Tag Search: “food security”

In-kind transfers: Deadweight losses or gains?

Do in-kind transfers for social assistance lead to ‘deadweight losses’ by restricting consumer choice? This article presents findings from an experiment in Maharashtra, which involved offering low-inc...

  • Articles

Impact of the Food Security Act on Public Distribution System

‘Leakages’ from the Public Distribution System – that is, grain released by the Food Corporation of India that fails to reach consumers – stood at around 42% in 2011-12 at an all-India level. Passed i...

  • Perspectives

Grain subsidies and junk food purchases among low-income individuals

While governments rely on expensive food subsidy programmes to address malnutrition among low-income communities, their impact is unclear as only self-reported data on food purchase decisions are avai...

  • Notes from the Field

Why are canteens important when 800 million people get free grains?

Over the past decade, canteens have been established in various parts of India to provide subsidised meals and enhance food security. Based on a survey of canteens conducted across three states, Reeti...

  • Notes from the Field

100 million tonnes of cereals are missing… every year

In an earlier I4I post, Drèze and Oldiges drew attention to India’s ‘cereal gap’ – a large difference between net availability of cereals and household consumption. In this post, they use recently rel...

  • Perspectives

Food, fuel, and facts: Distributional effects of global price shocks

The recent upsurge in global prices of essential commodities of food and fuel, warrants an analysis of the distributional ramifications, especially within developing economies. This article examines I...

  • Articles

The ‘cereal gap’: Looming issues in India’s foodgrain policy

Cereal production in India recently crossed 300 million tonnes for the first time. In this post, Drèze and Oldiges point out that a major gap has emerged between the net availability of cereals and ho...

  • Perspectives

Growth, well-being and distribution in the last decade – II

In the first part of this two-part series, Balakrishnan and Parameswaran presented an assessment of the performance of the Indian economy on macroeconomic indicators. In this post, they focus on well-...

  • Perspectives

The tribal communities of central India: Challenges and way forward

The ‘Status of Adivasi Livelihoods’ Report has once again brought attention to the dire situation of tribes in central India. Based on a survey of tribal households in Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh, ...

  • Notes from the Field

What explains policy change? Understanding the historical political economy of India

Drawing on insights from his new book, ‘History of Economic Policy in India’, Rahul De frames policy change as precipitating through three circumstances: crisis, coalitions, and contingency. He uses h...

  • Perspectives

Odisha Millets Mission: An update at the end of IYM 2023

In the sixth and final post of the e-Symposium on ‘Carrying forward the promise of International Year of Millets’, Banerjee and Kundu discuss the extent to which policies implemented as a part of the ...

  • Notes from the Field

Making the most of Indian millets: Lessons from the International Year of Quinoa

In the fourth post of the e-Symposium on ‘Carrying forward the promise of International Year of Millets’, Pallavi Agrawal reflects on the success story of quinoa, and how the International Year of Qui...

  • Perspectives