NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Economics Chapter 4 – Food Security in India

What is food security?
Answer: Food security means ensuring that all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life.

Why is food security essential in India?
Answer: It is essential to prevent hunger, malnutrition, and starvation during disasters, crop failures, or economic hardships, especially for poor and vulnerable populations.

What are the dimensions of food security?
Answer: The three dimensions are: availability of food, access to food, and affordability of food for all sections of society.

Who are food-insecure people in India?
Answer: Poor households in rural and urban areas, marginal farmers, landless laborers, beggars, and victims of natural disasters are most food insecure.

What causes food insecurity in India?
Answer: Major causes include poverty, unemployment, population growth, natural calamities, low agricultural productivity, and poor access to food distribution networks.

What is the Public Distribution System (PDS)?
Answer: PDS is a government system that distributes subsidized food grains like rice, wheat, and sugar to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families through ration shops.

What are Fair Price Shops?
Answer: These are government-authorized ration shops that sell essential commodities at subsidized prices under the Public Distribution System (PDS).

How does PDS ensure food security?
Answer: PDS makes food affordable and accessible to the poor, prevents hoarding and black marketing, and stabilizes food supply during shortages.

What are the types of ration cardholders in PDS?
Answer: Ration cardholders are classified into Antyodaya (poorest), BPL (Below Poverty Line), and APL (Above Poverty Line) based on income levels.

What are the limitations of the PDS system?
Answer: Issues include corruption, poor quality of grains, leakage, fake ration cards, and inefficient delivery, reducing its impact on food security.

What is buffer stock?
Answer: Buffer stock is the stock of food grains maintained by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to ensure stability and food supply.

How is buffer stock created?
Answer: The government purchases food grains from farmers at a Minimum Support Price (MSP) during harvest season and stores them for distribution.

What is Minimum Support Price (MSP)?
Answer: MSP is the price at which the government guarantees to buy crops from farmers to ensure fair incomeand prevent distress selling.

How does FCI help in food security?
Answer: FCI maintains buffer stock, procures grains at MSP, and supplies food through PDS to ensure a steady supply of essential items.

What is the role of cooperatives in food security?
Answer: Cooperatives help distribute food at fair prices, support farmers with credit, and operate local storage and distribution centers, especially in villages.

What are food-for-work programs?
Answer: These are government programs where poor people are given employment in public works in exchange for food or food-based wages.

Name some government schemes for food security.
Answer: Important schemes include Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY), Mid-Day Meal Scheme, Annapurna Scheme, and Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS).

What is Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY)?
Answer: AAY is a scheme targeting the poorest of the poor, offering food grains at highly subsidized prices through the PDS network.

How does the Mid-Day Meal Scheme support food security?
Answer: It provides free cooked meals to children in schools, improving nutrition, encouraging school attendance, and reducing hunger among poor children.

What is famine?
Answer: Famine is an extreme situation where there is acute food shortage, leading to mass starvation, deaths, and social collapse.

What are the causes of famine?
Answer: Causes include crop failure, droughts, floods, war, or poor distribution systems, leading to a breakdown in the availability of food.

What was the Bengal Famine of 1943?
Answer: The Bengal Famine killed over 30 lakh people due to crop failure, poor administration, and hoarding, highlighting the need for food security systems.

Why is food security a human right?
Answer: Food is essential for life and dignity. Without adequate food, people cannot survive, making it a fundamental human right recognized globally.

How is nutrition related to food security?
Answer: Nutrition ensures balanced diet and health, and food security must include not just food quantity, but quality and diversity for well-being.

Summarise the importance of food security in India.
Answer: Food security is vital to prevent hunger, reduce poverty, ensure health, and maintain economic stabilityby supporting vulnerable groups with timely food access.