Food Security in India: Paradigm Shifts in Programs and Policies and Their Implications

Ensuring food security is one of the most challenging policy problems in a country such as India, where more than one-third of the population is poor and extremely malnourished. The attempts to ensure food security in India started with productivist approaches and shifted to distribution and welfare approaches. Despite all the efforts, a large population is severely food insecure. This chapter explores and critically analyses the discourses and paradigm shifts in approaches to food security from a critical policy perspective. It critically examines the policies related to food production, food distribution, and social welfare in India. The paper outlines the evolution of agricultural and land reform policies, the public distribution system (PDS), Integrated child development services (ICDS), Mid-day Meal (MDM), National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) and National Food Security Act (NFSA) to analyze their strengths and limitations in ensuring food security. The chapter concludes that the existing programs can address the complexity of food security. However, the siloed approaches, lack of synergy, and interdepartmental convergence in programs limit their effectiveness. Therefore, a concerted effort toward convergence will be a step closer to ensuring food security for all.