh, where some lowland
unirrigated areas are planted with paddy, especially in
the eastern region, the per-hectare crop output can be
stepped up by 67 per cent.
This analysis is confined to the prospects of boosting
the output of wheat and rice by merely bridging the gulf
between high and low yields within each state. However,
if productivity levels in the laggard states can be brought
at per with or closer to those prevailing in Punjab and
Haryana, the gains can, obviously, be far higher.
But for that, several factors that have kept the crop
productivity low in the agriculturally backward areas
would bave to be addressed. Though these constraints
vary widely across states and regions, many of them
are common almost throughout the country. Significant
among them are the collapse of the state extension
agencies resulting in poor technology dispersal,
improper choice of crop varieties and non-renewal
of their seeds at short intervals, inadequate use of
manures, inefficient and imbalanced application of
fertilisers, and poor water management.
Many of these lacunae can automatically get removed
if extension services are revamped and supportive
infrastructure and services are strengthened and rendered
more efficient. However, for some odd reason, most
strategies employed recently for alleviating farmers’
distress and boosting the country’s food security focus
on credit alone. But credit availability alone is unlikely to
make a difference unless other needed measures are also
taken simultaneously. q

(Email : surinder.sud@gmail.com)

YOJANA July 2008 15

 food first
Global Food Security
and India
I
ndia is one of the fastest
growing economies in the
world. It is also the 12th
largest economy in the
world. The fast growth
that India has experienced
in the last several years has placed
India as a key player in the global
economy. India is also poised with
its enormous human capital to
attract a high level of foreign direct
investment and likely to become
one of the most powerful countries
on the globe if the above trends
continue. With its increasing role
in global economic development,
the world is counting on India
for achieving the Millennium
A hunger Development Goals set by the
United Nations for the year 2015.
free India is
Where does India stand in
not only a achieving global food security?
India has achieved food self
nation’s pride sufficiency 30 years ago through
dramatic investments in technology,
but can make a institutions, and infrastructure. Yet
India’s efforts in achieving food
huge contribution security for all Indians remain
unimpressive. India is the only Asian
to global food country other than Bangladesh and
Yemen to be in the top 25 of 97
security hunger affected countries in the
The author is with the International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington.
16 YOJANA July 2008
Impact
Suresh Chandra Babu
world. The rest of the countries
come from Africa. According to
FAO of the United Nations, 200
million people, one fourth of the
world’s undernourished population,
live in India. About 41 percent of
the world’s underweight children
call India their home, says UN
Hunger Taskforce. India’s children,
the future human resource capital of
the country, face enormous growth
challenges; 47 percent of children
under 5 years old are underweight,
45% are stunted, and 16% have
severe malnutrition (wasting). Such
severity of malnutrition can only be
observed in famine prone countries
where acute food insecurity is
extreme and frequent. With
continuous achievement of food
self sufficiency over the last three
decades such global ranking begs the
question - what is wrong with Indian
agriculture and food policies?
Why is achieving food security
in India important? By reducing
its own food insecurity and hungry
population, India will make a major
dent in achieving global food security.
A fast developing country, such as
India, positioning itself to be one of the
world’s most powerful nations cannot
afford to have such a vast number
of food insecure and malnourished
people. Prolonged food insecurity
among the population of one country
manifests in several ways. Without
individual food security, a basic
entitlement, it will be long before
India can make any progress in other
aspects of human development.
India currently ranks 126 among
177 countries in the UNDP’s human
development index.
What can be done to achieve
food security for all? Food security
depends not only on production
but also on policies and institutions
that translate production into food
availability, access, and utilization by
the population. While food production
levels are slowly increasing, the
productivity of food has been stalling.
The current food and agricultural
policies are suboptimal at best to
revive a second round of agricultural
revolution in India. Food security can
be achieved by increasing production
and a combination of policies that
improves domestic, regional, and
international trade along with
programs that improve the quantity
and quality of food consumed
by the population. Increasing the
accessibility of food depends on
food prices and the income of the
population. Keeping food prices low
and still enabling reasonable farm
income requires reduced unit cost of
production.
Technology plays a key role in
reducing the cost of production of
commodities. The role of research
in increasing the productivity of
crops is crucial. For example, in
India, the yield of rice and wheat
has not changed in the last 10
years. The yield of rice hovers
around 1900kgs/hectare while the
yield of wheat is around 2600kgs/
hectare. Unless these yield levels
are doubled in the next 10-15 years
achieving food security through
improving the income of the rural
masses cannot be realized. The low
YOJANA July 2008 17
levels of yields are largely a result
of poorly functioning agricultural
research and extension systems.
National leaders and policy makers
have recognized the need for efficient
and effective research system for
delivering relevant technologies that
will increase competitiveness of Indian
agricultural systems by reducing cost
of production and using natural
resources in a sustainable manner.
The current system of agricultural
research organized to meet the food
self sufficiency needs of the sixties
and seventies - remains oblivious
to the fast globalization of world
agriculture, responds inadequately
to the needs of smallholder farmers,
and performs poorly in applying
the latest technological advances.
While reforming the system of
agriculture research in India requires
new organizational culture guided
by renewed mission and visionary
leadership, effective use of existing
scientific pool to address pressing
issues through appropriate priority
setting, monitoring and evaluation
will be necessary.
W
hile achieving higher
yield levels is a long
term process through
focused research programs that
use resources effectively, in
the short run, effective social
welfare programs could reduce
the severity of hunger. India has
several programs in place but they
are not implemented right either
individually or jointly. A major
challenge in reducing hunger in
the short term, is the inefficiency
of social safety net institutions.
Effective monitoring of the food
distribution systems including the
food for work programs can aid
in redesigning them. Improved
governance of these institutions at
all levels will help to serve those
who are in need of food most,
There has been an increased
emphasis on high value agriculture
for a second green revolution.
While farmers growing cash crops
can benefit from such an approach
to poverty reduction, the majority
of farmers who are food insecure
presently reside in drought prone
areas and may not benefit from such
a revolution. We may not achieve
food security for all through high
value agriculture unless small and
marginal farmers are integrated with
regional and international markets.
Trade can play an important role
in achieving national food security
through appropriate policies that
are designed to import food when
we are in deficient and export
when we harvest surplus. However,
achieving household food security
will require higher levels of income
for the 200 million people who are
unable to feed adequate quantity
and quality of food.
India’s population continues
to grow and will contribute to the
growth of world population which
will be 9 billion in 2050, At the
global level the demand for food is
likely to double in this period, Food
consumed by the population will
go through enormous change in its
diversity and mixture. An indication
of that is already seen in India
as the middle income consumers
increasingly consume high value
crops, such as fruits, vegetables,
livestock products, fish, and milk. Yet
India is also home for a large number
of people affected by micronutrient
deficiency (iron, iodine, vitamin A).
This hidden hunger contributes to
low human capital through reduced
cognitive ability of the people, and
low productivity of labor. Policies
that increase quality by fortifying
food would help in reducing
micronutrient malnutrition.
Finally, solving the problem of
food insecurity in India requires
agro-ecological approaches. Blanket
recommendations of technology
and policy cannot be effective in
solving localized food security
problems. In this context, there is a
need to revisit agricultural development strategies and
reorient them according to agro-ecological systems.
In addition to country specific challenges, several
global issues that confront world agriculture are also
relevant for achieving food security in India. Water is
becoming a major constraint for production agriculture.
While water sources are dwindling the technology
for using water efficiently in crop production lags
behind. Increasing small scale irrigation and effectively
bringing in rain-fed agriculture into assured system
of irrigated farming are crucial for increasing the
productivity of drought prone areas and protecting
the farmers from periodic distress that are currently
affecting several pockets of the country.
Given that major inputs, fertilizers and pesticides,
depend on fossil fuels and the prices of fossil fuels
are increasing, the cost of production of agriculture
would become high. Policy makers need to seriously
consider agriculture as a way to generate income
through crops that contribute to the development
of biofuels. India’s ability to negotiate in the global
agriculture trade negotiations is crucial for obtaining
markets for agriculture commodities and for managing
the globalization of agriculture trade effectively for the
benefit of poor and food insecure.
Climate variability and change are likely to affect
agriculture in India. Recent estimates show that global
warming can reduce the global GDP by 20 percent
through reduction in the productivity of crops. To what
extent such global change will affect Indian agriculture
and in turn food security remains to be seen. India is
vulnerable to new pests and diseases such as the wheat
rust that has been identified and to the transcontinental
diseases such as avian influenza. Preparing the
country to face such impending challenges, which can
reduce food security, should be a key strategy for the
agriculture sector.
India’s growth and increased importance as a key
global power could easily be disparaged if a large
section of its population remains food insecure and
hungry keeping India among the poorest nations of
the world in human development. Achieving food
security for all is possible. A national program of
coordinated action with specific goals and deadlines
are needed. While such calls have been made by
NGOs and advocacy groups, they have not been
articulated well to bring public, private, and civil
societies together to address the long term problem
of individual food security. A hunger free India is not
only a nation’s pride but can make a huge contribution
to global food security. q
(Email : s.babu@cgiar.org)

18 YOJANA July 2008

food first analysis

Facing the Wheat Crisis

Madan Sabnavis

T
he wheat crisis which root of the issue; and approaches
has come to the forefront towards procurement, fair price to
in the last two years has farmers and consumers, imports and
gotten entrenched in deep alternative modes of resolving these
controversy as it has gone issues are only supportive measures
beyond the realm of Economics into and not the solution.
Politics. Wheat imports has become
To set the issues involved in a clear
a ticklish subject, with the price
perspective let us try and enumerate
being paid by the government to the
and then analyze the various subjects
farmer as well as by the consumer
of controversy. The first is production
at the retail end have both become
and productivity. The second is
controversies in themselves. In
the need to provide a remunerative
2006 the grievance was that the
price to the farmer. The third is to
consumer was paying too high a
ensure that procurement targets of
More price, while in 2007 it was felt that
the government are attained. The
the farmer was not paid the right
innovative price. The blame has been passed
fourth is to explore alternative ways
of meeting the procurement in case
from one entity to another including
schemes for inept government action, private
the MSP fails to deliver.

procurement have procurement, hoarding by farmers, Tre n d s i n p ro d u c t i o n a n d

hoarding by traders and futures productivity
to be tried out to trading. At the same time we have
Table 1 provides information
not stopped to seriously think of
bridge the gap tackling the issue at the foundation
on wheat production, area under
cultivation and yield per hectare for
between demand i.e. increasing production. It is
wheat in a historical context.
unfortunate, that it has taken two
and supply wheat seasons, 2006 and 2007 to Some interesting points that
realize that we need to go to the emerge are the following:
The author is Chief Economist NCDEX Limited.

YOJANA July 2008 19

l The maximum increase in area technology or in this case better to grow by at least the population
under cultivation took place in use of inputs. growth rate which is around 1%.
the sixties (41%) followed by Even at this conservative rate,
The result of these two
seventies (23%). However, after production needs to continuously
observations can be explained in increase to 83 mn tonnes in the
1971, there was a slowdown
the last column where the yield next decade. Now, production
in growth to just around 8.5%
numbers have been given. While movements have been cyclical
in the succeeding two decades yield rose by around 500 kgs per
after which the increase was hectare every decade, it has again on an annual basis and unless the
just over 1% in the last 5 years. stagnated in the last five years. The fundamentals are tackled, this may
There has definitely hence been impact of the Green Revolution in not be achievable. The second
source of increasing demand is the
a loss of emphasis on increasing the sixties and seventies is really
changing consumption patterns
the area under cultivation. A quite over and given that the pricing
that are discernible in the country.
part of the explanation could of wheat has been a messy subject,
Processed wheat products are on
lie in the general disinterest it will not be surprising if farmers
the rise and their consumption
in agriculture with industry shift their cultivation patterns is spreading fast into rural areas
and services providing better away from wheat, which may as well as the traditionally non-
avenues of income. This is not be an ideal proposition. The wheat consuming
a major problem Table 1: Wheat Statistics states. Progressive
because unless Year Area under cultivation: Production Yield/hectare urbanization and the
wheat is made an mn hectares Mn tonnes in kgs imbibing of western
attractive crop 1960-61 12.9 11.0 851 tastes and habits
for farmers, it 1970-71 18.2 23.8 1307 will shift demand
will be difficult 1980-81 more towards the
22.3 36.3 1630
to reverse this consumption of
1990-91 24.2 55.1 2281
trend. Also some wheat in future.
2000-01 26.3 69.7 2778 While this trend is
degree of crop
2005-06 26.6 69.5 2607 emerging, the fact
substitution has
Source: Economic Survey/RBI Annual Report that it is growing
also taken place
to commercial crops which does sound a
government has to support wheat warning signal for appropriate
have affected at the margin
at the cropping stage by helping to action.
the increase in area under
increase productivity by supplying
cultivation. On the other hand the fact that
better quality of seeds and develop
even globally there has been a
l The production figures illustrate new strains too which will enhance
growing tendency for cultivation
quite clearly the classic law of yields. Today, given the conditions to shift to products like maize,
diminishing returns over time of limited land being available soybean and cane for generating
on the limited land that is used for cultivation as well as issues bio-fuels could in the medium
for cultivation. While production on the wheat level, it is a major term make traditional cropping less
increased by 115% in the first challenge to keep this growing attractive. Hence, it is essential to
decade and over 50% in the next given the increasing demand. More definitely concentrate heavily on
two decades, it slowed down to importantly it is essential to also restarting the Green Revolution to
just over 25% in the nineties promote market related pricing for ensure self sufficiency in wheat.
this crop.
with stagnation being seen in
Providing the right price to the
the last five years. Quite clearly The higher demand is emanating
farmer
there is pressing need to reverse from two factors. The first is from
this process, which the textbook the growing population, where Given the delicate situation of
says can be overcome through wheat being a staple crop will need the production pattern of wheat,

20 YOJANA July 2008

one of the pre-requisites of higher fixing the MSP should be separated same as the government can never
production in future is the imperative from the procurement plans of the be sure about the quantity of wheat
to provide the right price to the government which has to be tackled that would be offered to it. Table 2
farmer. Today it is provided by the in a different manner. below gives an interesting picture
MSP of the government which is of the procurement of wheat in the
Government procurement
administered through the FCI. This last few years and also captures the
is the base minimum price that the The government needs to share of production that is being
farmer will get for sure, but he has procure a certain quantity of wheat procured PPP).
the right to sell it anywhere else he to meet its own commitment of
wishes in case the price is higher. creating and maintaining a buffer Table 2 provides a confusing
Intuitively it can be seen that the stock as well as running its Public picture. What is clear is that
MSP sets the tone for market prices. Distribution Programme (PDS) and procurement as a proportion of
The MSP is calculated by the CACP employment generation schemes. production (PPP) has definitely
with a scientific formula which Today the government needs to come down over time and the
takes into account several factors. government is not able to procure
The formula has to be enough wheat. However,
Table 2 Procurement of Wheat the pattern is unclear.
fine tuned to include Year Production Procurement Procurement Higher production does not
the overall market mn t mn t as a proportion
conditions as the crop necessarily translate into
of production
prospects are known as (PPP) (%) higher procurement which
the farmers would like to 2000-01 76.4 16.4 21.4 should logically be the case
receive the higher price 2001-02 69.7 20.6 29.5
as prices must be falling in
in case it is warranted. those periods which should
2002-03 72.8 19.0 24.9
This way the farmer make the MSP attractive.
2003-04 65.8 15.8 24.0
should actually face a And in the last two years
2004-05 72.2 16.8 23.3
dynamic MSP which PPP has fallen sharply.
2005-06 68.6 14.8 21.6
though announced in the The environment in the
2006-07 69.4 9.2 13.2
month of November or last 2 years has changed
2007-08 74.9 11.1 14.8 quite dramatically with
December would serve Source: Economic Survey and FCI website
as the base with upward the markets becoming
revisions in case the more open and private
get in 15 mn tonnes of wheat players offering better prices.
market conditions so indicate.
every year, and for this the price Also futures trading have been
The basic issue here is that the paid which is the MSP, should in operation making market price
farmer should have access to the not really matter. The physical discovery more efficient as well
market price too and be able to procurement is necessary for as transparent. The message is
sell it at that price. If there are two which the government should be quite clear. The government needs
prices, then the farmer in an area prepared to pay a market oriented to strengthen its procurement
which does not have access to the price. Hence to begin with there is efforts. The reach of the FCI has
market will feel he has gotten a raw need to separate the price support to spread to include more regions
deal. By having a dynamic MSP, to farmers from the procurement so that more farmers are covered.
all the farmers would virtually be objective. Also while the MSP This may take care of the physical
brought on par. The MSP initially programme would provide stocks aspect of procurement. But, the
announced would only be the floor for this programme, it should price issue would still remain as
price paid to protect the farmer in not be the single source of wheat it needs to be perceived as being
case production is in surplus. But, supplies. It is necessary to explore right for the farmers to sell to the
more importantly, this objective of alternative mechanisms for the government. There is evidently

