FOOD SECURITY IN INDIA: SUSTAINABILITY AND CHALLENGES IN THE WAKE OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Food is considered as one of the three basic needs for survival of the human race. Therefore, a nutritious and balanced diet consisting of right amount of vitamins, minerals and other essential nutrients is sine qua non so as to maintain the minimum prescribed health standards of living beings. Inaccessibility to proper food sources can lead to malnutrition and starvation, and in extreme cases, it may lead to death, which indirectly violates one's Right to Life enshrined under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. Hence, in a hugely populated country like India, although not entitled as Fundamental Rights of Citizens in the Constitution, The Right to Food is rightfully included in Article 47 of its Constitution as a directive principle of the State Policy which is also incidental to the fundamental right to life and personal liberty. The issue of food security, poverty and starvation rises to a critical level during these unfortunate Covid 19 Pandemic .The four dimensions namely; food availability, food accessibility, food stability and food utilization are regarded as foundation pillars of food security. An attempt has been made in this research enquiry to examine the situation of food availability in India and its accessibility in the midst of the pandemic. A research enquiry is also been done on the functionality and effectiveness of Public distribution System in dealing with the current food crisis situation.