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ECONOMICS
Chapter -4
Food Security in India

Very Short Answer/Objective Type Questions (1 Mark)

1. At what price, the government purchases the food grain for making buffer stock?
(a) Minimum Support Price (MSP)
(b) Controlled price
(c) High price
(d) All of the above
Ans. (a) Minimum Support Price (MSP)
2. In which decade rationing system was received in India?
(a) 1940s
(b) 1960s
(c) 1950s
(d) 1970s
Ans. (b) 1960s
3. Since independence, India has been aiming sat:
(a) Increase in population
(b) Self-sufficiency in food grains
(c) Setting up ration shops
(d) Distributing food among poor
Ans. (b) Self-sufficiency in food grains
4. Which type of hunger is a consequence of diets persistently inadequate in terms of quantity
and quality?
(a) Chronic hunger
(b) Seasonal hunger
(c) Fast kept due to spiritual reasons
(d) Chain hunger
Ans. (a) Chronic hunger
5. The most devastating famine occurred in Bengal in:
(a) 1942
(b) 1943
(c) 1947
(d) 2009
Ans. (b) 1943
6. Annapurna Scheme (APS) has been launched in April:
(a) 2000
(b) 2005
(c) 1999
(d) 2003
Ans. (a) 2000
7. India adopted a new strategy in agriculture, which resulted in the especially in the production of wheat and rice.
Ans. Green Revolution
8. ______________is a payment that a government makes to a producer.
Ans. Subsidy
9. Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh recorded significant increase in due to Green Revolution.
Ans. Rice yield
10. ________________is characterised by wide spread deaths due to starvation and epidemics caused by forced
use of contaminated water or decaying food and loss of body resistance due to weakening from starvation.
Ans. Famine.
11. _______________is the state of not having enough food or not getting nutritious food.
Ans. Malnutrition
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12. ___________is the stock of food grains namely wheat and rice procured by the government through Food
Corporation of India.
Ans: Buffer Stock
13. Food security means availability, accessibility and affordability of food to all people at all. (True/False)
Ans. True
14. The SCs, STs and some sections of OBC's are more prone to food security. (True/False)
times.
Ans. True
15. The stock of food grains like wheat and rice procured by the government through Food Corporation of Indian
(FCI) is known as "buffer stock". (True/False)
Ans. True
16. The total food grain production in Indian in 2015-16 was 300 million tones. (True/False)
Ans. False
17. BPL cards are for the poorest of the poor. (True/False)
Ans. False
18. What do you mean by food security?
Ans: Food security means availability, accessibility and affordability of food to all people at all times.
19. Why is food security needed?
Ans. Food security is needed to meet emergencies, shortage of food grains, prevent starvation
and famines.
20. Which was most devastating famine that occurred in India during the 20th century?
Ans. Famine of Bengal in 1943
21. Who were the most affected by the famine of Bengal?
Ans. The agricultural labourers, fishermen, transport workers and other casual labourers were most affected by the
dramatic increase in the price of rice.
22. Which are the food insecure families in the urban area?
Ans. The food insecure families in the urban areas are those whose working are generally employed in ill-paid
occupations and casual labour market.
23. State the full form of NHFS.
Ans. NHFS stands for National Health and Family Survey.
24. What do you mean by hunger?
Ans. It is another aspect of indicating food. security. It is not just an expression of poverty, it brings poverty.
25. State the dimensions of hunger.
Ans. Chronic hunger and seasonal hunger are the two of hunger.
26. What do you mean by chronic hunger?
Ans. Chronic hunger is a consequence of diet persistently inadequate in terms of quantity or quality.
27. What do you mean by seasonal hunger?
Ans. Seasonal hunger is related to cycles of food growing and harvesting. It is prevalent more in rural areas.
28. Name the new strategy adopted in agriculture in India after independence to achieve self- sufficiency in food
grains.
Ans. Green Revolution
29. Define Green Revolution.
Ans. Green Revolution implies large increase in agricultural production due to use of high yielding varieties of seeds
and other inputs such as manure and fertilisers.
30. Which states achieved the highest rate of growth in food grains production in 2015-16?
Ans. Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
31. What was the total foodgrain production India in 2016-17?
Ans. 275.68 million tonnes.
32. State the two components of food security system.
Ans. Buffer Stock and Public Distribution System.
33. What do you mean by Buffer Stock? Or Define Buffer Stock.
Ans. Buffer Stock is the stock of food grains, particularly wheat and rice, procured by the government through the
Food Corporation of India (FCI).