YOJANA July 2008 21

need to explore other options for
public procurement.
Alternative procurement options
Use of private players
If private players are paying a
higher price, then so should the FCI
for these operations. Therefore, it
should buy from the private players
or have agents who will do so. The
problem here is that there will be a
conflict with the MSP because some
farmers will get the MSP while
those who come in late will get a
higher price and the government
would be charged for
unequal price rewards.
But, this will be more
palatable than the other
option, i.e. imports.
Use of futures
exchanges
This may be
theoretical today given
that wheat is on the
banned list and even
if it were lifted, the
market may not be
prepared to handle the
quantities that we are
talking of. But, futures trading can
help the government in two ways.
Hypothetically, it can physically
procure in a mature market at a
fixed price. Alternatively, it can
run a hedge transaction to cover the
higher cost it may be paying in the
market in case prices move up at
the time of purchase. The treasury
skills of the FCI have to be honed
or else can be sub-contracted to
reliable agencies.
Imports
The major controversy which
is politically destabilizing is when
22 YOJANA July 2008
the government imports wheat at
a price which is higher than that
paid to the farmers. This is but
natural because wheat is imported
only if the domestic market is
not able to yield the physical
produce. Therefore, there will be
a third tier of wheat procurement
which will be the last option.
The first is through the MSP
which in turn is aligned to the
market. The second is through
private parties which would be at
a later date and at a higher price.
The last will be through imports
where a third price is being used.
The government could do two
things here. The first is to buy
when it is required and run into
controversy.
Alternatively, imports could be
reckoned well in advance before
the season so that the price is lower.
Even if it is a surplus year, the same
can be channeled into the buffer or
used more vigorously in the poverty
alleviation schemes. The assumption
here is that excess wheat is better
than being caught unawares. Once
the production levels stabilize, then
the government can reduce the
quantity of imports.
Decentralization of the PDS
Decentralization of the
PDS is another option open to
the government where the state
governments can call for tenders
for direct supplies of wheat from
private parties and the lowest bidder
would get the deal. The cost incurred
could be transferred from the centre
to the state and hence the state
budgets would not be affected. This
will make it more efficient and also
bring down the pressure
on the centre to procure
wheat, which will now
be restricted to only
maintaining a buffer.
The approach
towards the issues
surrounding wheat
needs to be revisited and
the various objectives
rebalanced to ensure
that the processes are
smoothened and that
an optimal solution is
reached. This is critical
as it is also politically sensitive as
the last two years have raised some
awkward contradictions which
can be eschewed in future through
better planning and implementation.
However, we cannot escape the fact
that productivity has to improve
dramatically in the medium run
for which necessary incentives
need to be provided. In the interim
period, more innovative schemes
for procurement have to be tried out
to bridge the gap between demand
and supply. There are really, few
choices here. q
 food first
Not a Grain to Spare
T
owards the end of
1966, the late Vikram
Sarabhai and I called on
the then Prime Minister,
Indira Gandhi, to brief her
on the power of television
and remote sensing techniques in
accelerating the progress in enhancing
the productivity of farming systems.
She turned to me and asked, “ How
soon can we build a stock of 10
million tonnes of wheat”? I was a
little taken aback by this question, but
I later realised that this was because
we had to import 10 million tonnes
The sooner we of wheat that year, largely under the
PL-480 programme of the United
do this, the States. More than anyone else, she
understood the relationship between
greater will be food sovereignty and national
sovereignty.. I recall mentioning
the possibility of to her then that the first production
breakthrough will occur in 1968 and
avoiding both a that we can build the grain reserve
desired by her by the early 1970s.
‘ship-to-mouth’ Fortunately, this happened, although
in agriculture, predictions can often
existence and go wrong as a result of factors
like unfavourable weather and pest
epidemics.
widespread
Indira Gandhi was determined
food riots to build a large grain reserve,
irrespective of the cost involved,
often against the advice of the
The author is Chairman, National Commission on Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Security.
YOJANA July 2008 23
overview
M S Swaminathan
planning commission and Finance
Ministry. This was a significant
chapter in the evolution of our food
security system. I recall the instance
to emphasise that had this wisdom
contunued to guide our public
policy, we would not now have
been in a position where we buy
wheat from abroad at a cost double
of what is paid to our farmers.
In Indira Gandhi’s time in
the 1960s and early 1970s, our
population was only 600 million.
Now it is over 1.1 billion. Chronic
undernutrition and malnutrition are
widespread, particularly among
children and women. A ‘blame
game’ does not help anyone. What
is important is to learn appropriate
lessons from the economic and
political dangers inherent in policies,
which will make us depend upon
imported food to operate the Pubic
Distribution System (PDS).
First, how can we achieve the
desired growth rate in agricultural
production? The growth rate in the
production of cereals declined from
4.13 per cent in the period 1984-85
to 1994-95. From here it dipped
to 1.09 per cent between 1994-95
and 2004-05. Annual growth rate
in the agriculture sector as a whole
declined from 3.69 per cent in the
period 1990-96 to 1.65 per cent
during 1996-2005. Net sown area,
gross cropped area, fertiliser use
and electricity consumption all
declined. Growth rate in terms of
trade for agriculture declined from
0.95 per cent per annum during
1990-96 to -1.63 per cent during
1996-2005. In Punjab, even farmers
with over 3.00 hectares are unable
to earn an income comparable to
that of a class IV employee of the
Government of India.
Small and marginal farmer
households account for 84 per
cent of all farmer households.
Fifty seven per cent of India’s total
employment and 73 per cent of
total rural employment come from
this sector. Farming in our country
is the backbone of the livelihood
security system for a majority of
our population.
The National Commission of
Farmers (NCF) has proposed an
integrated strategy. This involves
concurrent attention to soil health
care, water-harvesting and efficient
use of the same. Concurrent to
this are credit and insurance
reforms; agricultural techniques
that are socially, environmentally
and economically sustainable;
and assured and remunerative
marketing opportunities. Special
emphasis will have to be paid to
Bihar, eastern UP, West Bengal
and Assam, where water is not a
limiting factor in crop production.
Defending the gains already
achieved through conservation
farming, and extending the gains
to rain-fed areas and eastern India,
should form part of the sustainable
food security strategy. An important
part of such a strategy would also
be to make new gains through
farming-systems diversification
and value-addition. Unfortunately,
the proposed National Food
Security Mission involving an
outlay of Rs. 5,000 crore during
the Eleventh Plan period is based
on a business-as-usual approach,
which is controlled by numerous
bureaucratic committees, with farm
women and men being relegated to
the position of “beneficiaries”.
The second major need to ensure
food for all and forever is the
building of a few instruments
like a land-use advisory system
based on the integration of data
from meterological systems and
marketing factors. In addition to
this, a market intelligence system is
required, which will help safeguard
the interests of farmers on the one
hand and ensure adequate grain
reserves through timely imports,
on the other.
The policy of allowing large
multinational corporations to mop
up our wheat surplus was fatal in
terms of timing. China has a very
efficient food management system.
For example, at a time when the
price of rice was double that of
wheat. China adopted the policy of
exporting rice and importing double
the quantity of wheat for every ton
of rice exported.
The NCF has suggested a pricing
policy for procurement for public
good. It will be prudent to adopt
this system as soon as possible.
The NCF has also suggested the
establishment of a National Food
Security and Sovereignty Board
chaired by the Prime Minister,
with the concerned Ministers and
leaders of all the major political
parties and a few Chief Ministers as
members. We need to develop the
capacity to take informed proactive
decisions, and action, to maintain
substantial grain reserves as well as
universalise our PDS. The sooner
we do this, the greater will be
the possibility of avoiding both
a ‘ship-to-mouth’ existence and
widespread food riots. q

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24 YOJANA July 2008

food first
The Real Food Problem
W
ill the food crisis
that is men acin g
the lives of millions
ease up - or grow
worse over time? The
answer may be both.
The recent rise in food prices has
largely been caused by temporary
problems like drought in Australia,
Ukraine and elsewhere. Though the
need for huge rescue operations is
urgent, the present acute crisis will
eventually end. But underlying it
is a basic problem that will only
intensify unless we recognise it and
The global try to remedy it.
food problem It is a tale of two peoples.
In one version of the story, a
is not being country with a lot of poor people
caused by a suddenly experiences fast economic
expansion, but only half of the
falling trend in people share in the new prosperity.
The favoured ones spend a lot of
world production, their new income on food, and
unless suply expands very quickly,
it is the result prices shoot up. The rest of the
of accelerating poor now face higher food prices
but no grater income, and begin to
demand starve. Tragedies like this happen
repeatedly in the world.
A stark example is the Bengal
famine of 1943, during the last days
of the British rule in India. The poor
YOJANA July 2008 25
viewpoint
Amartya Sen
who lived in cities experienced
rapidly rising incomes, especially in
Calcutta, where huge expenditures for
the war against Japan caused a boom
that quadrupled food prices. The rural
poor faced these skyrocketing prices
with little increase in income.
Misdirected government policy
worsened the division. The British
rulers were determined to prevent
urban discontent during the war,
so the government bought food
in the villages and sold it, heavily
subsidised, in the cities, a move
that increased rural food prices
even further: Low earners in the
villages starved. Two million to
three million people died in that
famine and its aftermath.
Much discussion is rightly
devoted to the division between
haves and have-nots in the global
economy, but the world’s poor are
themselves divided between those
who are experiencing high growth
and those who are not. The rapid
economic expansion in countries
like China, India and Vietnam
tends to sharply increase the
demand for food. This is of course,
an excellent thing in itself, and
if these countries could manage
to reduce their unequal internal
sharing of growth, even those left behind there would
eat much better.
But the same growth also puts pressure on global
food markets... sometimes through increased imports,
but also through restrictions or bans on exports to
moderate the rise in food prices at home, as has
happened recently in countries like India, China,
Vietnam and Argentina. Those hit particularly hard
have been the poor, especially in Africa.
There is also a high-tech version of the tale of two
peoples. Agricultural crops like corn and soybeans can be
used for making ethanol for motor fuel. So the stomachs
of the hungry must also compete with fuel tanks.
Misdirected government policy plays a part here,
too. In 2005, the US Congress began to require
widespread use of ethanol in motor fuels. This law
combined with a subsidy for this use has created a
flourishing corn market in the US, but has also diverted
agricultural resources from food to fuel. This makes it
even harder for the hungry stomachs to compete.
Ethanol use does little to prevant global warming and
environmental deterioration, and clear-headed policy
reforms could be urgently carried out, if American
politics would permit it. Ethanol use could be curtailed,
rather than being subsidised and enforced.
The global food problem is not being caused by a
falling trend in world production, or for that matter in
food output per person (this is often asserted without
much evidence). It is the result of accelerating demand.
However, a demand-induced problem also calls for
rapid expansion in food production, which can be done
through more global cooperation.
While population growth accounts for only a
modest part of the growing demand for food, it can
contribute to global warming, and longterm climate
change can threaten agriculture. Happily, population
growth is already slowing and there is overwhelming
evidence that women’s empowerment (including
expansion of schooling for girls) can rapidly reduce
it even further.
What is most challenging is to find effective
policies to deal with the consequences of extremely
asymmetric expansion of the global economy.
Domestic economic reforms are badly needed
in many slow-growth countries, but there is
also a big need for more global cooperation and
assistance. The first task is to understand the
nature of the problem. q
The New York Times-
(The writer is a Nobel laureate in Economics.)

26 YOJANA July 2008

 food first
A Crippling Indifference
T
he reserve Bank of
India dutifully publishes
each year A handbook of
Statistics on the Indian
Economy. The latest such
publication carries, on
page 50, a table detailing the
production of principal foodgrains
all the way from 1950-51 till
2006-07. The data presented are most
enlightening. Wheat production in
the country has advanced from 6.46
million tonnes in 1950-51 to 74.89
million tonnes in 2006-07, that is, by
more than eleven-and-a-half times.
The corresponding rise in the output
of rice is from 20.58 millions tonnes
to 92.76 million, which works out
to an order of increase slightly
exceeding four-and-a-half time.
In the case of coarse grains like
jowar, bajra and ragi, however,
the increase in output is markedly
less, from 15.38 million tonnes
in 1950-51 to 34-25 million in
2006-07; production has doubled,
but hardly much more than that.
Considerably worse is the state of
things with regard to pulses. The
production of pulses in the country
was 8.41 million tonnes in 1950-
51; in 2006-07, almost six decades
later, it was 14.23 million tonnes,
the rise in output being less than
60 per cent. In fact, the production
of pulses was already 10.62 million
tonnes in 1953-54. To suggest
that, over the vast stretch of half
a century, the national output of
pulses has increased by barely 40
YOJANA July 2008 27
per cent would not therefore be at
all unfair.
Seasoned politician as well as
civil servants constantly express
their concern over the nation’s food
security, mentioning, inter alia, how
this security has been ensured by
thoughtful official measures such as
the induction of path-breaking new
farm technologies. Some Economists
are nonetheless convinced that,
over the past half-century, per
capita availability of foodgrains–an
important index of food security—
has declined; given the phenomenon
of growing income inequalities,
per capita grain availability for the
country’s poor has actually fallen far
more sharply.
Other Economists to contest
this point of view, and the debate
remains open-ended. Since the
national population has increased
roughly two-and-a-half times
between the early Fifities and the
first decade of the 21st century,
per capita availability of wheat
must have, on the face of it, gone
up to an appreciable extent. Per
capita availability with respect to
rice too has risen, but moderately.
The picture is altogether different
for both coarse grains and pulses.
Per capita availability of coarse
grains is likely to have fallen by
at least one-third during the epoch
of economic planning. For pulses,
the situation is staggeringly much
more frightening. The country’s
viewpoint
Ashok Mitra
population has increased by around
150 per cent during the period we
have in mind; overall production of
pulses has gone up, as noted, by at
most 40 per cent.
In the terminology of economics,
pulses belong to the category of
so-called Giffen goods, inferior
commodities the demand for which
drops with rising standard of living.
Pulses are a minor constituent in the
consumption basket of the affluent
sections in society; the same is true
for coarse grains like jowar and
bajra. The relative sluggishness
to their output leads to but one
conclusion: inferior foodgrains
such as pulses and coarse cereals do
not come within the orbit of interest
of national planners. The gross
domestic product has maintained
a rate of growth of 9 per cent or
more per annum in recent years. In
the circumstances, there is scarcely
any need, so it seems is the view of
officialdom, to strive to augment
the production of inferior grains.
The GDP may increase at a
breathtakingly exponential rate,
but that has little impact on the
state of poverty and destitution
in the country. Roughly one-
third of the nation continues to
be horrendously poor even after
six decades of independence and
spiralling growth in GDP in recent
years. The upper stratum-consisting
of, say, one-fifth of the national
population-are monopolizing the
fruits of the GDP growth, the rest
remain outside its pale.
New experiments with farm
technology have from time to time
bestirred the countryside. The
focus of these experiments has
been on effecting improvement in
the productivity of rice, wheat and
the general range of commercial
crops,including export crops.
Coarse grains and pulses do not
make the agenda, none has the time
to spare a thought particularly for
pulses, despite this grain being a
significant source of protein so
essential for human existence.
It is a sorry, tragic, depressing
story. The poor are a constant of
the Indian reality; their proportion
does not decline, nor their absolute
number for sheer survival, they
need to have a minimum intake
of protein. Milk, fish, meat, eggs,
items rich in protein have, of
course, always been beyond their
means. They have, through the ages,
fallen back on pulses for ensuring
the ingress of a minimal quantity
of proteins in their bodies. In the
course of the past half a century, the
rate of growth of pulse production,
as already indicated, has been
whimperingly low. The shortage
of supply has not only encroached
on the per capita availability of
this protein-rich grain, it has also
led to a continuous increase in
the price level of the grain. The
poorer sections, lacking adequate
purchasing power, have therefore
been further shoved out of the
market for pulses. The inevitable
consequence is a declining intake
of protein on their part.
The steady fall in per capita
protein intake by the nation’s poor is
reflected in the finding of the Human
Development Report perodically
released by the United Nations.
Gross domestic product growth
fetishists scowl at the mention
of this report; mere scowling
however cannot unmake facts. The
principal reson for the disappointing
nutritional condition of the average
Indian, highlighted in the report,
is the declining availability of
pulses for the country’s poor, a fall
uncompensated for by increased
intake of protein from any other
source. The authorities are
obviously not worried: the HDR
notwithstanding, there is every
prospect of the GDP maintaining its
high rate of growth; nobody can then
stop India from emerging as one of
the major countries in the world.
There is a grim sequel to the
story of the continuously shrinking
availability of pulses in the food
intake of India’s poverty-ridden
millions. The poor may be poor,
their bodies still have a hankering
for protein. They are devoid of the
means to buy protein rich foods,
and cannot even afford pulses;
they therefore take as substitute a
species of vetch, lathyrus sativus,
widely known in the countryside
as khesari, which provides them
with some protein. Unfortunately,
the consumption of this vetch
over a period of time leads to
a form of permanent paralysis
described in the literature of
biological sciences as latherysm.
Its incidence is especially virulent,
for understandable reason, among
the destitute masses in central
and eastern India, notably among
the tribals. The word khesari is
actually a corrupt version of the
vetch’s nomenclature in Sanskrit,
khanjakari,meaning “what lames
or deforms”.
None of these facts has been
unearthed recently. Official quarters
were well aware of the relationship
between consumption of khesari
and latherysm as early as the Fifties.
Established facts and knowledge
concerning their implications do not
ensure either preventive or curative
action. Poverty and pertilence
accompanying the consumption
are assumed to be unchanging
aspects of the eternal verity that
is India. The low production of
pulses plays a major contributory
role in that tragedy. q
(The Statesman)

