Equalising Primary Food Consumption in India
Kartavya Desk Staff
Syllabus: Poverty & Hunger/Social Justice
Source: TH
Context: The 2024 NSS Household Consumption Survey revealed that nearly 50% of rural India and 20% of urban India cannot afford two thalis a day, despite low poverty levels.
• Experts propose restructuring PDS to equalise primary food consumption, especially pulses.
About Equalising Primary Food Consumption in India:
What is Primary Food Consumption?
• Definition: The basic minimum food intake required to ensure energy, protein, and micronutrient sufficiency for a healthy life.
• Components: Cereals (carbs), pulses (protein), vegetables (vitamins), fats (energy), and milk/curd (calcium).
• Metric Used: Thali index – a standard South Asian meal combining rice/roti, dal, vegetables, curd, and salad.
Features of Primary Food Consumption
• Balanced Nutrition: Goes beyond calories, ensures carbs–protein–micronutrient mix for growth & immunity.
• Universal Baseline: Represents minimum desirable consumption standard for all citizens.
• Affordability Sensitive: Reflects what people can actually buy after meeting other expenses (rent, health, transport).
• Equity-Oriented: Serves as a benchmark to assess disparities in access to essential food items.
• Policy-Relevant: Provides a realistic yardstick for PDS design and subsidy targeting.
Understanding Primary Food Consumption:
• Current Reality: Nearly 50% of rural and 20% of urban India cannot afford two thalis/day at market prices. PDS reduces deprivation but does not cover pulses adequately, leaving protein gaps.
• Nearly 50% of rural and 20% of urban India cannot afford two thalis/day at market prices.
• PDS reduces deprivation but does not cover pulses adequately, leaving protein gaps.
• Cereal Equality: Consumption of rice & wheat nearly equal across rich and poor — PDS has succeeded in equalising cereals.
• Pulses Gap: Bottom 5% consume half the pulses of top 5%, highlighting protein deprivation.
• Policy Implication: Expand PDS to include pulses, trim unnecessary cereal subsidy for high-consumption groups.
• Outcome Goal: Raise the poorest household’s nutrition to match the highest observed level, achieving true food equity.
Public Distribution System – Present Context:
• Achievements: PDS has succeeded in equalising cereal consumption across classes — even the richest consume similar quantities of rice/wheat.
• Gaps: Despite near-universal cereal coverage, protein deficiency persists among the poorest (0–5% fractile consume half the pulses eaten by top 5%).
• Inefficiencies: 80% of population receives cereals (including those above food adequacy levels), straining FCI stocking and fiscal resources.
• Urban-Rural Divide: Urban subsidies are relatively progressive, but rural subsidies disproportionately benefit higher-expenditure households.
• Policy Overhang: Large cereal entitlements do not match actual consumption needs → excess stocks & economic inefficiency.
Challenges in Equalising Food Consumption:
• Fiscal Stress: Universal cereal subsidies cost exchequer significantly, leaving little room for pulses and nutrition diversification.
• Nutritional Deficit: India faces protein-energy malnutrition, anaemia, and stunting despite cereal security.
• Logistics: Transporting pulses regularly and maintaining buffer stocks require robust infrastructure and price stabilisation.
• Targeting Errors: Leakages, inclusion of non-poor, and exclusion errors distort benefits.
• Behavioural Factors: Dietary choices influenced by culture, affordability, and awareness may limit uptake even when pulses are available.
Policy Proposal – Restructuring PDS for Nutrition Security
• Rationalise Cereal Entitlement: Trim rice/wheat allocation to match actual per-capita requirement of lower deciles.
• Diversify Basket: Include pulses, millets, fortified oil, and iodised salt to ensure balanced nutrition.
• Remove Top-End Subsidies: Eliminate free/subsidised cereals for top 20% consumption fractile, freeing fiscal space.
• Dynamic Targeting: Use Aadhaar + SECC data to ensure updated beneficiary lists.
• Leverage Technology: GPS-enabled grain movement, DBT for pulses, and e-POS for better monitoring.
Way Forward:
• Nutrition-First Approach: Shift from calorie security to protein and micronutrient security.
• Pulse Procurement Missions: Expand procurement under NFSM; incentivise farmers to grow pulses in rice fallows.
• Fiscal Prudence: Redirect savings from rationalised cereal subsidy to nutrition programmes (ICDS, PM Poshan).
• Community Kitchens: Expand Anna Canteens and Tamil Nadu’s Amma Canteens model for affordable thali meals.
• Public Awareness: Educate citizens on balanced diets, protein needs, and millet consumption.
Conclusion:
India’s success in cereal security must now evolve into nutrition security. Rationalising PDS subsidies, adding pulses, and targeting the truly deprived can bridge the protein gap and equalise food consumption. A compact, efficient, and nutrition-sensitive PDS can make India a global model for ending hidden hunger.