Jammu and Kashmir: Food security - Jammu&Kashmir PCS Exam Notes

Jammu and Kashmir: Food security

To be free from hunger is a fundamental right of everyone. Every man, woman and child has the inalienable right to free from hunger and malnutrition in order to develop fully and maintain their physical and mental faculties. Food security as the common responsibility of human kind requires a moral commitment and international cooperation. The basic concept of food security is that, all people at all times have both physical and economic access to the basic food they need. Food security is access by all people at all times enough food for an active and healthy life. But largely acceptable definition out of the World Food Summit at Rome in 1996 is, “Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritional food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life”

Agriculture is the most predominent sector in the state of jammu and kashmir. About 60-70 per cent of the population of the state depends on agriculture. Paddy, wheat and maize are the major crops. Barley, Bajra and Jowar are cultivated in some parts. Gram is grown in Ladakh.

Jammu & Kashmir is essentially a mountainous state where only about 30 per cent of reporting area is under cultivation.The state like other under-developed north-eastern and the Himalayan states of India has felt negligible effect of the Green Revolution. So, the state is not able to produce the sufficient food for the people of the state.

Food security act 2016, jammu and Kashmir

The Jammu and Kashmir Cabinet gave concurrence to the Government of India’s proposal for implementation of National Food Security Act (NFSA) in the State. The key points of the act are as follows:

NFSA (National food security act) was implemented throughout the State from 1 February 2016.
13 lac people (95% population) in the State shall be covered under subsidized rations.
Out of 119.13 lac people, 13.77 lac falling under AAY category shall get rations at the rate of Rs 2 per kg (atta) and Rs 3 per kg (rice).
The scale of 35 kgs per family shall be maintained in AAY category irrespective of the number of souls in each family.
Under BPL category, 26.49 lac people will get rations at the rate of Rs 2 per kg (atta) and Rs 3 per kg (rice) with every member of a family entitled to get 5 kgs ration.
Under Priority Class, 33.87 lac souls will get rations at the rate of Rs 2 per kg (atta) and Rs 3 per kg (rice) with every member of a family entitled to get 5 kgs ration.
In the Non-Priority Category, 45 lac people will get rations at the subsidized rate of Rs 8 (atta) and Rs 10 (rice) with every member of a family entitled to get 5 kgs ration.
Around 6 lac people comprising of people with income of more than Rs 25 lac per year, persons holding constitutional positions including Ministers and Legislators, employees of the State and the Central Government in the Gazetted Cadre and people owning more than 80 kanals of land individually or 250 kanals of land in joint family shall be kept out of NFSA. For such families food-grains would be made available on OMSS (Open Market Sale Scheme) rates.
Any person who is, due to some reason, denied ration, will be given food security allowance.
Under the existing dispensation only 18.02 lac families comprising a population of 99 lac souls are covered under Public Distribution System (PDS) in J&K while NFSA will cover 22.73 lac families comprising a population of 119.13 lac people.
According to the government, implementation of NFSA shall usher an era of assured supply of highly subsidized rations to the citizens of J&K at their doorstep in a transparent manner.

some suggestions for the improvement of food security in Jammu and Kashmir are given follows:

There is a need of sustainable agricultural development as about 80 per cent population of the region directly or indirectly depend upon agriculture and poverty is the main feature of rural areas. Agricultural research can play an important role in reducing or eliminating poverty and improving the production so, the dependency level could be reduced.
Spatial attention should be given to weaker sections of the society (women and children).
Public Distribution System (PDS) is the most important instrument to achieve the food security, therefore there is a need for improving the effectiveness of PDS for uplifting the poor. The government should effort to decentralize the industries and revive the household industries by providing subsidies. Not only the additional employment opportunities should be generated by using the suitable structure of investment and production, but distributive justice also need to be done, hence, the overall food security can be achieved.
The suitable storage facilities should be developed at small places like village, Mandi, market and even at household level to minimize the food losses as well as the benefits go to both producers and consumers. For this cause the loans should be given to the people and the social organizations.
The emphasis should be given on employment generation programme in such a way that the poor section of the society could be benefited by the development at the household industries in rural area as well as special attention should be paid to animal husbandry, poultry farming, horticulture, bee keeping, pisciculture etc., so that the agricultural dependency could be reduced and the quality of life be improved.
There is a need to increase the number of educated women, which may share in minimizing population growth and poverty and maximizing the adoption of appropriate technology for sustainable development and achieving food security at household level. There is a need of social organizations like Panchayats which should come forward to prepare plans and implement them to remove poverty and achieve the goal, i.e., food for all.

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