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so far. Applications complete in all respects should reach the Additional Director General, Employment News,
Each Block-IV, Level-5, R.K. Puram, New Delhi-110066 latest by 15th July, 2008, positively.
Additional Director General, Employment News
Cir./EN-SP-4/08

28 YOJANA July 2008

 food first
Importing Food Insecurity
I
ndia has drastically
reduced import duties on
edible oils and rice in a bid
to check rising inflation.
While the import tariff on
rice has been brought down to zero,
the duty on all types of edible oil in
crude form has been removed and
the duty on the refined form of edible
oil has been slashed to 7.5 per cent.
Besides there will be no customs
duty on import of maize upto five
lakh tonnes.
The US President George
Bush has said,” We are willing to
make serious concessions on the
agricultural front, but we expect
other nations to open up their
markets.” Just to remind you in what
context this statement was made,
the US and the European Union
have been under pressure to make
deeper cuts in their agricultural sub-
sidies and tariffs, but are looking
for major countries like India and
Brazil to open their markets in
exchange.
India has taken the first step.
It has lowered the duties. And by
doing so it has sent the right signal
to President Bush.
The author is an Expert on Agriculture.
YOJANA July 2008 29
Well, you might still be thinking
that the Doha Round of the World
Trade Organisation (WTO) has
remained struck for seven years
now and there seems to be no
movement at all. Let me correct
you. This is because we have not
been following the negotiations so
carefully. In mid-March, Brazil’s
chief negotiator, Roberto Azevedo
was quoted as saying that the
Doha Round was closer than ever
to an agreement. Negotiators have
been working round-the-clock
towards a possible ministerial
level meeting either in April or
May, where a breakthrough seems
possible.
The duty cut has been enormous.
Besides crude palm oil, the
government has also cut import
duties on all refined edible oils to 7.5
per cent. The WTO will now forfeit
India’s right to restore its import
duties, which means that India will in
future have to maintain the maximum
level of duties to 20 per cent or so.
Let us now move beyond the
WTO argument. The decision to
bring the import duties on rice to
analysis
Devinder Sharma
zero and cut in duty on edible oils
comes at a time when the import duty
on wheat and pulses have already
been reduced to zero. These four
major agricultural commodities,
including the three most important
food crops, have now been left
highly vulnerable to the vagaries of
an unjust international trade. In any
case, with the international prices
of wheat and rice hitting the roof,
there seems to be no justification for
reducing the import tariff to zero.
Intriguingly, the decision to
remove the import duties on wheat,
rice and pulses (along with a massive
cut in duties on edible oils) comes
at a time when a Rs 8,000/- crore
National Food Security Mission
has been launched with the aim to
increase productivity of these four
commodities. By the end of the
11th Plan, the target is to increase
the production of rice by 10 million
tonnes, wheat by eight million
tonnes and pulses by two million
tonnes. I fail to understand how can
you increase the productivity of rice
or wheat for instance in the next five
years by keeping the doors open for
imports at the same time.
 This is surely going to be counter-
productive. In fact, setting up a
time-bound Food Security Mission
for enhancing production of wheat,
rice, pulses and edible oils comes at
a time when the government itself
is lowering the custom tariff thereby
allowing cheaper imports. Take
the case of edible oils. India was
almost self-sufficient in edible oils in
1993-94. ever since the government
began lowering the tariffs, edible
oils imports have multiplied turning
the country into world’s biggest
importer.
Because of cheaper imports,
India has failed to raise productivity
of oilseed crops. Small farmers
growing oilseeds and that too in the
rain-fed areas of the country had to
abandon production in the light of
cheaper imports.
Cheaper imports have a tendency
to destroy livelihoods. Look at
edible oils for instance. Compared
to the import of 1.02% million tones
of edible oil in 1997-98, the imports
have reached a mammoth 5.98
million tonnes. In 1999-2000, India
imported five million tonnes of edible
oil thereby once again emerging as
one of the biggest importer of edible
oils. if we want to reverse the trend,
there is no alternative but to stop
cheaper imports and then provide
the right on edible oils will also be
removed. The government is already
committed to bring down the import
duties on edible oils to zero under
the Free Trade Agreement with the
Association of South East Asian
Nations (ASEAN) countries. For
wheat, rice, and pulses-the crops
that are considered crucial for
food security-the import duties are
already zero.
We know that cheaper imports
negatively impacts food security.
Allowing zero duty imports at
a time when a National Food
Security Mission has been
launched to increase production
is counter-productive. There is
no sensible rationale behind this
policy. India must restore the
import duties on these four crops
if it intends to remain food self-
sufficient. Otherwise, it seems the
government seems keen to import
food insecurity. q

Essay Contest

Y
ojana in collaboration with Department of Consumer Affairs, Government of India is organizing
an essay competition on consumer awareness in Hindi and English.
The theme is ‘Unethical Food Marketing to Children’. The prizes are sponsored by Department
of Consumer Affairs.
(i) First Prize Rs.5,000/-
(ii) Second Prize Rs.3,000/-
(iii) Third Prize Rs.2,000/-
(iv) 10 Consolation prizes Rs.l,000/-
(v) Annual subscription of Yojana to 50 contestants including the above prize winners
The competition is open to all except officers/staff members and relatives of Yojana, Publications Division,
Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and Department of Consumer Affairs. Students and civil service
aspirants, especially women, are encouraged to participate. Entries can be sent through e-mail, ordinary
post/regd. post/speed post/courier. There is no age bar and the word limit should be between 1500 to 2000
words. The words “Essay Contest” should be superscribed on the envelope carrying the essay. The last date
for receipt of entries in Yojana Office is 15th August 08. The entries should be sent to:
By Post:
Editorial Office,
Yojana, Room No.538,
Yojana Bhavan,
Parliament Street,
New Delhi-110001
Through Email:
e-mail address: yojanaessay@live.com

