336
R. Mandal and M. Sarma
2014) has outlined the normative requirements of expenditures on food comprising calories, proteins and fats.
1 We have taken this recommended expenditure (per
capita per month) on calories, proteins and fats as the benchmark for measuring food
insecurity. Thus, the national food insecurity lines, which takes due consideration
of nutritional contents of food, have been defined as the monthly per capita food
expenditure (calorie + protein + fat) of Rs. 554 in rural areas and Rs 656 in urban
areas. These food insecurity lines are then adjusted by price indices to estimate state
specific food insecurity lines (for details see Appendix-II). On the basis of these food
insecurity lines an aggregate measure of food insecurity is obtained. The national
and state specific food insecurity lines along with poverty lines are shown in Table 1.
A household whose per capita monthly expenditure on calories, proteins and fats
is less than this benchmark is considered to be food insecure.
3 Food Insecurity in India: Extent and Variations
The variations in the extent of food insecurity across different castes and religions
are shown in Figs. 1 and 2 respectively. It is evident from these figures that there
are wide variations in the prevalence of food insecurity across social and religious
groups.
As far as the social groups are concerned, food insecurity is the highest
among scheduled tribes (ST) with around 45% of their households being food
insecure. In case of scheduled castes (SC) around 34% of the households are food
insecure which is followed by other backward castes (OBC) (28.65%). Food insecurity is the lowest in case of general category people as percentage of insecure
households belonging to this is only around 17%. Such differences in the extent of
food insecurity are indicative of economic inequalities among these classes.
Figure 2 highlights the differences in the level of food insecurity across various
religious groups in India. The point to be noted here is that for the convenience of our
analysis we have grouped Buddhists, Jains, Tribals and other small religious groups
(as reported in IHDS-II dataset) into one group and named it as ‘Other Religion’ due
to the fact that each of its constituents represent a very small proportion of the sample
households compared to other major religions. It is seen from Fig. 2 that around 45%
households of this group are food insecure. Food insecurity is the lowest among the
Sikhs (11%). It is interesting to note that there is not much variation across the other
three major religions.
The extent of food insecurity and it spatial variations among the sample households
are shown in Table 2. As seen from the table 27.68% of the sample households covering the entire India are food insecure. No sample household in Goa and Tripura are
1 This Expert Group was constituted in June, 2012 by the Planning Commission under the Chairmanship of Dr. C. Rangarajan to suggest a methodology for measurement of poverty in India. It has
re-computed the average requirements of calories, fats and proteins on the basis of the 2010 Indian
Council of Medical Research norms (Government of India 2014).
R. Mandal and M. Sarma
2014) has outlined the normative requirements of expenditures on food comprising calories, proteins and fats.
1 We have taken this recommended expenditure (per
capita per month) on calories, proteins and fats as the benchmark for measuring food
insecurity. Thus, the national food insecurity lines, which takes due consideration
of nutritional contents of food, have been defined as the monthly per capita food
expenditure (calorie + protein + fat) of Rs. 554 in rural areas and Rs 656 in urban
areas. These food insecurity lines are then adjusted by price indices to estimate state
specific food insecurity lines (for details see Appendix-II). On the basis of these food
insecurity lines an aggregate measure of food insecurity is obtained. The national
and state specific food insecurity lines along with poverty lines are shown in Table 1.
A household whose per capita monthly expenditure on calories, proteins and fats
is less than this benchmark is considered to be food insecure.
3 Food Insecurity in India: Extent and Variations
The variations in the extent of food insecurity across different castes and religions
are shown in Figs. 1 and 2 respectively. It is evident from these figures that there
are wide variations in the prevalence of food insecurity across social and religious
groups.
As far as the social groups are concerned, food insecurity is the highest
among scheduled tribes (ST) with around 45% of their households being food
insecure. In case of scheduled castes (SC) around 34% of the households are food
insecure which is followed by other backward castes (OBC) (28.65%). Food insecurity is the lowest in case of general category people as percentage of insecure
households belonging to this is only around 17%. Such differences in the extent of
food insecurity are indicative of economic inequalities among these classes.
Figure 2 highlights the differences in the level of food insecurity across various
religious groups in India. The point to be noted here is that for the convenience of our
analysis we have grouped Buddhists, Jains, Tribals and other small religious groups
(as reported in IHDS-II dataset) into one group and named it as ‘Other Religion’ due
to the fact that each of its constituents represent a very small proportion of the sample
households compared to other major religions. It is seen from Fig. 2 that around 45%
households of this group are food insecure. Food insecurity is the lowest among the
Sikhs (11%). It is interesting to note that there is not much variation across the other
three major religions.
The extent of food insecurity and it spatial variations among the sample households
are shown in Table 2. As seen from the table 27.68% of the sample households covering the entire India are food insecure. No sample household in Goa and Tripura are
1 This Expert Group was constituted in June, 2012 by the Planning Commission under the Chairmanship of Dr. C. Rangarajan to suggest a methodology for measurement of poverty in India. It has
re-computed the average requirements of calories, fats and proteins on the basis of the 2010 Indian
Council of Medical Research norms (Government of India 2014).