Local Self-Government & Food Security in India

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Local Self-Government & Food Security in Rural India

Introduction

          Since the beginning of human existence on the earth, food and water have held center stage in the development of civilisations. India, being the most populous country in the world, guarantees food security for every citizen of the country is the greatest challenge. In this regard, the role of local self-government or the Panchayath Raj Institutions (PRIs} as a mechanism for greater autonomy and accountability at the grassroots levels of the system. Especially in food security because food security and rural development involve both economic and political progress of people as well as superior social transformation. Improved food quality for rural people in the rural development process, decentralization of planning, technical improvement of the agriculture sector, and larger access to credit and inputs go a long way in providing rural people with better prospects for improved quality of life. Improvements in food quality with attitudinal changes also facilitate rural people’s standard of living. Hence, it can be understood that the major goal of this article is to assess the efficiency of Panchayath Raj Institutions in managing rural people’s food security, with reference to the implementation of the food security programs and to look out for the effectiveness of the administration of the institutional quality delivery system.

What is food security?

    In 1947, the United States President Franklin D.Roosevelt held a speech on the four freedoms, in his speech, he defined that all people in the world should have freedom of worship, freedom of speech, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. In 1943, Roosevelt called a United Nations Conference on Food and Agriculture, and in 1945, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO} was established. Roosevelt’s “freedom of want” was translated to mean a secure, adequate, and suitable supply of food for every man. Later, food security as value value-encumbered concept emerged in the mid-1970s in the context of several incidences of large-scale hunger, which promoted debate on food supply and sufficiency at the national and global levels. The discussion which emerged from the World Food Conference in 1947 had the ambitious goal of eradicating hunger, food insecurity, and malnutrition within a decade.    

     However, the debate focused on food production and supply, resulting in a grand scheme such as the Green Revolution, and neglected sufficient at the individual level. Since then, food security has emerged to incorporate new thinking and perceptions surrounding the causes, extending Amartya Sen’s analysis of food security as a concept of entitlements and distribution, more than merely an issue of production and availability. According to Amartya Sen, food security differs in economic, political, and social power. The World Food Committee 1996 formulated a definition that is now widely accepted in the discourse:

    Food security exists when all people always have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for a healthy and active life.

     This definition later expanded to include dimensions of availability, access, utilization, and stability, popularly translated into a 3As – Accessibility, Affordability, Availability. {Udaya Shekar Nagothu, T.Flatin 2015} which means that in the world of food security, everyone can get enough healthy food to be well and active when food is available, affordable, and utilized. It aims to sort out problems that cause world hunger through organising programs by the government and international organisations.                    

The Concept of Food Security

     One of the world’s biggest challenges is to secure healthy and sufficient food for all people. the interrelationship of food, health, and environment and their role in noticing chronic micronutrient deficiencies, also known as “Hidden Hunger”, this hunger can be identified throughout the world where food insecurity causes billions of people who are suffering starvation and under-malnutrition. According to the National Family Health Survey - 3 at least 50 percent of the total child population is malnutrition. In terms of all these indicators, the SC/ST community, residing in the rural area suffers more. Thus, the deprivation of food is a reality for a large number of Indians, and this has severe implications for the condition of their health.

 The Role of the Panchayath Raj Institutions and Targeted Public Distribution System

      The Targeted Public Distribution System is the most important program of the Government of India which formulate and implement foolproof arrangements for the identification of the poor for delivery of food grains and for its proper distribution in a transparent and accountable manner at the Fair Price Shops level. The origin of the Public Distribution System is not a new phenomenon in India concepts. It can be seen in the concept of “Arthashastra of Kautilya”. It recommends effective public action through food security as the basic solution for famine. The suggested measures included the distribution of food and seeds from the royal store on concessional terms and food work programmers for constructing forts, irrigation work, etc. the same concept has been reflected in policy framing even in the 2000 era and independent India framed various committees and commissions to set up the investigation and to understand the importance of the Public Distribution System in India. Looking back on our progress in the agriculture sector and food security since independence Our first Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru made the famous statement that “Everything else can wait but not agriculture”, giving more importance to food productivity and food security. During the initial days of freedom in India, we faced an acute shortage of food products which led to major problems. It was the threat of famine and acute starvation due to the lack of regional and national level food security systems. Therefore, the first step was taken to construct a food secure system and ensure the threat of drought and starvation no longer stalks.  The Nation soon after becoming an independent India it is decided to scrutinize food grains policy commissions under the chairmanship of Sir Purshottam Das Thakur Das in 1947 which submitted its report in April 1948. The committee without saying so in as many words asked the country to move towards national food security by attaining self-sufficiency and justifiably termed as the first major policy-making initiative towards the achievement of food security. Later, various committees like the Food Grains Investigation Commission of 1949, Food Grains Procurement Committee 1950 (under Thirumala Rao) Food Grains Investigation Committee 1957 (Under Ashok Mehta) Food Grains Policy Committee 1966 (under B.Venkatappaiah) study team on Fair Price Shops 1966 (under V.M.Dandekar) National Commission on agriculture 1975, recently the government of India constituted justice Wadhwa Committee to study this progress of this system. {Gundegowda}.

     After all this, the Green Revolution, the vast investment in the agriculture sector, and initiatives have ensured food productivity has kept far with population growth and India remains self-sufficient in food. The establishment of adequate buffer stocks has ensured the availability of food stock at an affordable cost even during times of famine. These are the most important initiatives taken up by the Government of India to provide food security for all citizens of the country.

Conclusion

     Since its independence nation has seen both positive and negative influences of various interventions by the government to address food security. As the national economy keeps growing and the population continues to expand, the future of food security will be profoundly influenced by the way food is produced and consumed. That’s the reason the government should plan strategically to explore the provided opportunities and optimise development options toward improving food security. In this regard, Panchayath, Raj Institutions must play a crucial role to prove the principles of decentralisation that these institutions are not just guardians of civic rights but also the sentinels of fundamental human needs.