30 YOJANA July 2008

 do you know ?
What is PDS ?
After 50 years of PDS, India still home to 400 m hungry people
What is the rationale of the Public
Distribution System (PDS)?
The PDS is conceived as a
primary social welfare and poverty
alleviation programme of the
government that was started as a
mechanism for price stabilisation
in the grain market. Essential
commodities like rice, wheat,
sugar, edible oil, kerosene, coal
and so on are meant to be supplied
to the people under the PDS at
reasonable prices. The system is
supposed to provide a safety net to
the poor against the spiralling rise
in prices of essential commodities.
It is meant to fulfill the triple
objectives of protecting the poor,
enhancing their nutritional status
and keeping a check on market
prices. It is an essential part of the
government’s food security policy
as the government acknowledges
that the production and availability
of food per se is not enough to
ensure the ability to acquire the
food, nor does it entitle a person
to consume it. Even the ability
to buy may not guarantee food
security unless there is an efficient
distribution system.
What is the origin of the PDS
in India?
During the Second World War,
the British diverted grains meant
for civilian consumption to meet
the food requirement of their army,
leading to the Bengal famine that
killed four million people. To
overcome the food shortage, a
ration system was put in place
and fair price shops (FPS) were
opened to distribute items of mass
consumption in urban areas.
YOJANA July 2008 31
Later, it was extended to
rural areas too. The food policy
of the government in the post-
independence period emerged out of
this experience of the Bengal famine
of 1943.Thus the PDS was born,
which evolved in the 1950s and
1960s as a mechanism for providing
price support to producers and food
subsidy for consumers.
How did the PDS become a
welfare measure over the years?
Post-Independence, the country
often faced national level food
short-age that led to rapid food price
inflation. However, by the 1980s the
Wait Gets Longer
green revolution had ensured surplus
food grain and the welfare component
of the PDS gained in strength. from
1992, the government introduced
the Revamped PDS (RPDS) to
provide essential commodities to
people living in remote rural areas
and backward hilly, tribal areas
in order to reach areas of high
poverty incidence. Under this
system, people were allowed to buy
essential items from FPS at much
lower subsidised rates.
Why was the current system of
targeted PDS introduced?
In the context of economic
reforms in the 1990’s the procurement
and issue prices of PDS items
were increased. To mitigate the
adverse effects of this price rise, the
government decided on a system of
targeting the PDS to the poor.
Through this, the government
hoped to deliver minimum
requirement of foodgrains at highly
subsidized prices to the poorest
households. Until 1992, any-one
in the country was entitled to the
PDS. Then the focus shifted to poor
regions. With the Targeted PDS,
introduced in 1997, the system
was restructured to target poor
households across all regions and
the subsidy differential between the
poor and non-poor widened.
What are the criticisms against
the PDS?
Despite the PDS being in place
for over half a century, India alone
accounts for over 400 million poor
and hungry people, by the Food
and Agricultural Organisation
estimate.
The success of TPDS depended
largely on the state governments
identifying the genuninely poor
families and issuing the BPL ration
cards to them so that they are able to
buy more quantity at a higher sub-
sidised price. q
32 YOJANA July 2008
YOJANA July 2008 33
 National Food Security Mission
A Landmark Initiative In Yield Optimisation
T
he Government has
launched the new National
Food Security Mission
2007 with the basic objective
of grappling with the persistent
yield shortage in the country.
The mission, which has become
operational from the current rabi
season, has its tasks cut out. It
has to raise the production of
rice by 10 million tonnes, wheat
by 8 million tonnes and pulses
by 2 million tonnes in five years,
ending 2011-12.
The desired target does not
look difficult on the face of
it. The primary reason of this
optimism is that there happens
to be a substantial gap between
the current average yields and
the potential yields which can be
bridged with the help of available
technologies. The basic objectives
can be achieved by bridging this
current yield-potential yield gap, or
even by narrowing it appreciably.
However, for this purpose, the
newly launched mission will
have to successfully deal with the
factors which have kept the output
static for the past many years. It is
in recognising and grappling with
these factors that the real challenge
lies. Another significant tasks is
boosting the productivity of pulses
where even the potential yields are
not too high.
In most areas, even in the
agriculturally progressive ones,
the production and productivity
of rice and wheat have shown the
tendency to stagnate primarily
because of the fatigued nature of
the soil. The intensive farming
practised in these areas without
adequate use of organic manures
has led to the deterioration
of soil health. Also, lack of
replenishment of depleted plant
34 YOJANA July 2008
nutrients, especially the vital micro-
nutrients, has impaired the fertility
of the agricultural land. Therefore,
to bring about an increase in the
yields, high doses of some costly
inputs will have to be brought in.
However, the farmers are frequently
denied remunerative returns on
their products; hence they usually
find it difficult to afford those costly
inputs.
The fund-starved farmers have
not been replacing the old seeds
with fresh ones of superior varieties.
Besides, the agriculture extension
machinery responsible for know-
how and technology transfer has
remained idle in most states for
a long time. Consequently, even
simple measures like timely seed
planting, critical for a crop like
wheat, have not been communicated
to the farmers effectively.
The new Mission, therefore,
aims at addressing all these issues
with a view to be able to tackle yield
stagnation. It also needs to be borne
in mind that the course adopted at
the time of the Green Revolution of
the late 1960s-that of concentrating
efforts and resources in the areas
that possessed potential for showing
quick results-is not available to this
Mission. It is, therefore, necessary to
work in those areas which have so
far remained laggards in agricultural
production and, thus, it has scope for
productivity improvement.
The Mission has taken up largely
those districts in the selected 16
States where the crop productivity
is lower than the state or the national
average. It also seems to have taken
care of some other areas of concern
by including in its plan aspects
like integrated nutrient and pest
management, timely inputs supply
and promotion of new technologies.
On the whole, the Mission
plans to operate in 305 districts of
16 States with a total 11th Five-
Year Plan outlay of Rs. 4882.5
crore. Of these, 133 districts in
12 States have been selected for
enhancing rice yields, 138 districts
in nine States for wheat and 168
districts in 14 States for pulses.
The participating States include
Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh,
Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka,
Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra,
Orissa, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar
Pradesh, West Bengal, Jharkhand
and Rajasthan.
What sets this Mission apart
from many of the other existing
technology mission is that it
proposes to function through
designated state agencies and
dispenses with the usual treasury
route for the transfer of funds,
opting, instead, for direct fund
transfer. Besides, it has evolved
a three-tier coordination structure
for facilitating convergence
of interventions from various
departments and schemes
concerning rural development,
fertilisers, water resources and
Panchayati Raj bodies.
The new mission, in all regards,
appears to be a noteworthy step in
the direction of minimising the
current yield-potential yield gap.
It remains to be seen how the
implementing agencies discharge
their duties and responsibilities.
As regards the new mission, it
has already become clear that
much is going to depend on how
well the plan is carried out by the
agencies. If every pertinent aspect
of the plan is attended to, the
new Mission can go a long way
in bringing the persistent yield
shortfall to a near solution. q
 food first
Food at stake
T
en years a f t e r
the dismantling of
the universal public
distribution system
(PDS), the statistical
jugglery of the targeted food
distribution system actually
excludes millions of poor in both
the BPL and APL categories.
Targeting is linked to neoliberal
policies that seek to limit, if not
eliminate, the government’s welfare
responsibilities
People-centred Now the Department of Food
and Public Distribution, has come
reform up with a set of proposals including
reduction in wheat allocations to
requires the states; allocation of coarse
a return grains instead of wheat; removal
of foodgrains from the Sampoorna
to the Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY)
scheme as part of wage payments;
universal decrease in allocations for drought-
hit areas; increase in the prices of
PDS foodgrains for both Above Poverty
Line (APL) and Below Poverty
Line (BPL) cardholders in the PDS;
reduction in quotas for both APL
and BPL by 5 kg from the present
The author is MP (Rajya Sabha) and a member of CPI (M) Politbureau.
YOJANA July 2008 35
perspective
Brinda Karat
35 kg; and prevention of sale of
wheat in the open market by State
agencies, which is usually done
to control prices. Taken together,
these proposals constitute a frontal
assault on the right to food.
The denial of the right to food
for a large section of the Indian
population reflected in increased
malnourishment, stunted growth,
ill-health and loss of energy
and therefore productivity is an
issue that deserves more national
attention. If countries were to be
graded in terms of provision of
food security to their citizens, India
would rank along with Ethiopia at
the lower end. The United Nations
Children’s Fund (UNICEF) report
that one out of every two children
in India is malnourished confirms
the lopsided priorities of successive
governments at the centre that seek
to narrow fiscal deficits by reducing
food subsidies
The previous National
Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime
was symbolised by six crore tonnes
of foodgrains rotting in Food
Corporation of India (FCI) godowns
while people went hungry. The
United Progressive Alliance (UPA)
government’s record over the last
year has been one of gross food
mismanagement symbolised by
plummeting wheat stocks, spiralling
prices and, finally, wheat imports. A
slew of policies, followed by first
the NDA and now the UPA, have
resulted in the present state of food
insecurity at a time of acute rural
distress These policies include (1)
the nature of public distribution; (2)
the gradual decline in the role of
the government and state agencies
with regard to procurement; (3) the
lack of commitment to food self-
sufficiency expressed in policies that
encourage a switchover to export-
oriented cash crop production from
foodgrains; (4) encouragement
of forward trading in foodgrains
and pro-trader changes in the
Agricultural Produce Marketing
Act.
Targeted PDS
Until 1996, India had a universal
PDS. The United Front government
introduced the targeted system
with the mistaken notion that the
infirmities of the PDS would be
curbed and that it would enable
subsidised grain to reach those
who actually needed it. Targeting
entails an identification of the poor.
Where these numbers are small,
targeting may be a simple task.
Where these numbers are large, and
in countries such as India where
the majority of the people are in the
unorganised sector with fluctuating
incomes, targeting could become
an instrument to exclude sections
of the poor from the right to food.
Targeting is also a method linked
to neoliberal policies that seek to
limit, if not eliminate, the role of
the government and State from
its welfare responsibilities, which
36 YOJANA July 2008
include the provision of accessible
food to its people.
India now has 10 years of
experience of the targeted (into
APL and BPL households with
access to foodgrains at different
prices) and further targeted (into
BPL and Antyodaya households)
system. Last year, the Planning
Commission did an evaluation of
the PDS and found that 57% of the
poor had been actually excluded
from the BPL system. Earlier, the
Abhijit Sen Committee had also
come up with similar findings,
pointing to the utter failure of the
targeted system, and suggested a
return to the universal PDS.
A
n associated problem
with targeting is that of
identification of the poor.
If only those who are officially
Identified as ‘poor’ can have access
to food, then clearly the method has
to be one that ensures accuracy. The
prevailing method of identification
is entirely unsatisfactory. There are
two sets of estimates. The estimate
that is linked to allocations of
foodgrain is made by the Planning
Commission. According to a reply
given in parliament, the present
concept of the poverty line is based
on the per capita consumption
expenditure needed to attain a
minimum amount of calorie intake
out of food consumption along with
a minimum amount of non-food
expenditure in order to meet the
requirements of clothing, shelter and
transport, among other things. This is
based on the methodology suggested
by the Lakdawala Committee in
1993 and the population projections
of the Registrar-General of India
as of March 1, 2000. Shockingly,
according to the current assessments,
it works out to around Rs 11 an adult
a day. Clearly, this is not a poverty
line but a destitution line
Earlier, foodgrain allocations
were not linked to poverty line
assessments but were open-ended
depending on past utilisation by
the states. The linkages came
along with the targeted system.
This creates another anomaly.
The Rural Development Ministry
has a set of programmes for BPL
families. The states have to conduct
a BPL survey on the basis of the
criteria decided by this ministry
These are different from those of
the Planning Commission Thus
the state BPL census on the basis
of one set of calculations may be
entirely at variance with that of the
Planning Commission. The number
of BPL cards issued by the states
is reportedly over and above the
Planning Commission ‘quotas’ by
as much as two crore. However, the
food allocation is made not on the
poverty estimates of the states but
by those arbitrarily decided by the
Planning Commission
According to current estimates,
6 crore households in India come
under the BPL category. That
such a large number of people are
earning less than Rs 330 a month
is shocking enough. But what is
cruel is that anyone earning above
this meagre monthly income is
classified as APL and excluded
from the right to subsidised
foodgrains The very words ‘Above
Poverty Line’ is misleading because
they include a vast section of the
poor who have been denied their
entitlements through statistical
fraud and jugglery to serve a
neoliberal agenda.
The need for subsidised
foodgrains for a wider section of
people is also reflected in increased
offtake. While the offtake in the
Antyodaya system is around 90%,
showing the desperate need of
people for cheap foodgrains, the
offtake for BPL has doubled in
the past few years, from 73.67
lakh tonnes to 228.45 lakh tonnes
in 2005-06 out of an allocation of
273.20 lakh tonnes which constitutes
83% of the allocation. As far as
APL is concerned, the offtake is
much lower not because people do
not need the grain but because for
several years there was not much
difference in the APL price and
the market price. The central issue
price for wheat is Rs 7.50 a kg. For
rice the price range is from Rs 10 in
Gujarat and Maharashtra for a kg to
Rs 9 in Andhra Pradesh and West
Bengal. As current market prices of
foodgrains have shot up, the demand
for APL foodgrains will definitely
increase but the poor offtake of the
grain in the past few years is being
cited by the government to cut
allocations, precisely when people
require it more.
To illustrate, according to a
memorandum by the Fair Price
Dealers Association in West Bengal,
whereas in 2004-05 the wheat
allotment for both APL and BPL
was 2.22 lakh tonnes, it has been
slashed to 1.51 lakh tonnes in the
current year. Godowns of the FCI
in five major centres do not have
wheat stocks at all. In April 2006,
whereas the dispatch instructions
were for 59 rakes, only 15 rakes
actually arrived. Similarly, in the
SGRY the earlier component of 5
kg of wheat as part payment of a
daily wage has already been cut to
3 kg. States have complained that
wheat allotments have virtually
stopped for this programme
Since rice procurement is
reportedly up by around 28 lakh
tonnes, it is possible for the central
government to replace wheat
allocations with rice at least for
the time being in consultation with
the states. Instead of taking such a
YOJANA July 2008 37
step, the Centre is proposing a cut
in allocations
Poverty assessment
The demand for a revision
of methodologies for poverty
assessment has been raised by
several eminent Economists and
also in parliament. This is an
issue that requires the most urgent
attention. In any case, linking food
allocations with centrally pre-
decided quotas regardless of the
reality on the ground is a method
to reduce the share of the poor in
national resources. This should be
stopped and states allowed to draw
food allocations according to their
needs
S
econdly, the neglect of
foodgrain production
consequent to the new
agricultural policy’s emphasis on
export-oriented cash crops is a
major reason for current shortfalls in
wheat production. With stagnating
wheat production, the danger level
in weakening food self-sufficiency
has already been crossed with the
rate of growth of food production
falling below the rate of growth
of population. Last year, the
production of wheat reached a low
of around 68.5 million tonnes while
this year it is estimated at around 71
million tonnes. Soil exhaustion in
India’s wheat-producing states of
Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar
Pradesh may require diversification
but it will be disastrous if the
governrnent continues to encourage
diversification without a policy
of bringing alternative land under
wheat production
Procurement policy
The third Issue is that of
procurement of wheat. Wheat deficits
to the extent of 20 lakh tonnes below
the buffer stock norms leading to
imports for the first time in decades
are a result of the deliberate policy
of the government to cut down
procurement on the one hand and
encourage private trade on the other.
In 2001-02, with wheat production at
69.8 million tonnes, procurement by
state agencies was 20.6 lakh tonnes.
This year, with wheat production
estimated at 71.5 million tonnes,
procurement has plummeted to just
9.18 million tonnes. The minister’s
explanation is that since farmers
benefited from higher prices this was
not a matter for concern. In fact, state
agencies were disabled by pro-trader
changes rnade in the Agricultural
Produce Act. They could now go
straight to the farmer in the remotest
village, while the FCI can only buy
from registered markets; the private
traders no longer need a licence or a
recognised agent to buy foodgrains,
thus escaping from market fees which
the FCI has to pay, adding to its costs;
while private traders can go into
the market according to their own
assessments, the FCI is hamstrung
by bureaucratic procedures. Thus big
companies such as Cargill, Reliance,
ITC and even the Australian Wheat
Board, which has turned out to be
the company supplying the imported
wheat, went into villages in Punjab
and Haryana much before state
agencies and offered small farmers a
price slightly higher than the official
minimum support price (MSP) of
Rs 650. Only when a large part of
the produce had been cornered by
private trade, the government offered
a bonus of Rs 50.
Big farmers who could hold
on to their stocks would have
benefited from the higher prices
offered later, but the bulk of the
peasantry sold their produce to
traders at prices below the Rs 700
offered three weeks too late by the
government. If the FCI had been
given the same leeway as private
trade, then the present dismal
record of low procurement could
have been avoided. Shockingly,
the government offered the
Indian farmer almost Rs 100 less
than what it paid foreign traders
for wheat it has imported at Rs
789.20 a quintal. The cornering
of the stock by private trade has
permitted wheat hoarding, which
has pushed market prices up by Rs
5-6 a kg. Thus private trade made
a killing both ways, by buying
the bulk of wheat at prices only
slightly higher than the MSP and
by manipulating market prices to
two-thirds more than what they
spent on buying the grain from
farmers.
A dangerous argument advanced
by the minister is that the import
of wheat directly to the southern
ports actually saved the exchequer
Rs 399 crore. According to him,
the cost of distribution of wheat
procured in Punjab or Haryana to
the last centre in southern India
works out to Rs 1,120 a quintal
compared to the Rs 997 it costs
for the transport of imported
wheat. Decades of building a food
security system can be wiped out
by such neoliberal ideologies that
undermine the principle of self-
reliance. Besides, it reflects a naive
belief that international prices
will remain static whereas clearly
international traders are waiting
to maximise profits through wheat
imports at higher prices to India.
Further, a dangerous concession by
way of lowering of phytosanitary
standards in the quality of wheat is
also being planned- This must be
opposed strongly. India can spend
thousands of crores to protect itself
38 YOJANA July 2008
through nuclear might but can
render itself completely vulnerable
by losing its greatest achievement,
the backbone of sovereignty -- food
self-sufficiency.
With this approach, the situation
on the rice front could follow a
similar disastrous pattern in the
future. It also raises the question of
whether it is appropriate to combine
the Agriculture Ministry with
the Food and Public Distribution
Ministry, which has been done for
the first time in the UPA Cabinet
with Sharad Pawar holding both
portfolios. Fourthly, the FCI is
being weakened systematically.
Huge amounts, running into
thousands of crores of rupees,
are owed to the FCI on account
of foodgrains supplied by it to
different government programmes
such as the SGRY and the food-
for-work programme. But these
amounts do not appear either in
the Budget or in the accounts of the
Rural Development Ministry.
I
n answer to a pointed question in
parliament, the finance minister
replied that there was no need to
show it in the Budget as “there is a
separate accounting system with the
FCI”. Precisely because the FCl’s
role in procurement and distribution
of foodgrains is being curbed,
the ability of the government to
intervene in the market to control
prices is also reduced. In a country
where there is an uneven pattern
of foodgrain production with a
large number of states facing food
deficit, weakening the FCI means
weakening food security.
Other programmes
The employment schemes of
the government, which offer part of
the payment in foodgrains, play an
important part in the provision of
food security, though inadequate.
The move to cut back on this
component will also cut down on
the real wages of the worker. With
the current high prices of wheat
and other essential commodities,
what the worker gains in cash is
less than what he/she has to pay
for his/her foodgrain needs in the
market.
Linked to the issue of weakened
distribution and the cutting down
of allocations is the fate of the
4.83 lakh fair price shops. To use
the illustration made by Madhura
Swaminathan, there is evidence
frorn Kerala, the state with the
most effective system of rationing,
of ration shops becoming unviable.
In the early-1900s, the average
monthly sale of cereals was
7,500 kg of rice and 2,000 kg of
wheat per ration shop. By 2001,
these figures had fallen to 1,400
kg of rice and 200 kg of wheat.
Many fair price shops are now
estimated to be making losses.
According to an official estimate
by the Government of Kerala, the
gross earnings per fair price shop
fell from Rs. 3,711 before March
2000 to Rs. 1,493 in August 2001.
The situation has worsened since
then.
What needs to be done is to
improve the system – whether
of the procurement agencies, the
fair price shops or the methods of
distribution – but not to destroy
them. But that is what the Food
and Public Distribution Department
seems to be proposing. People-
centred reform requires a return to
the universal PDS. q
(This is an adapted version of
authors’ earlier article in Info-
change News & Features.)
YOJANA July 2008 39
food first
Public distribution system
and social exclusion
D
uring periods of
high inflation in food
prices, governments must
provide a basic minimum
quantity of food grain
and other food items at
low prices through public distribution
systems to low-income, food-
insecure, and vulnerable populations.
In India, the ostensible purpose of
the Targeted Public Distribution
System (TPDS) was to take food to
In striving the poor; in practice, it has resulted in
for “efficiency” the large-scale exclusion of the poor
and food-insecure from the public
by means food system.
of narrow Recent evidence from a report
titled Public Distribution System
targeting, and Other Sources of Household
Consumption 2004-5 (GOI, 2007),
households that which presents data from the 61st
Round of the National Sample
should be Survey (NSS), establishes that
entitled to targeting has led to high rates of
exclusion of needy households
basic food from the Public Distribution System
(PDS) and a clear deterioration
security through of coverage in States like Kerala
where the universal PDS was most
the PDS have effective. Let me illustrate with
been left out evidence from rural India.
The Targeted PDS was begun in
1996. In March 2000, the prices of
The author is with Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) Kolkata.
40 YOJANA July 2008
opinion
Madhura Swaminathan
grain for above-poverty-line (APL)
cardholders were hiked and the gap
between prices for below-poverty-
line (BPL) and APL households
widened. In many States, APL
prices of grain were close to market
prices and, as a result, house-
holds with APL cards stopped
buying grain from the PDS. The
Antyodaya programme introduced
a new category, the “poorest of the
poor”, for whom rice and wheat are
available at even lower prices than
for BPL house-holds. In the present
situation, a person who belongs to
a household that has neither a BPL
nor an Antyodaya card is effectively
excluded from the PDS.
The recent report of the National
Sample Survey gives us an insight
into the magnitude and nature of
this exclusion from the PDS. At
the all-India level, 70.5 per cent of
rural households either possessed
no card or held an APL card. Since
households with APL cards are
effectively excluded from the PDS,
the majority of rural households in
India are excluded from the PDS.
To take some State-level examples,
in Bihar, 82 per cent of households
held an APL card or no card; the
corresponding proportion was 87.7 per
cent in Assam, 83.5 per cent in Uttar
Pradesh, 83.2 per cent in Himachal
Pradesh, 81.5 per cent in Rajasthan,
and 74.3 per cent in Uttaranchal. In
Kerala, the State where the universal
PDS was most effective 70 per cent of
households now have been excluded
from the PDS. The magnitude of
exclusion was also high in the State
of the North East (for example, in
Nagaland, 90 per cent of households
are reported to have no ration cards)
but this may reflect poor quality data.
The only two States where a simple
majority of households were not
excluded and did possess a BPL or
Antyodaya card were Andhra Pradesh
(56.5 per cent), and Karnataka (51.7
per cent). Tamil Nadu is an honourable
exception. Although 68.9 per cent of
households have APL cards (and 11
per cent have no ration cards), there
is a uniform price and allocation for
APL and BPL cardholders. In practice,
there is a system of universal PDS in
Tamil Nadu.
The NSS Report also allows us
to classify-by caste, occupation, land
ownership and consumer expenditure
category-the households that are
excluded from the PDS.
Exclusion by occupation
First, let us consider the degree
of exclusion by occupation. The
NSS defines five types of rural
households, based on information
on sources of income: self-employed
(agriculture), self-employed (non-
agriculture), agricultural labour,
other labour and other households.
We focus on agricultural labour,
since manual agricultural labour
households are undoubtedly
among those most in need of
access to the PDS. The all India
average indicates that 52 per cent
of agricultural labour households
either had no card or an APL card.
The corresponding proportion was
YOJANA July 2008 41
96 per cent in Manipur, 68 per
cent in Rajasthan and Assam, 71
per cent in Bihar and 73 per cent
in Uttar Pradesh. Can 70 per cent
of agricultural labour households
be considered as ineligible for the
PDS? There were only four States
in which two thirds or more of
agricultural labour households were
not excluded from the PDS (that
is, held a BPL or Antyodaya ration
card). These States were Andhra
Pradesh, Karnataka, Jammu and
Kashmir and Tripura.
Social background
Secondly, we examine the
social back-ground of households,
focussing on Scheduled Caste and
Scheduled Trible households. We
have selected only those States
where the rural Scheduled Caste
population is more than 10 per
cent of the total population. In
rural areas, there is known to
be substantial degree of overlap
between the Scheduled Caste
status, landlessness and poverty.
The NSS data shows that 70 per
cent or more of Scheduled Caste
households had no card or an APL
card in the rural areas of Assam,.
Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu
and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan and
Uttar Pradesh. Among these States,
only Punjab is a cereal-surplus
State. At the all-India level, 60 per
cent of the Scheduled Caste house-
holds in rural areas were effectively
excluded from the PDS. States with
a lower degree of exclusion of
Scheduled Caste households were
Karnataka (27 per cent excluded),
Andhra Pradesh (31 per cent), and
Kerala (38 per cent).
Turning to households belonging
to the Scheduled Tribes, again, large
numbers of households do not have
access to the PDS : to illustrate, 90
per cent of rural Scheduled Tribe
households in Assam, 79 per cent in
Arunachal Pradesh and 68 per cent
in Chhattisgarh were excluded from
the PDS. Surprisingly, the North
Eastern States did not perform too
well on this count (though again
there may be a problem of data
quality). There were only four States-
Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Gujarat and
Maharashtra-where more than 50
per cent of rural Scheduled Tribe
households had received a BPL or
Antyodaya card.
Thirdly, the NSS Report has
classified households by the extent
of land they possessed. It is to be
noted that”land possessed” refers
to all types of land and includes
agricultural land, homestead land
and non-agricultural land. It is not
surprising, then, that a very small
proportion of households is reported
as landless. I have therefore grouped
together the two categories of landless
and near-landless households, and
only considered those States in which
this category comprised 20 per cent
or more of the total population.
Again, the conclusion is that a very
high proportion of landless and
nearlandless households did not
possess BPL or Antyodaya cards
(86 per cent in sikkim, 80 per cent
Goa, 79 per cent in Uttar Pradesh,
76 per cent in Haryana, 75 per cent
in Jharkhand, and 74 per cent in
Uttaranchal, for example) and were
thus effectively excluded from the
PDS.
Finally, I turn to a classification
of households on the basis of
per capita household expenditure
class. Using the official poverty
line (an all-India level of
Rs 360 per capita per month),
we classified all households with
a monthly per capita expenditure
(MPCE) less than Rs. 365 as “poor”
households.. It needs to be noted
that the official Indian poverty line
reflects absolute deprivation. Again,
I defined inclusion as obtaining a
BPL or Antyodaya card. Our results
show that a significant proportion
of households falling below the
official poverty line did not possess
a BPL or Antyodaya card. The
proportion of such households was,
to illustrate, 77.5 per cent in Bihar,
74 per cent in Uttar Pradesh, 67 per
cent in Jharkhand and 54 per cent in
Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
In all these States, even the majority
of those below the official poverty
line were excluded from the PDS.
Over 35% BPL cards issued to bogus families
T
he government has
acknowledged in the
Lok Sabha that 3.7
crore below poverty line
(BPL) card-holders or a
staggering 35% of the total
number of beneficiaries did
not exist, solidifying the
already strong evidence of
rampant misuse of the food
subsidy for purposes other
than the wellbeing of the
intended beneficiaries.
Food and agriculture
minister Sharad Pawar
confirmed, that 10.28
crore BPL cards were
issued which was way above
Planning Commission’s estimate
of there being only 6.52 crore BPL
families.
The disclosure naturally
had members expressing their
apprehension that benefits of
other central schemes might
not be reaching the intended
beneficiaries.
Various central schemes, such
as for self-employment, housing
and health insurance among
others, are made available to the
42 YOJANA July 2008
In striving for “effciency”
by means of narrow targeting
households that should be entitled
to basic food security through
the PDS have been left out. The
data from the 61st round of the
NSS make it quite clear that a
high proportion of agricultural
labour and other labour households,
of households belonging to the
Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled
Tribes, of households with little or
no land and households in the lowest
expenditure classes, are effectively
Off target : It is confirmed that 10.28 crore cards
have been issued though there are only 6.52 crore BPL families.
poor across the country based on
the BPL card. Pawar said several
state governments had initiated
action to cancel bogus cards.
As many as 13 states, including
Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat,
Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Orissa
had cancelled more than 67.45
lakh bogus ration cards since July
2006.
“Instructions have been issued
to all state and UT governments
to take action as per law against
persons found in possession of
bogus of fake ration cards and
excluded from the PDS today. The
exception is Tamil Nadu, which is
the only State to have introduced
a universal system of PDS, with
rice available at Rs. 2 a kilogram
to all house-holds irrespective of
the type of ration card. The only
immediate remedy to the problem
is to make the PDS universal
again, and to ensure that a monthly
ration of basic food commodities
including grain, pulses and oil is
available at affordable prices to all
households. q
against government staff found
responsible for issuing ration
cards to ineligible families,” the
minister said. The fresh evidence
has once again underscord the
serious problems that be-devil
the PDS. But while there are
mounds of evidence of PDS grain
being diverted to private players
and, increasingly, even being
exported, the political class scoffs
at suggestions for reforms. They
have brushed aside those who
have advocated alternatives like
food vouchers.
 Agri rebound : Grain output up 4.6%
Production surged 10 million tonnes to 227.32 million tonnes in2007-08