34. What does the Food Corporation of India do?

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Ans. Food Corporation of India is a government agency which purchases food grains from the farmers wherever they
are in surplus.
35. What do you mean by minimum support price?
Ans. Minimum support price is the minimum. price of food grains which is declared by the government every year
before the sowing. season, to provide incentives to the farmers for raising the production of crops.
36. Define issue price.
Ans. Issue price is the price at which the government provides food grains to the poorer strata of the society through
Public Distribution System.
37. What do you mean by Public Distribution System?
Ans. The food procured by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) is distributed through government regulated ration
shops among the poorer sections of the society. This system is known as Public Distribution System.
38.What are Fair Price Shops?
Ans. Fair Price Shops are the ration shops which have been opened by the government to provide food grains to the
poorer strata of the society.
39. Which items are commonly sold at Fair Price Shops?
Ans. Items such as food grains, sugar and kerosene oil for cooking are commonly sold at Fair Price Shops.
40. Which kind of ration cards are for the poorest of the poor?
Ans. Antyodaya Cards
41. Name the ration card used for the people. living below the poverty line and for all others.
Ans. BPL cards are used for people living below the poverty line and APL cards are used for all others.
42. When was rationing system introduced in India?
Ans. The rationing system was introduced in India in 1940s after the disastrous 'Famine of Bengal'.
43. Which important food intervention programmes were introduced by the Indian government after NSSO report?
Ans. The programmes which were introduced are:
(a) Public Distribution System
(b) Integrated Child Development Services
(c) Food For Work Programme
44. Mention any two programmes initiated by the government having food component in them.
Ans. Mid-day Meal and Integrated Child Development Services
45. What is the National Food Security Act 2013?
Ans. This Act provides for food and nutritional security life at affordable prices and enables people to live a life with
dignity.
46. Which is the most important step taken by the government of India to ensure food security?
Ans. Public Distribution System (PDS)
47. Define subsidy.
Ans. Subsidy is a payment that a government makes to a producer to supplement the market price of a commodity.
48. What is the status of per capita consumption of PDS rice and wheat in rural and urban India since 2004-05?
Ans. Per capita consumption of PDS rice has doubled in rural India and increased by 66% in urban India since 2004-05.
The per capita consumption of PDS wheat has doubled since 2004-05 in both rural and urban India.
49. What are cooperative societies?
Ans. The cooperative societies are the societies which are run by local people. They provide public with the basic
necessities of such as foodgrains, milk and vegetables at reasonable rates.
50. Name the revolution brought about by Amul.
Ans: White Revolution
51. Where is the Academy of Development Science located?
Ans. Maharashtra
52. Which programme is acknowledged successful and innovative food as the security intervention?
Ans. The Academy of Development Science's 'Grain Bank Programme' is the successful and innovative food security
intervention programme.
Short Answer Type Questions [3 Marks]

53. Explain the major dimensions of food security.

Ans. The major dimensions of food security are:
(a) Availability of food: It means food production within the country, food imports, along with previous years' stock
stored in government granaries.
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(b) Accessibility: It means food is within the reach of every person.

