THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF FOOD SECURITY IN INDIA: EVOLUTION AND PERFORMANCE

After independence, India has mostly overcome the issues of scarcity of foods and mass deaths because of starvation. Government of India established the Indian food security system under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution to allocate food and non-food things to India's poor at subsidized rates. The main objectives of food management system are: the distribution of foodgrains to the consumers, in particular among the vulnerable groups of the society, at affordable prices. The Government of India has enacted the National Food Security Act (NFSA) on September 12, 2013 with an aim to provide subsidized food grains to approximately two thirds of India's population.