A
fter a near-stagnation or The production of wheat Significantly, the production of
modest growth in output currently being harvested, is now pulses is projected to have risen to
for several years, Indian projected at record 76.78 million 15.19 million tonnes registering
agriculture is reckoned officially tonnes, marginally higher than a year-on-year growth of 7 per
to have rebounded in 2007-08 with the previous peak output of 76.37 cent and touching a new high. The
foodgrain production surging by million tonnes in 1999-2000. This previous highest output for pulses
10 million tonnes, or 4.6 per cent, production was put at 74.81 million was 14.91 million tonnes in 2003-
to touch a new high of 227.32 tonnes in the estimates released in 04.
million tonnes. The grain output February last.
in 2006-07 was 217.28 million Similarly, total output of
tonnes. The production of rice, too, is oilseeds is estimated to have risen
estimated at an all-time high of to a record 28.2 million tonnes, up
The year’s grain output growth 95.68 million tonnes, clocking 2.5 about 16 per cent over previous
of 4.6 per cent is nearly four times year’s 24.29 million tonnes.
the average annual growth IIIrd advance estimates of foodgrains, The bulk of the increase
of 1.2 per cent between oilseeds & other commercial crops was accounted for by
1990 and 2007. Crop 2007-08 % groundnut, whose output
2006-07
The rebound is attributed (Advance (Final Change almost doubled in one year.
to the record output of almost Est) Est) The production of mustard,
all major crops, including Rice 95.68 93.35 2.5 however, declined 13.6 per
wheat, rice coarse cereals, Wheat 76.78 75.81 1.3 cent to 6.43 million tonnes
pulses, oilseeds and cotton. Coarse Cereals 39.67 33.92 17 form 7.44 million tonnes in
Pulses 15.19 14.20 7 the previous year.
This has been indicated
Oilseeds 28.21 24.29 16.1 Among the commercial
in the latest crop production
Sugarcane 344.23 355.52 -3.2 crops, the production of
estimates (3rd advance
estimates) for 2007-08 Cotton* 23.19 22.63 2.5 cotton is claimed to have
released by the agriculture Jute** 10.56 10.32 2.3 surged to a record 23.19
ministry recently. This *Million bales of 170 kg each **Million bales of million bales, marking an
might require an upward 180 kg each increase of 2.5 per cent
revision in the computation Other figures are in million tonnes over previous year’s 22.63
of agricultural gross million bales.
per cent growth over last year’s
domestic out-put (GDP) as well Sugarcane output is, how-
93.35 million tonnes.
as the country’s overall GDP for ever, reckoned to have declined to
2007-08. The output of coarse cereals is 344.32 million tonnes in 2007-08
reckoned at 39.67 million tonnes, a from 355.52 million tonnes in the
The earlier agricultural GDP
whopping 17 per cent higher than previous year due to reduction in
growth of 2.6 per cent for 2007-08
was based on the crop production
33.92 million tonnes in 2006-07. the area under the crop in view of
the prevailing sugar glut.
estimates of Feburary 2007 which The maize output displayed the
were relatively lower than the fastest growth of 22.8 per cent, The induction of fresh wheat seeds
revised projections released followed by bajra (14.6 per cent ) rose over 20 per cent in Rajasthan
recently. and jowar (8 per cent). and 10 times in Bihar. q