(c) Affordability: It implies having enough money to buy sufficient safe and nutritious food to meet one's dietary
needs.
54. How is food security ensured in a country?
Ans.
Food security is ensured in a country when:
(a) Enough food is available for all.
(b) All persons have the capacity to buy food of acceptable quality.
(c) There is no barrier to access of food.
55. How is food security affected during a calamity?
Ans. During a calamity, the total production of food grains decreases. It creates a shortage of food in the affected
areas. Due to shortage of food, the prices of commodities go up. At higher prices, some people cannot afford to buy
the food. If such a calamity happens in a very wide area or is stretched over a long
56. Food security is essential in India.' Justify the statement.
Ans: Food security is essential in India in the country to ensure food availability at all times wake of national disasters
or calamities like floods, tsunami, earthquakes and famines. Due to natural and national calamities, the total
production of food grains decreases which creates a food shortage. As a result of food shortage, the price of food
grains goes It affects the population of the country, which may suffer from starvation. Massive up. starvation might
take the form of a famine like the Famine of Bengal in 1943. But even today, famine like conditions exist in Odisha.
Starvation deaths are reported from states like Rajasthan, Jharkhand and some remote areas. All this calls for
essential food security in the without interruption.
57. What is a famine? Who were the most affected by the famine of Bengal?
Ans. A famine is characterised by widespread deaths due to starvation and epidemics caused by forced use of
contaminated water or decaying food and loss of body resistance due to weakening from starvation. The people who
were the most affected by the famine of Bengal were agricultural labourers, fishermen, transport workers and other
casual labourers.
58. The food insecure people are disproportionately large in some regions of the country.' Explain.
Ans. The economically backward states such as Uttar Pradesh (eastern and south-eastern parts), Bihar, Jharkhand,
Odisha, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and some parts of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra account for largest number
of food insecure people in the country. The tribal and remote areas are highly prone to poverty whereas regions
more prone to natural disasters are vulnerable to poverty.
59. Differentiate between chronic hunger and Seasonal hunger.
Ans. Seasonal hunger is related to cycles of food growing and harvesting whereas chronic hunger is a consequence of
diets persistently inadequate in terms of quantity or quality.
People suffer from seasonal hunger in rural areas because of seasonal nature of agricultural activities and because of
causal labour in the urban areas whereas poor people suffer from chronic hunger because of very low income and
thereby inability to buy food. even for survival.
60. What are the functions of the Food Corporation of India?
Or
Mention the activities of the Food Corporation of India.
Ans. The functions/activities of the Food Corporation of India are:
(a) It safeguards the interests of the farmers by providing them remunerative prices for their foodgrain.
(b) It maintains an adequate level of foodgrains to ensure stocks are available on any mishappening or calamity.
(c) It allows the government to intervene in the food grains market for price stabilisation.
61. How does Public Distribution System ensure food security in India? Explain.
Ans. The Public Distribution System ensures food security in India through government regulated ration shops among
the poorer sections of the society. These ration shops, known as 'Fair Price Shops', are present in most localities,
villages, towns and cities. They keep stocks of food grains, sugar and kerosene oil for cooking purposes. These items
are sold to public at a price lower than the market price. Any family with a ration card can buy a stipulated amount of
these items like thirty- five kg of grains, five litres of kerosene, five kg of sugar etc. every month from the nearby
ration shops.
62. Examine the activities of ration shops.
Ans. The activities performed by the ration shops
are: (a) They distribute the items like food grains, sugar, kerosene and edible oil to the holders of the ration cards.
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(b) They maintain a stock register of the items which they receive and distribute. (c) They keep a check on the quality
of the items to be distributed to the cardholders.

63. Explain the role of co-operatives in providing food and related items in different parts of the country.
Ans. The cooperative societies set up shops to sell low priced goods to poor people, such as Mother Dairy in Delhi is
rapidly growing in providing milk and vegetables to the consumers at controlled prices, announced by the
government of Delhi.
Another success story of cooperatives lies in Amul, a cooperative, dealing with milk and milk products from Gujarat. It
has brought about 'White Revolution' in the country. These cooperatives are functioning in various parts of the
country to ensure food security to various sections of the society.

Long Answer Type Questions [5 Marks]

