In 2014, the stock of wheat and rice with FCI was 65.3 million tonnes which was much more than the minimum buffer norms
1. The situation improved with the distribution of food grains under different schemes launched by the government.
2. There is a general consesthat high level of buffer stocks of food grains is very undersirable and can be wasteful.
3. The storage of massive food stocks has been responsible for high carrying costs, in addition to wastage and deterioration in grain quality.
4. Freezing of MSP for a few years should be considered seriously.

(a) The PDS has proved to be the most effective instrument of government policy over the years in stabilishing prices and making food available to consumers at affordable prices.
(b)It has been instrumental in averting widespread hunger and famine by supplying food from surplus regions of the country to the deficit ones.
(c) In addition, the prices have been under revision in favour of poor households in general
(d) The system, including the minimum support price and procurement, has contributed to an increase in food grain production and provided income security to farmers in certain regions.

(a) The PDS has proved to be the most effective instrument of government policy over the years in stabilishing prices and making food available to consumers at affordable prices.
(b) It has been instrumental in averting widespread hunger and famine by supplying food from surplus regions of the country to the deficit ones.
(c) In addition, the prices have been under revision in favour of poor households in general
(d) The system, including the minimum support price and procurement, has contributed to an increase in food grain production and provided income security to farmers in certain regions.

(i) In the year, 2012-13, government foodgrain stock was maximum at 80.5 million tonnes .
(ii) The minimum buffer stock norm for FCI was 33 million tonnes as on July 2012.
(iii) The FCI granaries were overflowing with foodgrains because of good agricultural production in year 2012.

(a) Since the advent of the Green revolution in the early '70s, the country has avoided famine even during adverse weather conditions.
(b) India has become self-sufficient in food grains during the last thirty years because of a variety of crops grown all over the country.
(c) The availability of food grains (even in adverse weather conditions or otherwise) at the country level has further been ensured with a carefully designed food security system by the government.
(d) This system has two components:
(i) buffer stock and 
(ii) Public distribution system

(a) Hunger is another aspect indicating food insecurity. Hunger is not just an expression of poverty, its brings about poverty
(b) The attainment of food security, therefore, involves eliminating current hunger is a consequence of diets persistently inadequate in terms of quantity and/or quality.
(c) Seasonal hunger is related to cycles of food growing and harvesting.

It is true that a section of people in India are still without food. We are self-sufficient in foodgrains, so there should not be anyone left without food. In actual practice and real life it is not so.
1. There is a section of people, still without food. This is because they do not have money to buy food.
2. These people are chronic poor without requisite purchasing power.
3. This section consist of landless and unemployed persons with poor means of income.

Yes, we believe that the green revolution has made India self-sufficient
1. This was possible due to the introduction of High Yield Varieties (HYVs) of seeds, improved irrigation facilities, and mechanization of agriculture.
2. The use of tractors, threshers, chemical fertilizers, pesticides, insecticides etc.revolutionised the agricultural production.

The following factors have led to the decline in PDS:
(a) The per Capita consumption of PDS wheat has doubled since 2004-05 in both rural and urban India. PDS dealers are sometimes found resorting to mal practices like diverting the grains to open market to get better margin, selling poor quality grains at ration shops, the irregular opening of the shops, etc.
(b) It is common to find that ration shops regularly have unsold stocks of poor quality grains left. This has proved to be a big problem.
(c) When ration shops are unable to sell, a massive stock of food grains piles up with the FCI.
(d) In recent years, there is another factor that has led to the decline of the PDS. Earlier every family, poor and non-poor had a ration card with a fixed quota of items such as rice, wheat, sugar etc.
But now the government has withdrawn the facility of ration from the persons who are income tax payee.
(e) Due to the low percentage of profit margin, many ration shop owners have closed their businesses.
(f) Due to the poor quality of foodgrains and other products available at Fair Price Shops, many people have stopped purchasing their ration from them. They rather prefer purchasing from the open market and does not hesitate in paying more.

(a) India is aiming at self-sufficiency in food grains since independence.
(b) After independence, Indian policy makers adopted all measures to achieve self-sufficiency in food grains.
(c) India adopted a new strategy in agriculture, which resulted in the 'Green Revolution' especially in the production of wheat and rice.
(d) Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India, officially recorded the impressive strides of the Green revolution in agriculture by releasing a special stamp entitled 'Wheat Revolution' in July 1968.
(e) The success of wheat was later replicated in rice. The increase in food grains was, however, disproportionate.
(f) The highest rate of growth has been achieved in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, where food grain production reached an all-time high of 78.9 million tonnes in 2012-13.
(g) Production of food grain in Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Assam, Tamil Nadu has dropped.
(h) West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, on the other hand, recorded a significant increase in rice yield in 2012-13.