YOJANA July 2008 43

 food first
Woes and Worries of Public
Distribution System
O
n September 17
residents of village
Chandai Bagan in
Bankura district of West
Bengal raided the house
of Fazal Haque Mullick, who is the
local ration dealer. The villagers
were angry because he had stopped
distributing rice, wheat and sugar
to BPL or APL cardholders on the
pretext that Government had stopped
supplying these commodities sacks
full of grains were found in the
Elimination godown behind the main building
and looted. Realizing the mood
of private in the village last night Fazal
had fled from his house with his
retail outlets family in the early morning. This
was not single isolated incident.
from supply At least ten ration shops were
chain would attacked in the District on the
same day. Most of the dealers fled
also improve their houses. Reports of rampage,
looting and violent attacks on
the distribution ration shop owners and their family
members, panchyat members, local
system leaders, cooperative samitis and
police firing were reported. Within
few days the ration rage spread
The author is with the Project Evaluation Office of Planning Commision in Kolkata.
44 YOJANA July 2008
indepth
Manoj Kumar Mishra
in other districts like Birbhum,
Nadia, MaIda, South 24 Parganas,
Murshidabad and Burdwan of the
state. Somewhere the protesters
are APL ration cardholders who
claimed that they came to know
from the newspaper that they were
also entitled to supplies from ration
shops, which till date they had not
been receiving. In some villages,
villagers claimed that neither APL
nor BPL cardholders were receiving
the commodities through PDS.
Ration dealers pleaded that they had
not received any food grains for a
long time. The altercation, turned
violent in many places. Police had
to rush to the spots. At some places
they had to resort to lathicharge or
firing leading to injury and deaths.
In some villages to avoid the violent
mob the ration dealers assured the
cardholders to compensate in near
future. A rumor started doing round
in various villages that the villagers
would be paid an amount as they
were not getting essential items
from various fair price outlets. In
some villages people heard that
each family would get Rs. 500 and
in other it was Rs. 1000 and even
Rs. 2000. They also heard that the
money had already been sent from
the Central Government. In some
places peoples court were organized
and the dealers were dragged and
forced to commit that they would
pay suitable compensation and
penalty to the villagers within 24 or
48 hours. There were also reports of
suicide by dealers and their family
members who were unable to bear
the fine and humiliation inflicted
upon them by villagers. In his
suicide note the dealer of village
Kaithanpur, held the rationing
system responsible for his death and
requested that none of his family
should be appointed as ration dealer
after his death. In one or two places
armed group of Moist attacked
the dealer’s shops and distributed
the looted materials among the
villagers. The State Government’s
stand was that the slash in the
allocation to the state had led to the
disruption of PDS in the state.
Though one cannot validate
the nature of protest and there
are reasons to have more incisive
introspection about the emerging
crowd behavior, it is true that the
corrupt practice of large number
of ration dealers over the years
have forced the people to explode
in anger. On September 17, Times
of India quoting a statistical study
commissioned in 2005 by Ministry
of Consumer Affairs, Food and
Public Distribution reported the
Rs. 31,585.98 crore worth of wheat
and rice meant for the poor were
siphoned off from PDS in three
years. Further, as in the case of other
programmes, the implementation
of this scheme lacks information,
education, and communication
YOJANA July 2008 45
(IEC) activities which resulted in
such riots in many places or “food
revolution” as claimed by many.
India may be the second fastest
growing economy in the world,
but Global Hunger Index 2007
prepared by the International Food
Policy Research Institute shows
that India ranks 94 in a list of 118
nations and lags behind both China
and Pakistan. Hunger, however is
not a problem of lack of food. West
Bengal has the highest percentage
of households (10.6%) not getting
enough to eat during some months
of the year as per report of NSSO
survey 2004-05. In the category
of household remaining hungry
throughout the year West Bengal
and Orissa jointly occupy the
second position; each having
1.3% of starving population rural
household during all months
of the year. The reason behind
the high percentage of starving
population would apparently seem
to be lack of food availability. But
unfortunately it is not. There are
low foodgrain producing states
like Gujrat and Karnataka with
low level of starvation, there are
relatively high foodgrain producing
states like Madhya Pradesh and
Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh
with some starvation and there
are high foodgrain producing
states with almost no starvation
like Haryana and Punjab. Thus
there is not much correlation
between starvation and per capita
food grain availability. Hence the
problem is not of production but
of distribution.
The Sixth Five Year Plan
(1980-85) had, inter alia envisaged
that Public Distribution System
would “have to be developed so
that it remains hereafter a stable
and permanent feature of our
strategy to control prices, reduce
fluctuations in them and achieve
equitable distribution of essential
consumer goods.” The Targeted
Public Distribution System (TPDS)
was introduced w.e.f. June 1 1997.
TPDS envisaged that the Below
Poverty Line (BPL) population
would be identified in every state
and every BPL family would be
entitled to a certain quantity of food
grains (20 Kg. w.e.f. April 2000) at
specially subsidized prices. While
BPL population were offered food
grains at half the economic cost,
the Above Poverty Line (APL)
population, who were not to have
a fixed entitlement to food grains
were to be supplied grains at their
economic cost from the transitory
allocation i.e. quantity in excess of
BPL entitlement.
To a s s e s s i t s e ff i c i e n c y
and effectiveness in achieving
the objectives an independent
evaluation of performance
was conducted by Programme
Evaluation Organisation, Planning
Commission in 2001.
T
he study finds that about 58%
of the subsidized food grains
issued from the Central Pool
do not reach BPL families owing to
leakages and diversions. Over 36%
of the budgetary subsidies on food
are siphoned off the supply chain
and another 21 % reaches the APL
households. The PDS is supposed to
become an important instrument of
policy aimed at poverty alleviation;
the cost of income transfer to poor
through it is much higher than that
through other modes. It suggests
that for one rupee worth of income
transfer to poor the Government of
India spends Rs. 3.65 indicating that
one rupee of budgetary consumer
subsidy is worth only 27 paise
to poor. The implementation of
TPDS is plagued by targeting
error, prevalence of ghost cards and
unidentified households.
There are high exclusion errors
implying low coverage of the target
group ex- Assam (47%), Gujarat
(46%), Maharashtra (33%). It also
suffers from diversion of subsidized
grain to unintended beneficiaries
(APL households) because of Error
of Inclusion, which constitute a large
proportion ex- Tamil Nadu (50%),
Karnataka (42%), Andhra Pradesh
(36%), Kerala (21 %), Himachal
Pradesh (20%). A section of the
APL households holding BPL cards
actually do not lift their ration quota.
Thus a part of the entitlement of
the APL households holding BPL
card is actually leaked out of the
PDS supply chain. Secondly, the
Government machinery has not
done well in identifying the poor.
Planning Commission estimates
poverty by using annual household
survey data gathered by National
Sample Survey Organisation. The
poverty line defines or is supposed
to define, in rupees the minimum
amount of calories required to
sustain an individual. Those with an
income below it are labeled as poor.
The NSSO survey collects reported
household expenditure. However,
higher expenditure may not reflect
a movement out of poverty, as daily
wage earners often pay 200-300
percent more for their food items by
buying in small quantities. Besides
many households grow and consume
their own food which is difficult to
convert into expenditure value due
to price related data problems. The
findings of the study suggest that
large sections of population who
have kept out of the target group
46 YOJANA July 2008
because of their income level are
potentially food insecure household.
Similarly many poor marginal/
small farmers who produce a part
of (or full) their cereal consumption
needs and have been issued BPL
cards do not need the full quota
of subsidized grains from TPDS.
Poverty figure do not identify the
poor with social, economic and
geographical characteristics. So,
there is a need to de link BPL
identification survey from official
methodology of poverty estimates.
Poverty research must not only
know how many are poor but also
who are the poor and how to identify
them.
T
he report reveals that share
of BPL cards in the total
cards handled by an FPS
(Fair Price Shop) is much below
the share of total number of BPL
cards in the total number of ration
cards in circulation in almost all
the states implying the existence of
ghost BPL card. Moreover, owing
to irregular delivery schedule
of FPS quota and several other
reasons like irregular income,
wage payment in food grains and
low market price in harvest season
etc. many BPL families do not lift
their ration quota regularly/fully.
Thus in most states the average
off take by BPL cardholders is
less than their entitlements. Also
many APL families who have been
included in the target group do not
regularly lift ration grain in some
states because the prevailing market
price of the same quality of food
grains is less than the economic
cost. The beneficiaries of these
leakages are primarily the retail
FPS owner. To minimize leakages
and diversions of subsidized
grains there is need for bringing
down the Economic Cost of grains
through rationalization of cost
structure of handling food grains
(procurement, storage, transport
etc.) through public agencies, the
report suggests.
One of important revelation
of the report was that only about
22.7% of FPS was found to
be earning a return of 12% on
capital and financially viable. The
rest remain in business through
diversion of subsidized grain. The
Government should take measure to
make FPS financially viable which
will minimize leakage and bring
transparency.
Thus the two factors contributing
to failure of the system are
identification of BPL families and
flaws in the delivery mechanism.
The second factor is more important
and there is collusion between
the various agencies to divert a
large part of the subsidized grain
from supply chain of PDS. In this
connection it is important to see
the characteristics of the delivery
mechanism of those states that
have shown relatively low leakages
at FPS level (interestingly West
Bengal is one of them). Some
of these factors are the general
awareness level of the beneficiaries,
literacy level and existence or
otherwise of strong grass root level
organization etc. As in the case of
Tamil Nadu elimination of private
retail outlets from supply chain
would also improve the distribution
system. Further, doorstep delivery
to retail outlets authenticated by the
pros, release of ration quota to the
beneficiaries in weekly installment
and efficient monitoring system
will also improve the delivery
system. q
 Public Distribution System - A Survey
Rot in PDS: Over two crore ghost cards
1.2 Crore Poor People are Still out of food Security Cover
A
recent study has put the number
of “ghost” public distribution
system cards at a staggering 2.3
crore and, what is even more damning,
revealed that as many as 1.21 crore
“deserving” poor have been left out of
the food security umbrella.
The study, conducted by the
National Council of Applied Economic
Research (NCAER), has provided
evidence that foodgrain is being
diverted to the black market and may
even be smuggled into Bangladesh.
Various other reports, commissioned
by the Supreme Court and government,
seem to have been validated by the
recent NCAER data. The study looks
to make things a little less bleak by not
accounting for the ghost cards when
calculating the extent of diversion. But
the 2.3 crore figure cannot be wished
away. Uttar Pradesh has issued 1.11
crore more cards than it should have,
NCAER feels, Rajasthan has an excess
In some areas, PDS diversion is 100%
T
he public distribution system
is meant to provide nutritional
security to the poorest in the
country but that is exactly where it fares
the worst. In some states, the diversion
of wheat and rice from the PDS system
meant for BPL and Antyodaya Anna
Yojana category (the BPL and the
poorest even among the BPL) is an
abysmal 100%. This was revealed
in a report commissioned by the
government to ORG-Marg and which
has still not been made public.
In Arunachal Pradesh, 100% of
rice meant for the poorest lot (AAY
category) was stolen and 100% of
wheat meant for BPL was diverted.
While northeast states may have their
own peculiar reasons for such high
levels of pilferage, other states fare no
better. Even in the country’s capital,
44% of rice distributed to BPL families
in the name of the poor disappears.
In Gujarat, 41% of rice meant for the
poorest among even the BPL (AAY)
category people was diverted, the study
revealed. The diversion of wheat is as
bad. In Haryana, 80% of the total wheat
distributed to the poor was diverted to
either the non-deserving or the black
market.
YOJANA July 2008 47
24 lakh cards and Gujarat and Haryana
have more than 10 lakh ghost cards each.
A ghost card can be used either buy an
undeserving beneficiary to buy cheap
grain or just be diverted. In either case,
the purpose of PDS to provide nutritional
security to the poor is defeated.
The report found that the rich had
been given the lowest income group
ration cards—AAY cards— in 70% of
the cases in the Northeast and in 30-35%
of the cases in other states.
Proxy Claims
State Ghost cards in
Lakhs
Uttar Pradesh 111.85
Rajasthan 24.38
Gujarat 11.53
Haryana 10.22
Madhya Pradesh 12.58
Maharasthra 10.14
Grain Drain
Wheat people spread over all the states under
BPL AAY
Arunachal Pradesh 100 0
Bihar 47 39
West Bengal 83 77
Haryana 80 38
Delhi 53 38
Rice
BPL AAY
Arunachal Pradesh 78 100
West Bengal 30 67
Madhya Pradesh 40 67
Manipur 98 97
Goa 61 39
figures in %
The government, now armed with
a more recent report conducted by
Even people who got their PDS
supply of wheat and rice did not pay
the stipulated price. In the six states
the NCAER surveyed, not one in the
six months of the study’s duration did
people purchase grain at the fixed rate.
In Rajasthan, the people paid at times
35% more than the prescribed rate for
wheat, the staple diet in the state.
This is a sign of not only rampant
corruption but also puts the cheap
foodgrain out of reach of those who
need it as some people complained that
they couldn’t afford the rations even
at subsidized rates. The “premium”
introduced by unscrupulous Fair Price
Shop owners is bound to make the
really poor more vulnerable.
Of the six states surveyed, the
study found Bihar to be worst off.
Almost 90% households in case
of rice and 70% in case of wheat
complained of impurity, insect-infested
supply and broken grain. q
the National Council for Applied
Economic Research (NCAER), might
try to disown the earlier figures
but the fact is that the two studies
remain incomparable. The method
and coverage of the two reports are
so different that it renders comparison
statistically erroneous.
The ORG-Marg study conducted
in 2005 covered a sample of 25,000
a structured method as compared to
the Ncaer study which covered
6,000 households in six states. But
government officials claim that the
Org-Marg report is too outdated and
several reforms have been put in place
since the report was submitted.
An indication that the 2005 statistics
might still be close to reality, if not
totally correct, is the fact that the
report mentions that 83% of wheat
meant for BPL and 77% of that for
AAY was being diverted in West
Bengal. A recent study by Supreme
Court appointed commissioners had
found similar corrupt and politically
backed PDS system leading to food
riots in the state. q
food first
Food Security in the
Post Globalization Milieu
E
ach phase of history
is characterized by
certain distinguishing
features of its own;
some landmarks
portraying the socio-economic
conditions prevailing during
that particular phase of history.
Globalization may well be
termed as one of such events of
our times owing largely to its
The state profound impact on almost every
walk of life. Notwithstanding
can effectively the multi-faceted achievements
stimulate of globalization, there is a
widely held belief that much of
improvements these gains are yet to percolate
in market down the grassroot levels; a
vast majority of our teeming
performance and millions living in the rural areas
is yet to derive the benefits of
thereby generate the much talked-about gains of
production globalization.
incentives No doubt, India is a food
surplus economy today; a leading
nation in the production of wheat,
The author is Professor, L. N. Mithila University, Darbhanga.
48 YOJANA July 2008
View point
L P Singh
rice, vegetables, fruits and milk.
H o w e v e r, w i d e s p r e a d f o o d
insecurity prevails at individual,
household and regional levels.
According to a recent estimate,
about 32 crore people in the
country are helpless to go to
their beds daily without having
their two ends’ meal. This is
certainly a sad commentary on
our development planning. It is
against this backdrop that the
Primer Minister seems to have
announced an ambitious food
security plan : the National
Food Security Mission with a
corpus fund of Rs. 300 crores.
The Mission is essentially a
production specific venture
that aims at stepping-up of the
output of rice, wheat, pulses and
edible oils, during the 11th plan
period.
However, some very important
issues that need to be raised here
are :
l Could food security in the
country be attained with the
increasing volume of production
alone?
l Can agricultural marketing
practices in a country play
a positive role in attaining a
situation of dependable food
security?
Food security has been variously
defined in economic jargons, but the
widely accepted definition is one by
the World Bank (1986) – “access
by all people at all times to enough
food for an active healthy life.”
Likewise, Rome Summit on World
Food Security and World Food Plan
Action observed that, “food security
at the individual, household, national
and global levels exists when all
people at all times have physical
and economic access to safe and
nutritious food to meet their dietary
needs and food preferences for an
active healthy life”. In both the
definitions, emphasis has been
given on physical availability and
economic accessibility of food to
the people.
In spite of surplus production
of food and its adequate buffer
stock in the country, if people are
extremely poor they may not find
themselves in a position to access
food. There may however, be a
case where inspite of availability
of adequate food in the country and
also the needed purchasing power
with the people, access to food may
become pretty difficult due to the
defective system of food product
marketing. It is in this context that
agricultural marketing assumes a
crucial significance in attaining
YOJANA July 2008 49
a situation of sustainable food
security.
Agricultural Marketing
Agricultural marketing
practices in a country play a
pivotal role in attaining a situation
of dependable food security. This
is precisely because all the three
determinants of food security
namely; production, purchasing
power and a mechanism to make
available food to the public
at large are affected directly
or indirectly by the systems
and practices of agricultural
marketing.
A
gricultural marketing
has long been regarded
as a powerful stimuli
to the producer – sellers of
agricultural produce to step – up
production. Traditionally, it is
viewed that “if the agriculturists
do not see any easily accessible
market outlet where they can sell
their produce they will have little
incentive to regard agriculture
as a gainful occupation.”
Such a situation is bound to
demotivate them for raising
the level of their production.
On the contrary, by ensuring
a remunerative price for their
produce an effective system of
agricultural marketing attempts
to create an environment where
agriculturists are motivated most
to do their level best for raising
the production of farm outputs
and thereby contributing to the
maximum availability of food.
Looked at from the affordability
(to food) angle, viz, purchasing
power of the people, agricultural
marketing practices would be
found to be equally important.
Inspite of the remarkable impact
of globalization on the various
sectors of our economy, agriculture
still continues to be the mainstay
of roughly seventy per cent of
our population. Obviously, the
quality of agricultural marketing
system has a profound impact on
the income and purchasing power
of a vast multitude of people
residing in rural areas. The more
efficient system of agricultural
marketing, the more the income /
purchasing power of the farming
community and the vice-versa.
Access to food, the third
component of food security is also
a function of smooth availability of
food to the right persons at the right
time and right place’. In modern
jargons marketing is widely viewed
as a mechanism to pave way for
such an easy availability of goods
and services.
Role of Government
As regards agricultural marketing
system, it has been viewed as a
mechanism to enable cultivator-
sellers to get a remunerative price
for their produce, while taking due
care of consumers’ interest, more
particularly the price to be paid by
them.
H o w e v e r, i n t h e m o d e r n
globalized world, the domain of
marketing is not limited to the
these issues only. It implies many
things in addition. A system in the
current scenario implies that the
activities are linked together in
some meaningful way, that there
are interactions among them and
that inputs into the system are
associated with some kinds of
outputs.
Now the billion dollar question
is : whether the government should
play an active role in evolving an
agricultural marketing system.
In this concern, the long held
belief has been that an efficient
system of agricultural marketing
would evolve automatically out
of the free and fair play of market
forces and hence the government
should keep its hands off all such
functions. This view, however,
doesn’t find much favour in
modern times. Notwithstanding
the fact that liberalization and
privatization are the hallmark of
globalization, prevalent practices
in most part of the globe favour
active intervention of the state.
Since it is widely recognized that
farmers and industrialists must be
educated, motivated, assisted and
sometimes subsidized to encourage
the necessary innovation to
promote development, there is no
apparent reason to expect market
intermediaries to be any different.
In fact, evidence suggests that at
some stage public agency efforts
to stimulate the development of
effective internal market may
become crucial to development.
Distribution Channel
A distribution channel consists
of a set of institutions that handle a
product or a group of products from
production to consumption. The
focus is on the inter-relationships
of firms bound together, either
tightly or loosely, by a common
objective – servicing consumer
demand at a profit. At one extreme,
50 YOJANA July 2008
a completely integrated channel
would consist of a firm that
produces, processes, transports
and distributes product(s) from
the farm to the consumer. These
independent firms may be bound
together in a variety of exchange
arrangements that coordinate their
activity over a substantial period
of time.
For this to be possible, we may
adopt a three pronged strategy
viz;
(i) Help Identify Channel Captains:
What is required first is to assist
firms in commodity channels
to identify effective channel
captains or leaders by providing
incentives through government
action. Improvements, if
successfully adopted by channel
captains, will improve their
profits. These may then be
adopted by other channel
members.
(ii) P rovide appropriate social
infrastructure: It is believed
that physical facilities can
have a significant impact
on market performance in a
dynamic context. Physical
infrastructure such as; roads
and storage facilities may be
used to stimulate management
improvements, lower marketing
costs and encourage a series
of management innovations
that will continue to reduce
marketing costs. However, in
view of resource - constraint
sequencing of physical facility
projects is very important
here.
(iii) Help develop coordinated chains
of distribution at the wholesale-
retail level : Close coordination
between wholesalers and
retailers can reduce distribution
costs significantly and help
stabilize agricultural markets.
The different types of wholesale-
retail chains are: private chains,
retailers-owned cooperative
chains, voluntary chains,
consumer-owned cooperative
chains and government-owned
companies.
The distribution system is
concerned with moving a ‘package
of goods that are meaningful in
terms of the buying patterns of the
final and intermediate customers.
The institutional components
of the distribution system that
perform the marketing functions
for groups of food products
comprise the consumers, retailers
and wholesalers. It is also possible
to focus on the set of activities
performed in the production,
assembly, processing, distribution
and consumption of single product
or commodity sub-systems.
For example, grains, fruit and
vegetables, poultry and eggs, milk
and meat.
The state can effectively
stimulate improvements in market
performance and thereby generate
production incentives, productivity
improvements and dynamic growth
in the food production-distribution-
consumption system. Some mix of
public actions directed at each of the
three levels described above may
be required. Also, some optimum
sequencing of actions and some
optimum level of intensity for each
Government action may at times be
needed. q
BEST PRACTICES
Food for Human Development
E
mployment
generation
programmes in India
continue to be one of
the major interventions
aimed at alleviating
poverty in rural areas. The major
focus of these programmes has
been to provide employment
through creation of physical assets.
These programmes have however
not been able to adequately cover
women and less able-bodied men
and other vulnerable groups. A
relative imbalance in the coverage of
various vulnerable groups constrains
these groups to raise their income
The long-term levels. In turn, these groups also
find it difficult to suitably avail
objective of the opportunities for better
education and health for their
of the project is family members.
to increase World Food Programme (WFP)
initiated wide consultations with
Human multiple stakeholders beginning
2003 -04 to explore ways of
Development addressing this concern with a view
Index such as to accelerating the development of
human and social capital. It was felt
health and that employment measures focusing
on expanding the coverage to these
education groups would have multiplier
YOJANA July 2008 51
effects, both in terms of expanding
their sources of livelihoods, and
raising their educational and ‘health
status. Accordingly, there was a need
to increase investment in human
and social capital that is essential
for sustainable development for
the community, and, to narrow
the gender disparities among the
participants of various poverty
alleviation, employment generation
and food assistance programmes.
It emerged during the series of
consultations organised by WFP
that food resources could be used
as an instrument to expand the
coverage of poverty alleviation
and/or employment generation
programmes to include women
and other vulnerable groups by
encouraging them to contribute
to the development of human and
social capital. Food for Human
Development (FFHD) project
is an thus outcome of the above
realisation and efforts. The project
is using food as a resource to support
human and social capital building
over a three-year period. The long-
term objective of the project is
to increase Human Development
Index such as health and education