64. Explain about the people who are food insecure in India.
Ans. (a) In rural areas, the people more prone to food insecurity are:
(i) Landless farmers
(ii) Traditional artisans,
(iii) Petty self-employed workers
(iv) Destitutes including beggars
(b) In urban areas, the people more prone to food insecurity are:
(i) Casual labourers
(ii) Workers employed in low-paid occupations
(iii) Workers employed in seasonal activities
(c) Food insecure people also include SCs, STs and some sections of OBCs (lower castes among them).
(d) The people who are living in economically backward states with high poverty, tribal, remote areas and regions
more prone to natural disasters also fall under the food insecure.
65. How does social inability to buy food also play a critical role in food insecurity?
Ans. Indian social composition is very complex such as.
(a) There are sections in the society which face the problem of low productivity like small land owners, traditional
artisans, destitutes etc. and hence are not able to access food security.
(b) Some sections of people live in absolute poverty due to their low social status in the society like SCS, STS and
OBCs. Food for such sections is a luxury
(c) At the same time, pregnant and nursing mothers and children below the age of five years are more vulnerable to
food access.
(d) Those employed in ill-paid jobs, casual labour market are also unable to procure food for themselves and their
family.
(e) People affected by natural disasters and who migrate in search of work are also food insecure.
(any three)
66. Explain the impact of the Green Revolution.
Ans. The Green Revolution has led to:
(a) Increase in agricultural products. Green Revolution has resulted in phenomenal increase in the production of
agricultural crops especially in foodgrains.
(b) Rural employment. While on one hand, large scale unemployment was feared due to mechanisation of farming
with the introduction of Green Revolution technology in India, there was an appreciable increase in the demand for
labour force due to multiple cropping and use of fertilisers.
(c) Industrial growth. Green Revolution. brought about large scale farm mechanisation which created demand for
different types of machines like tractors, harvesters, threshers, electric motors, pump-sets etc. Besides, demand for
chemical fertilisers, pesticides, insecticides etc. has also increased considerably. Consequently, industries producing
these items have progressed by leaps and bound.
(d) Prosperity of farmers. With the increase in farm production, the earnings of the farmers also increased and they
have become prosperous. This has, especially, been the case with big farmers having more than 10 hectares of land.
(e) Reduction in import of food grains. The main benefit of Green Revolution was the increase in the production of
food grains, as a result of which there was a drastic reduction in the Indian imports. India is now self-sufficient in food
grains and has sufficient stock in the central pool.
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(any three)

67. What has our government done to food security to the poor? Discuss two schemes launched by
the government.
Ans. The government has designed the food security system carefully to ensure availability of food to all sections of
the society. The system is composed of two components, i.e.,
(a) Buffer Stock
(b) Public Distribution System (PDS) In addition to the above, the government has launched several Poverty
Alleviation Programmes (PAPs) that comprise a component of food security. Some of these programmes are Mid-day
Meals, Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and Food For Work (FFW).
The two schemes launched by the government in this direction are:
(a) Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY): This scheme was launched in December 2000. Under this scheme, one crore of
the poorer among the BPL families, to be covered by the Public Distribution System, were identified. Twenty-five
kilograms of food grains were made available to each of the eligible family at a highly subsidised rate of 2 per
kg for wheat and 3 per kg for rice. After about two years, the quantity was enhanced from twenty-five kg to thirty-
five kg with effect from april 2002. In June 2003 and August 2004, an additional fifty lakh BPL families were added to
this scheme twice. In this way, about two crore families have been brought under the AAY.
(b) Annapurna Scheme (APS): It was launched in 2,000 with special target group of 'indigent senior citizens'. The
functioning of scheme was linked with existing network of the PDS. Under this scheme, 10 kg of food grains were
made available to them free of cost.
68. Why is the buffer stock created by the government?
Ans. Buffer stock is created by the government to e availability of food to all the sections ensure of the society. It
helps to resolve the problem of shortage of food during adverse weather conditions or during the periods of calamity.
69. Explain Buffer Stock and activities related to the creation of Buffer Stock.
Ans. Buffer Stock is the stock of foodgrains like wheat and rice that is procured by the government through Food
Corporation of India to resolve the problem of shortage of food grains because of adverse weather conditions or
periods of calamity.
The activities related to the creation of buffer stocks are:
(a) The government procures food grains through the Food Corporation of India from the farmers producing surplus.
(b) Pre-announced price called the Minimum Support Price is paid to the farmers.
(c) The purchased food grains are stored in the granaries maintained by the Food Corporation of India.
70. What is the rationing system?
Ans. The rationing system is a system of distribution of scarce resources in a controlled way. This system began in
India in 1940s against the backdrop of Bengal famine. In India, certain food grains, sugar, kerosene and cereals are
distributed through a network of fair price shops to those living under or above the poverty line at subsidised rates to
ensure food security. Any family with a ration card can buy a stipulated amount of these items every month at a price
lower than the market price. The main objective of the rationing system is the eradication of poverty and making
availability of desired quantity of food to every household, who cannot afford it.