Write down the steps that can be taken
by the central court of India to ensure
ef tackle food security in India.
Answers
Answer:
The extension of the nationwide lockdown to combat the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), though necessary, will lead to a further suspension of work and no wages and means for families to support themselves.
The activities in manufacturing and services, that provide non-essentials, may be suspended, though with serious consequences. However, agricultural operations cannot be postponed much longer. Any delay may disturb the production system and affect India's food security.
Therefore, the Union as well as state governments are trying hard to resume agriculture-related activities. The rabi harvest is starting soon and most farmers are struggling due to the lack of mobility of labour, machinery and necessary equipment during this lockdown period.
Apart from logistical and administrative problems, farmers are facing financial crunch at a time when the rabi crop is ready to be harvested and the kharif season is to soon start.
Lack of credit in the agrarian economy may lead to distressed sale of produce to private traders and money lenders that may create distortion in food supply management in the near future.
Therefore, credit provisioning to the agrarian economy is crucial in maintaining food reserves in the country. In this context, let us discuss the status of food grain stocks in India and what actions are needed in easing farming operations during this crucial period.
Procure at the doorstep
The quantity of food grains in buffer stocks that has been set aside for the central pool by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) is based on the principles of operational stocks and strategic reserve.
Operational stock is required for regular distribution of food grains to the beneficiaries covered under the National Food Security Act as well as other various welfare schemes of the government. The strategic reserve is maintained to meet the supply constraints.
So, five million tonnes of food grain is maintained under strategic reserve throughout the year. Similarly, the present stocking norms for operational stocks varies from 16 million tonnes on April 1 to 36 million tonnes on July 1 every year.
As part of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, the Union government announced an additional five kgs of rice / wheat per month to be distributed free of cost to each beneficiary covered under the public distribution system for three months.
This would benefit close to 81 crore people in the country and require 12.14 million tonnes of food grains, both rice and wheat. As on March 1, 2020, the country had a food grain stock of 58.5 million tonnes, consisting of 31 million tonnes of rice and 27.5 million tonnes of wheat in the central pool.
In recent years, India’s procurement-based food security provisioning has been criticised by various quarters, including the meetings of the World Trade Organization, but one should not undermine the need and importance of such a procurement-based subsidised distribution system at the time of a pandemic like COVID-19.
The system of procurement should continue to feed 1.35 billion Indians even as the entire country is locked down to fight against the spread of COVID-19. The government of India, through FCI and the state governments or their agencies, should procure rabi crops immediately before farmers are compelled to sell their produce to middlemen in villages.
The distress sale to ease the ready cash required for kharif preparation can be averted if procurement happens at the village level. It will not only help farmers get the actual price of their produce, but also ensure that food grains stocks are maintained for the months to come.
But before the procurement of rabi crops, there is a need to address the problem of fund crunch in the agrarian economy which is hindering the harvesting of rabi crops as well as preparatory work for kharif.
Unless these actions are taken on time, supply constraints would cause another crisis and no amount of cash supplements will be able to fetch minimum food grain for survival in the coming days.
Explanation:
Please Mark me as Brainlist