by strengthening and linking local
institutions.
FFHD: a pilot initiative
The present project is being
implemented as a pilot initiative in
selected 30 villages in each of the
three districts, namely Banswara
in Rajasthan, Koraput in Orissa &
Surguja in Chhattisgarh.
Target area
Thirty villages each in the
districts of Koraput (Orissa),
Banswara (Rajasthan) and Surguja
(Chhattisgarh) were been selected
for implementing the project.
The districts were been selected
on account of their backwardness
and are listed among the 100 most
backward districts of the country by
the Planning Commission of India.
Target group
l The baseline survey in all the
project villages helped in the
identification of number ofWSHGs
to be formed/strengthened as part
of the project.
l Number of women that are being
reached through the project:
8,000
52 YOJANA July 2008
l Estimated population
that is being reached
through the project:
40,000 (assuming an
average family size of 5)
Key Project Activities
Conducting baseline
study in project
villages
l G e t t i n g
information on critical
indicators related to
human development
and other aspects
l Identification of
community needs
l Identification of
activities of WSHGs
l Preparing village-wise action
plan
Capacity Building (including
refresher training)
l Training of District/block level
officers and partner NGOs on
Project Management, process
documentation
State TOTAL WSHGs
Chhattisgarh 150
Orissa 161
Rajasthan 285
ALL 596
l Specific training for the project
staff of the partner NGOs
on Participatory Learning
Approaches (PLA) and methods
of social mobilisation
l Tr a i n i n g o f m e m b e r s o f
WSHGs on awareness creation,
entitlements and rights, food
handling etc.
Types of work where participants
are being engaged
l Extending Support to Integrated
Child Development Service
(ICDS) - through expanding
the outreach and increasing
the coverage of intended
beneficiaries (pregnant and
nursing mothers; immunisation
of children in the 3-6 years
age group and the improving
efficiency in delivery of
supplementary nutrition and
immunisation of children in the
0-3 years age groups).
l Extending support to Schools
- WSHGs’ members are being
engaged (on a rotational
basis) to ensure regularity of
children in primary schools,
monitor and/or help in the
distribution of MDM and mid-
morning snacks (wherever
applicable).
l Extending support to Health
Sub-Centre - WSHGs have been
engaged to support the activities
that are required to strengthen
primary health activities.
l Managing Grain Banks -
WSHGs have been trained in
some project villages to run
grain banks in the community
level.
l Other Activities - maintaining
sanitation facilities (water and
toilet), running of child care
centres, etc.
Progress so far
Capacity Building
l Initially WSHG members have
been provided detailed training
on the above themes. The first
round of training has been
completed in all the 90 project
villages.
l By engaging women in supporting
government’s schemes related to
health, nutrition, and education,
women are being empowered to
 gain ownership of the existing
schemes in the community.
Food Distribution
l Food is being distributed as
compensation for participation
in training programmes and
work done by the participants
in the various FFHD activities
in the village. The village
community, WSHGs, partner
NGOs have jointly decided
the compensation criteria
for various activities to be
undertaken as part of this
initiative.
l The total foodgrain quantity
planned for distribution through
the project intervention is 5775
MT. Food distribution has
begun in all the project villages.
Nearly 1000 MT of foodgrains
(rice/wheat) has already been
released for distribution to the
beneficiaries.
Project Coordination
l At the district level a Project
Coordination Committee (PCC)
has been set up, under the
chairmanship of the District
C o l l e c t o r. D e p a r t m e n t a l
heads of line departments are
members of the PCC. The
implementing NGO and the
state representative of WFP are
also part of this committee.
Change at the ground level
l The discussion with the WSHG
members and other community
members in these villages during
the monitoring visits shows that
the people are keen to make the
best out of the Opportunity and
improve the unfinished tasks
of engineering an accelerated
improvement in the levels of
human development in their
respective villages.
l People in the villages have
shown an increased awareness
YOJANA July 2008 53
on education and sanitation in
the village.
l In such places where the AWCs
are not available, the WSHGs
have begun providing similar
services to children in these
areas
l WSHG members have now
begun to ensure that all
school going children and
those registered at AWCs are
regularly attending. This is
done after a daily checking of
the attendance registers at the
school/AWC in the morning
and then in case of children
reported as absent, the WSHG
members go to houses of these
children and motivate their
parents to send the children to
school.
l WSHG members have begun
to monitor the distribution
of biscuits (as part of FFE
programme of WFP) in the
tribal schools.
l The frequency of visits of the
ANMs to the villages is also
beginning to increase, though
much more effort will have to
be done on this front to ensure
full coverage of all eligible
children for immunisation.
Interestingly, the FFHD project
is beginning to create a “ripple
effect” in the neighbouring
villages of the project villages,
whereby these villages have
started exploring for ways and
means for improving human
development in their villages
as well.
Sustainability Plan
l A sustainability plan has been
worked out and efforts have been
initiated to enable the project to
draw synergies with ongoing
government programmes.
l During the launch workshops
held in each district,
the respective District
Administration has assured
all support. Key linkages are
being established with line
departments (ICDS, Health,
Sanitation and Forest); Regular
meetings are now held by
BDOs on a monthly basis to
review the project progress
l As regards the capacity building
programmes for women SHGs,
efforts are being made to draw
upon the resources of WCD
department to sustain the repeat
training requirements and also
expand to new villages, once
the project period is over.
l Similarly, for providing physical
infrastructure such as toilets,
kitchen sheds in the schools,
linkages are being explored
with the available funds with
the Rural Development &
Panchayati Raj departments.
l To cater to the funds required
for maintaining community
level sanitation, efforts are
being made to link the specific
component of the project with
the Total Sanitation Campaign
of the Public Health &
Engineering Department.
l Possible linkages being explored
within the existing provisions
of the National Rural Health
Mission of Government of India
for training of ASHA trainers,
assistance in development
of village health plan,
mobilisation of village level
funds for strengthening sub-
centers/strengthening disease
surveillance system at village
level. q
Food first opinion

Child Malnutrition and ICDS

Dipa Sinha

P
roper nutrition, children 1-3 years old and about
care and development 700 calorie among those 3-6 years
during the early childhood old. Therefore there is clearly a
years lay the foundation for gap in access to food (quality and
a healthy and productive quantity) and health services for
life. India is performing children.
poorly by most indices of well-
While malnutrition is related
being of children under six. The
to poverty, gender relations,
results of the recent National Family
agrarian policy and so on, direct
Health Survey (NFHS) show that
programmes to address nutrition
not only is the nutrition and
and health of children are also
health status of children in the country
required. The Integrated Child
poor, but also they are showing very
Development Services (ICDS)
slow signs of improvement (Table
is one such programme that
1). For instance, 46% of children
aims to address these gaps by
under three are underweight which
providing comprehensive services
is an improvement of only one
to address the health, nutrition and
percentage point compared to
To make NFHS-2 which was carried out
development needs of children under
six. ICDS works through a network
eight years back. The percent
all this of children under three who are
of anganwadi centres (AWC) that
are run by anganwadi workers
happen anaemic has actually increased from
74.2% to 79.2% and immunisation
(AWW) and helpers (AWH) who,
among other things, are supposed
children must coverage has decreased slightly
to provide supplementary nutrition,
from 26.9% to 26.2%. Looking
truly become at the results of a recent survey by
nutrition and health education and
pre-school education. With the
the National Nutrition Monitoring
a priority in Bureau (NNMB) it is seen that
poor improvements in health and
nutrition of children in the country,
policy making even today there is a deficit of
over 500 calories in the intakes of
there is a lot of discussion on the

The author is with Commissioners to Supreme Court in the Right to Foodcase.

54 YOJANA July 2008

role of the ICDS programme.
However, any attempt to evaluate
the ICDS on the basis of the impact
it has made on child nutrition must
consider the fact that this scheme
has never been given an opportunity
to perform and show results. The
following are some of the issues
facing ICDS which need to be
addressed:
l Low coverage: While almost
half the children in the country
are malnourished, the coverage of
children under the ICDS is very
low. Recent Supreme Court orders
direct that every habitation must
be covered by an anganwadi centre
and that every child under six,
every pregnant and lactating mother
and every adolescent girl must be
provided all services of the ICDS.
Following this, there has been an
increase in the number of anganwadi
centres in the country from around
6 lakh to about 10 lakh centres. The
Supreme Court has ordered that to
achieve universalisation at least 14
lakh anganwadi centres must be set
up across the country. The number
of beneficiaries has also been
steadily rising but the coverage still
continues to be very low. According
to NFHS-3, while 81.1% children
under age six living in enumeration
areas are covered by an AWC, only
28.4% of them received any service
from the AWC in the past one year.
Only 32.9% of children living in
areas covered by an anganwadi
received any service from the AWC
in the past one year. Only 26.3%
of children under six received any
food supplements in the 12 months
preceding the survey. The coverage
of other services such as pre-school
education, growth monitoring was
also very low. (See Table 2)
l Low on Human Resources:
According to official statistics
YOJANA July 2008 55
there are on an average about 94 average number of children availing
beneficiaries (women and children) pre school education, per AWC,
of the supplementary nutrition is about 37). For the anganwadi
programme per AWC (Critical worker to be able to provide enough
Statistics of ICDS Scheme as on attention to all the different groups of
March 31st, 2007 available at wcd. beneficiaries (children under three,
nic.in). This is too high a number children in the 3 to 6 age group,
to be handled by one anganwadi pregnant and lactating mothers
worker especially because the and adolescent girls) it is essential
number of tasks to be performed by to have at least two anganwadi
an anganwadi worker are also many. workers (other than the helper) per
She is responsible for managing the centre, as has been recommended
supplementary nutrition programme by many. Moreover the conditions
and also has to provide health and of work of the anganwadi worker
nutrition counselling for families in terms of salary, training, support
of children under three years of age and monitoring also needs to be
and pregnant and lactating mothers, improved.
Table 1: Some indicators of status of children under six
NFHS 2 NFHS 3
Infant Mortality Rate 68 57
Children under three years who are wasted (%) 45.9 47.0
Children under three years who are underweight (%) 42.0 43.5
% of children 12-23 months who received all 26.9 26.2
recommended vaccines
Children with diarrhoea in the last two weeks who 15.5 19.1
received ORS (%)
Children age 0-5 months exclusively breastfed (%) 46.3
Children age 6 – 35 months who are anaemic 74.2 79.2
Source: National Family Health Survey (NFHS 3) 2005-06: National Fact
Sheet India
Table 2: Utilisation of ICDS services
(in the 12 months preceding the survey)
Received food 26.3
supplements
Received immunizations 20
Percentage of children
Received health check-ups 15.8
under age six who:
Went for early childhood 22.8
care/pre-school
Were weighed 18.2
Source: NFHS-3
which is mainly a community based Further, for the anganwadi
activity. On the other hand the worker to function effectively,
anganwadi worker is also responsible she needs proper support and
for providing pre school education guidance from the supervisors and
for the 3 to 6 year olds, which is the CDPOs. While the roles of the
mainly a centre based activity (the supervisors and CDPOs need to be
properly defined, it is also important
that there are a sufficient number of
them. As of last year, 43.3% of
sanctioned supervisor posts and
34.3% of sanctioned CDPO posts
were vacant.
l Poor infrastructure: The
physical infrastructure of AWCs
such as the buildings they are located
in, availability of toilet and drinking
water facilites, weighing scales,
medicine kits, pre-school education
material etc. the anganwadi centres
in the country are very poorly
equipped. For instance, according
to recent evaluation by NIPCCD
(2005-06), about 25% anganwadi
centres were running in kutcha
buildings, huts or open spaces.
Overall about 49% of the anganwadis
had inadequate space for outdoor
and indoor activities and 50% had
no separate space for storage. In
44% of the AWCs, pre-school kits
were not available. However, more
than 90% of them had weighing
scales. Further, the survey data of a
rapid survey conducted by NCAER
in 2004 reveals that more than
45 per cent anganwadis have no
toilet facility and only 39 per cent
anganwadis reported availability of
handpumps.
l Low budgets: While the
anganwadi workers are paid very
less, the amount allocated for rent
or supplementary nutrition is also
quite low. The current norm for
supplementary nutrition which is
Rs. 2 per beneficiary per day, (this
amount was even lower and was
increased by double in 2006), is even
lower than the allocation for mid
day meal in schools (which is Rs.
2 + 100gms of foodgrain). This has
resulted in poor quality of SNP, while
what is needed is nutritious, locally
procured and culturally appropriate
food that children will appreciate and
56 YOJANA July 2008
eat. In this there is much to be learnt
from the experience of mid day meals
of the benefits of providing a freshly
cooked hot meal.
The amount being spent on the
ICDS, while it has been increasing
in the last couple of years, has
been very low. The allocation of
the Government of India in 2006-
07 for ICDS was around Rs. 5000
crores, while during the same
year almost Rs.10,000 crores was
allocated for the National Highway
Development Project and about
Rs. 90,000 crores was the defence
budget (indiabudget.nic.in) The
share of child development (which
includes ICDS and the crèche
scheme) budget and child health
budget in total union budget is
as low as 1.3% while children
under six form about 15% of the
population. (Haq, 2007)
l Low priority: Children’s issues,
especially the issue of early childhood
care and development, receive very
little attention in the newspapers,
political debates or the parliament.
It is not the priority of any political
party or government. For instance,
according to a recent analysis of
parliamentary proceedings by HAQ:
Centre for Child Rights, only three
per cent of the questions raised in
Parliament during the last four years
related to children. Further, among
the child-related questions, less
than 5 per cent were concerned with
childcare and development in the age
group of 0-6 years. However, with the
repeated orders from the Supreme
Court on the issue, increased civil
society action, availability of updated
information on the lack of progress
on improving nutrition etc. has
brought some focus onto children
under six. The National Common
Minimum programme makes a
commitment for universalisation with
quality of the ICDS and the 11th plan
approach paper states, “Development
of children is at the centre of the 11th
Plan. We are committed to ensure
that our children do not lose their
childhood because of work, disease
or despair. We aim to give the right
start to children from 0-6 years with
effective implementation of the ICDS
programme.”
ICDS CAN WORK
The purpose of listing these
shortcomings in the ICDS
programmes is not to say that the
programme is not worth investing
in; rather that a lot more resources
and energy need to be pumped
into it. As seen, the failure of the
ICDS is not only a result of poor
implementation, corruption and
low motivation of anganwadi
workers but also systemic issues
of low budgets, design flaws and
low priority. There are examples
from within our country, where
state-led initiatives have indeed
resulted in an improved and well
performing ICDS. To list a few one
can think of the Tamil Nadu model
of ICDS which includes additional
staffing, better quality and cooked
food, longer working hours and
better infrastructure (A. Rajivan,
2006),the Mitanin programme of
Chhattisgarh where community
health workers have been appointed,
who play the role of increasing
awareness and community
mobilisation and the Malnutrition
Mission in Maharashtra which
is working towards increasing
community participation, greater
convergence between ICDS and
health department and intense
follow up severely malnourished
children. There are also examples
of other efforts such as that of the
M.V.Foundation in Andhra Pradesh
and the Adivasi Adhikar Manch in
Chhattisgarh which have shown ways of improving the
ICDS and increasing accountability in the programme
through community mobilisation.
THE WAY FORWARD
Based on these various experiences, the following
are some of the steps that need to be taken for
improving the ICDS towards decreasing malnutrition
and protecting the rights of children under six:
l Universalisation: ICDS should be universalised to
cover every habitation and every child under six.
Based on Supreme Court orders this means that
at least 14 lakh anganwadi centres are set up in
the country. Further, as stipulated by the Supreme
Court order any community where there are 40 or
more children under six and there is a demand for
an anganwadi, such a centre should be set up in no
more than three months.
l Focus on under threes and improved pre-school:
In order to pay adequate attention to children
under three while not compromising on pre
school education for the three to sixes, at least two
anganwadi workers and a helper must be appointed
in each anganwadi centre.
l Supplementary nutrition programme: The SNP
needs great improvements in quality so that the
food provided is nutritious, tasty and culturally
appropriate. Hot cooked meals should be provided
in the ICDS centre as this will not only contribute to
nutrition but improve attendance at the anganwadi
and decrease avenues for corruption when
compared to centralised systems of procurement.
l Improved working conditions: The conditions of
work for the anganwadi worker must be improved
by providing better wages, infrastructure and
training. A supportive and effective supervisory
mechanism must also be put in place.
While such ‘universalisation with quality’ of the
ICDS can go a long way in improving the nutrition
status of children, certain complementary strategies
such as crèches and maternity entitlements are also
required to provide support for working mothers during
breastfeeding and even later for provision of early child
care and education. To make all this happen children
must truly become a priority in policy making, with
adequate political will and budgetary support backing
programmes for children. q
(Email:dipasinha@gmailcom)

