Food Security in India

Q20. What are the items sold at the ration shop?
Or
Which items are commonly sold at fair price shop?

Ans. Ration shops also known as Fair Price Shops keep stock of food grains, sugar, and kerosene oil for cooking. These items are sold to people at a price lower than the market price.

Q21. What do you understand by hunger? What are the dimensions of hunger?

Ans. Hunger is another aspect indicating food insecurity. Hunger is not just an expression of poverty, it brings about poverty. Hunger has chronic and seasonal dimensions.

Q22. How is food security ensured in a country?

Ans. Food security is ensured in a country only if (1) enough food is available for all the persons (2) all persons have the capacity to buy food of acceptable quality and (3) there is no barrier on access to food.

Q23. What is a famine?
Or
 How do famines lead to widespread death?

Ans. A Famine 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.

Q24. What is Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS)?

Ans. Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) was introduced to adopt the principle of targeting the ‘poor in all areas’. It was for the first time that a differential price policy was adopted for poor and non-poor.

Q25. Who were the most affected group of the famine of Bengal?
Or
Who were the most affected by the famine of Bengal? Why?

Ans. The agricultural labourers, fishermen, transport workers and other casual labourers were affected the most by dramatically increasing price of rice. They were the ones who died in this famine.

Q26. What does Food Corporation of India do?

Ans. The FCI purchases wheat and rice from the farmers in states where there is surplus production. The farmers are paid a pre-announced price for their crops. This price is called Minimum Support Price.

Q27. What do you mean by minimum support price?

Ans. The minimum support price (MSP) is an agricultural product price set by the government of India to purchase directly from the farmer. This rate is to safeguard the farmer to a minimum profit for the harvest.

Q28. What is issue price?

Ans. Government distributes food grains from buffer stock in the deficit areas and among the poorer strata of society at a price lower than the market price. This subsidized price is known as Issue Price.

Q29. What do you understand by Public Distribution System?
Or
What is Public Distribution System?

Ans. The food procured by the FCI is distributed through government regulated ration shops among the poorer section of the society. This is called the public distribution system (PDS).

Q30. Who are food insecure people in urban and rural areas?
Or
Who are food insecure families in urban area?

Ans. The worst affected groups are landless or land poor households in rural areas and people employed in ill paid occupations and casual labourers engaged in seasonal activities in the urban areas.

Q31. Name the three kinds of ration cards.
Or
What are the three kinds of ration cards issued in India?

Ans. There are three kinds of ration cards:

(a) Antyodaya cards for the poorest of the poor; 

(b) BPL cards for those below poverty line; and 

(c) APL cards for all others.

Q32. Which states are more food insecure in India?

Ans. The states of Uttar Pradesh (eastern and south-eastern parts), Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal, Chattisgarh, parts of Madhya Pradesh and Maharasthra account for largest number of food insecure people in the country.

Q33. Mention any two factors responsible for seasonal hunger.

Ans. Seasonal hunger is related to cycles of food growing and harvesting. This is prevalent in rural areas because of the seasonal nature of agricultural activities and in urban areas because of the casual labour, e.g., there is less work for casual construction labour during the rainy season.