YOJANA July 2008 57

food first
Need for Research
W
ith food prices
soaring throughout
Asia, Africa and
Latin America, and
shortages threatening
hunger and political
chaos, the time could not be worse
for an epidemic of stem rust in the
world’s wheat crops. Yet millions
of wheat farmers small and large,
face this spreading and deadly crop
infection.
The looming catastrophe can
be avoided if the world’s wheat
scientists pull together to develop
a new generation of stem-rust-
resistant varieties of wheat. But
scientists must quickly turn their
Stem rust attention to replacing almost all
of the commercial wheat grown in
that affects the world today. This will require
a commitment from many nations,
wheat crop can especially the United States, which
has lately neglected its role as a
reduce global leader in agricultural science.
wheat production Stem rust, the most feared of all
wheat diseases, can turn a healthy
by 60 m tonnes crop of wheat into a tangled mass
of stems that produce little or no
grain. The fungus spores travel
in the wind, causing the infection
to spread quickly. It has caused
major famines since the beginning
of history. In North America, huge
grain losses occurred in 1903 and
from 1950 to ‘54.
The author is a world renowned Agriculture Economist and a Nobel laureate.
58 YOJANA July 2008
analysis
Norman E Borlaug
During the 1950s, scientists,
first in North America and later
throughout the world, developed
high-yiedling wheat varieties that
were resistant to stem rust and
other diseases. These improved
seeds not only enabled farmers
around the world to hold stem rust
at bay for more than 50 years but
also allowed for greater and more
dependable yields. Indeed, with this
work, global food supplies rapidly
increased and prices dropped.
From 1965 to 1985, the heydays
of the green revolution, world
production of cereal grains-wheat,
rice, corn, barley and sorghum-
nearly doubled, from 1 billion
to 1.8 billion metric tonnes, and
cereal prices dropped by 40 per
cent. Today, wheat provides about
20 per cent of the food calories
for the world’s people. The world
wheat harvest now stands at about
600 million metric tonnes.
In the last decade, global
wheat production has not kept
pace with rising population, or
the increasing per capita demand
for wheat products in newly
industrialising countries. At the
same time international support
for wheat research has declined
significantly. And as a consequence,
in 2007-08, world wheat stocks (as
a percentage of demand) droppped
to their lowest level since 1947-48.
And prices have steadily climbed to
the highest level in 25 years.
The new strains of stem rust,
called ug99 because they were
discovered in Uganda in 1999,
are much more dangerous than
those that, 50 years ago destroyed
as much as 20 per cent of the
American wheat crop. Today’s
lush, high-yielding wheat fields
on vast irrigated tracts are ideal
environments for the fungus to
multiply, so the potential for crop
loss is greater than ever.
If publicly financed international
researchers move together
aggressively and systematically,
high yielding replacement wheat
varieties can be developed and
made available to farmers before
stem rust disease becomes a global
epidemic.
The Bush administration was
initially quick to grasp Ug 99’s threat
to American wheat production. In
2005, Mike Johanns, then secretary
of agriculture, instructed the federal
agriculture research service to
take the lead in developing an
international strategy to deal with
stem rust. In 2006, the Agency
for International Development
mobilised emergency financing to
help African and Asian countries
accelerate needed wheat research.
B u t m o r e r e c e n t l y, t h e
administration has begun reversing
direction. The State Department is
recommending ending American
support for the international
agricultural research centers that
helped start the green revolution,
including all money for wheat
research. And significant financial
cuts have been proposed for important
research centers, including the
Department of Agriculture’s essential
rust research laboratory in St Paul.
This shocking short-sightedness
goes against the interests not only
of American wheat farmers and
consumers but of all humanity. It
is tantamount to the United States
abandoning its pledge to help halve
world hunger by 2015.
If millions of small-scale farmers
see their wheat crops wiped out
for want of new disease-resistant
varieties, the problem will not be
confined to any one country. Rust
spores move long distances in the
jet streams and know no political
boundaries. Widespread failures
in global wheat production will
push the prices of all foods higher,
causing new misery for the world’s
poor.
Ug99 could reduce world wheat
production by 60 million tons.
But a global crop failure of this
magnitude can be avoided. Before
it is too late, America must rebuild,
not destroy, the collaborative
systems of international
agricultural research that were
so effective in starting the Green
Revolution. q
- The New York Times

Yojana August ‘08

Special Issue
on
NREGS
T
he National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme launched two years back has the potential to
revive India’s rural economy through employment generation. The Government has extended it to
the entire country from April this year.
Yojana, Special Issue August 2008 will focus on NREGS in different States. These include Rajasthan,
Orissa, Jharkhand, etc. It will also look at the role of social audits in improving the efficiency of delivery
of social services.
The Special Issue will include write-ups by Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, Union Minister for Rural
Development. It will provide feedback on the implementation of NREGS based on extensive field work
done by Prof. Jean Dreze, Gopinath Ghosh, Ritika Khera, Anish Vanaik and others.
Price of the Special Issue is Rs.20.

YOJANA July 2008 59

 food first
Role of Women
W
omen are t h e
principal food
producers and preparers
for the family. They
play a key role in food
and nutrition security at family level,
community level and national level.
Women constitute nearly half of the
human resource in the country of
which 77% belong to rural areas with
agriculture as the minor occupation.
In fact, there is hardly any activity
in which women are not activity
involved. Their busy schedule is
It is high time we enough to make a honeybee buzz
should try genuinely with wonder.
Agriculture in developing
to make the countries heavily depend on
invisible actions manual labour and the major
contribution is from women.
visible, otherwise Mostly in rice cultivation, there
is heavy dependence on women.
the very purpose Women have been putting in more
that women labour not only in terms of physical
output but also in terms of quality
feed the world and efficiency. Women can play
a significant role in improving
will be defeated the production efficiency and
The authors are with Krishi Vigyan Kendra, OUAT, Bhubaneswar, Orissa.
60 YOJANA July 2008
View Point
Sumita Acharya
Hrusikesh Patro
Ranjan Kumar Tarai
profitability. Hence special efforts
should be made to recognize the
role and potential of women in food
security.
There are several ways to
improve the capacity of women in
agriculture and agribusiness.
l Their skills can be upgraded
to reduce their physical strain,
labour time and improve the
quality of work.
l Women can be involved in
special production activities,
which require tender care and
continuous attention.
l Adequate post-production
activities to avoid wastage, add,
value to produce and reduce the
marketing cost.
The employment of women in
the unorganized sector is divided
into nine sectors viz. agriculture,
dairy, animal husbandry, fisheries,
social and agro-forestry, khadi
and village industry, handlooms,
handicrafts and sericulture. Many
enterprise have shifted from the
organized to the unorganized
sector. Among these industries are
coir, cashew, bidi, jute, brick etc,
with enormous market potential.
Employment for women is essential
not only to increase their status but
also to supplement their family
income.
In agriculture women work
for long hours, doing heavy,
monotonous work, coming in
close contact with water, soil and
the elements, but are paid low
wages. Women also collect water,
fuel, fodder and forest products
and are involved in both livelihood
and home maintenance. They take
part in most farm field operations,
plantation activities, livestock
management, fisheries, sericulture,
beekeeping mushroom cultivation,
forestry and so forth.
Women constitute a major
percentage of agricultural work
force. They have inaccessibility to
modern technology, credit training
and other facilities available to male
workers and farmers. Other than
crop enterprises, they are involved
in animal husbandry including
dairying, poultry, piggery, goatary,
duckery, sheep rearing, rabbit
keeping, quail keeping, fishery
enterprises or other agribusiness,
viz. sericulture, apiculture etc. The
significant involvement of women
in protection of farm products and
by-products from insects, mites,
molds, rodents, heat, spillage etc.
at the post-harvest stage is also
important. They perform all kinds
of activities, ranging from cleaning
and drying all kinds of activities,
ranging from cleaning and drying
of the grains, making of storage
structures, maintenance of hygienic
conditions at the storage site,
YOJANA July 2008 61
application of conventional and
non-conventional grain protectants,
etc. to overcome the losses from
stored grain pests. The integrated
pest management seeks to empower
farm women to become managers
and decision makers, so that they can
handle the management practices of
the pests and diseases for maximum
profits while optimizing inputs
and resources. Therefore, training
farm women for knowledge and
skill acquisition in the mentioned
areas is the basic necessity for
sustainability of IPM in the fields.
A
s women are regular to
attend to their farm duties,
they can maintain a close
supervision on to their flowering
plants, fruits and vegetable crops
and maximize the production
and profitability. Activities like
establishment of kitchen gardens,
production of oestrus mushroom
using agricultural wastes, production
of grafted and budded plants raising
of plants in the nursery, establishment
of flowering plants, vegetable and
fruit orchards can be handled by
women groups. As women can
grow them with tender care, the
quality of these products can be of
high standard to fetch better value
collection of minor forest produce,
particularly ,oil seeds like neem,
pongamia, mahuva is another area
where women can play a significant
role.
Food processing is another area
which helps in reducing wastage
and adds value to the produce.
Small scale food processing is a
popular activity very well accepted
by rural women. Such small scale
processing can bring down the
cost and the benefits can be shared
by consumers and producers.
The women participating in food
production can be assured of food
security for their family as well,
while generating gainful self-
employment to come out of poverty.
Active involvement of women in
food production will also lead to
sustainable agriculture and ensure
food security in the country.
Rural women play an important
role by bring up their children as the
men are busy in outdoor activities
and field work most of the time.
Mothers are the best teachers and
managers in the family. But rural
women have remained relatively
backward in comparison to their
urban counterparts due to many
reasons like illiteracy, superstitions,
ignorance, serial evils, traditional
values and male dominance in
decision making. So education
can play a major role in raising the
status of women and significantly
improving household health and
nutrition, reducing infant and
child mortality and reinforcing
environmental conservation. If
we are honestly interested in
uplifting the status of women,
we have to recognize and value
fully the contributions of women
to food security. In addition work
in the house hold should not be
considered always as a part of
women’s duties as wife and mother,
it should rather be taken as a paid
occupation for, in both the house
hold and national economy. In fact
we are taking un due advantage of
women’s endurance and patience
by not bringing them equal to men
in wage and social status. It is high
time when all men and women of
good will should try genuinely to
make the invisible actors visible,
otherwise the very purpose of the
slogan ‘women feed the world’ will
be defeated. q
 J&K Window
Srinagar rocks to Pakistani band Junoon’s music
Thousands turn up for the mega concert

For Peace : Salman Ahmad, lead singer of Pakistani rock band Junoon, enthrals the audience in Srinagar

D
espite threats from militant
organisations, thousands of
Kashmiris, mostly youth,
turned up recently for a musical
concert organised by the South Asia
Foundation (SAF) in Srinagar.
The star attraction was the
Pakistani rock band Junoon, which
performed in Srinagar for the first
time and turned thousands of music
lovers hysterical.
The event was to mark the
opening of the Institute of
Kashmir Studies at the Kashmir
University funded by the
Foundation. It was aimed at
spreading the message of peace,
love and harmony. q

Rs. 1,600-crore Package for J&K Refugees

Manmohan says more steps will be taken to improve ties with Pakistan

P
rime Minister
Manmohan Singh
has announced a
Rs. 1,600-crore economic
package for refugees in
Jammu and Kashmir and
offered sops for migrants
willing to return to the
State.
Dr. Singh has said more
steps would be taken to
improve relations so that
the neighbours could live in
a relationship of permanent
friendship.
Reaching Out : The country’s longest cantilever
bridge over the Chenab in Akhnoor, which
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inaugurated
on 25th April. It connects Rajouri and
Poonch districts with the rest of the country.
During his recent visit to
J&K, he sent a clear message
to Pakistan that his government
was committed to improving
relations with that country and
the peace process would continue
with the new democratic regime
there.
Earlier, Dr. Singh, inaugurated
the country’s longest cantilever
bridge over the Chenab which
connects Rajouri and Poonch
districts with the rest of the
country. q

62 YOJANA July 2008

 J&K schoolgirls set the Football rolling

I
T’S not a sight that has been
seen in Srinagar before - a
group of 45 schoolgirls, some
even attired in hijabs, sweating
it out on a football field,
dribbling and jostling past
each other to safely net
the ball into the goal-post.
Their dream: to represent
the state in the Under-
19 category football
tournament at the national
level.
The competition is
already intense. Of the
45 girls, who represent
different schools, only 18 players
will be picked to participate in
the inter-district tournament to be
held at Kargil in June. The state
team will then be selected, and
the next step will be the national
level Under-19 championships
scheduled later in the year.
For the time being, however,
the girls are enjoying their time
under the hot May sun at the
coaching camp organised by the
Department of Youth Services and
Sports.
Hina Rukhsar, a class XII student
from Amirakadal Higher Secondary
School includes David Beckham,
Brazilian strikers Ronaldo and
Ronaldino as her role models. “I
have seen them playing and I want
to emulate them,” says Rukhsar.
“It is a stamina game and one
has to be tough, both physically
yojana website
and mentally, to match the male
stamina,” says Coach Mustaq
Ahmed Dar, 35. And he feels that
Rukhsar has what it takes. “She
is mentally tough and
has good stamina. She’ll
make a great striker.”
Dar’s task is made
easier by the fact that all
the girls are enthusiastic
and genuinely
interested. “They are
eager to learn,” he says,
adding that this is the
first camp of its kind
that the Department of
Youth Services and Sports has
ever conducted here.
Earlier, girls from the Valley
were given opportunities to
participate in cricket, hockey,
basketball, volley-ball, kho-kho
and other games, but they’ve
never been taught how to bend
it before, since football is
essentially a male bastion.

Y
ojana, a flagship magazine of economic and planned development having a circulation of 1.30 lakhs copies
started its publication from 26th January 1957 at the initiation of the then Prime Minister Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru.
It is being published by Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt. of India.
Yojana is the only journal being published simultaneously in 13 Indian languages which caters to the needs of
society especially youth, students and teachers, Professors of economics and social sciences. It provides in-depth
study material on contemporary economic and social issues before the country.
In its 52nd year of publication , Yojana is turning high tech with its own website www.yojana.gov.in which was
launched by the Secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting Smt. Asha Swarup. Now onwards, synopsis of
all the current issues of Yojana group of journals will be available on the aforesaid website with an archive of six
months, benefitting lakhs of readers including students appearing both for Central and State level civil services,
banking and insurance services, other competitive exams, research scholars as well as teachers and researchers
of economics, commerce and management etc.

YOJANA July 2008 63

 News News nEWS nEWS
T
he government has
announced a steep hike in
fuel prices. It increased the
price of petrol by Rs. 5, diesel by
Rs 3 and LPG by Rs 10 a cylinder,
Will benefit more farmers: Chidambaram
T
he United Progressive
Alliance government
increased its loan waiver
package by nearly 20 per cent to
Rs. 71,680 crore to provide relief
to ‘big’ farmers, bringing them
under the purview of the debt
write-off scheme as proposed in
the 2008-09 budget.
As per the expanded and
modified scheme approved by
the Cabinet, in keeping with
demands from various quarters
all farmers-small, marginal
and big-in 237 identified dry,
unirrigated and droughtprone
districts in various States will
get a minimum one-time debt
relief of 25 per cent of their
outstanding loan amount or Rs.
20,000 whichever is higher.
Finance Minister
P. Chidambaram has made it clear
n Proposal to have more than
100 additional posts of the
rank of major-general and
lieutenant-general
n 118 posts of Armed Forces
Medical Services to be upgraded
64 YOJANA July 2008
In the News
but did not touch kerosene.
The Prime Minister,
Mr Manmohan Singh defended
the increase in the prices and
Rs. 71,680-cr. loan waiver
that the loans of small and marginal
farmers would be completely waived,
whether they were in the identified
districts or other regions. In view of
the inclusion of big farmers in dry
land areas holding larger acreage,
the scheme would benefit more than
four crore small,marginal and other
large farmers and cost the exchequer
Rs. 71,680 crore as per fresh
estimates (unaudited), up
from the original estimate of
Rs. 60,000 crore, Mr. Chidambaram
said.
“Small and marginal farmers
will get full debt waiver, while 60-
65 per cent of large farmers also
get full debt waiver. This is why the
cost of the scheme has increased.”
The number of small and
marginal farmers expected to
benefit from the enlarged scheme
Cabinet Decisions
n Rs 330-crore relief package for
victims of post-Godhra riots
announced
n Rs 9,396-crore project ot build
67,000 houses for armed forces
personnel by March 2012 cleared
has said that the step, though
unpopular was “inevitable” to
ensure uninterrupted supply of
petroleum products.
stood revised to 3.69 crore against
the earlier estimate of three crore,
while the number of other farmers
was scaled down to 59.75 lakh
from one crore.
Directive to banks
The waiver scheme, Mr.
Chaidambaram said, would be
implemented and instructions will
be issued to all bank branches to
prepare a list of beneficiary farmers
for display on their premises.
All direct farm loans, including
crop loans and investment credit
for agriculture and allied activities
given to farmers between the
period March 31,1997 and March
2007-which remained unpaid
till February 2008 would be
covered. q
n Decision on Lok Pal Bill
deferred, referred to law
ministry
n Nod to outlay of over Rs 10,000
crores to develop infrastructure
of elite institutions