Food security is ensured in a country when the three dimensions of food security are taken care of. The three dimensions are:
Availabilityof food - Presence of enough food for all the persons
Accessibilityof food - Absence of barrier on access to food
Affordabilityof food - Capability of all persons to buy food of acceptable quality

A large section of people suffer from food and nutrition insecurity in India. However, the worst affected groups areas follows:
→ Landless and land-poor households, traditional artisans, providers of traditional services, petty self-employed workers and destitute including beggars (in the rural areas).
→ People employed in ill-paid occupations and casual labourers engaged in seasonal activities (in the urban areas).
→ People belonging to the backward sections of society, namely SCs, STs and OBCs
→ People belonging to economically-backward states with high incidence of poverty, tribal and remote areas and regions more prone to natural disasters.
→ People affected by natural disasters who have to migrate to other areas in search of work.
→ Large proportion of pregnant and nursing mothers, and children under the age of 5 years.

The economically-backward states with high incidence of poverty are more food insecure in India. The states of Uttar Pradesh (eastern and south-eastern parts), Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal, Chattisgarh, parts of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra account for the largest number of food insecure people in the country

In the late 1960s, the Green Revolution introduced the Indian farmer to the cultivation of high-yielding varieties (HYVs) of seeds. The HYVs (coupled with chemical fertilisers and pesticides) led to a growth in the productivity of food grains (especially wheat and rice), thereby helping India attain self-sufficiency in food grains. Since the advent of the Green Revolution, the country has avoided famine even during adverse weather conditions.

Despite large increase in foodgrain production we find people without food in India. Poor people suffer from chronic hunger. They find themselves unable to buy food. Over one-fifth of the country’s population still suffers from chronic hunger.

When there is a disaster or a calamity, the production of food grains decreases in the affected area. This in turn creates a shortage of food in the area. Due to the food shortage, the prices go up. The raised prices of food materials affect the capacity of many people to buy the same. When the calamity occurs in a very wide spread area or is stretched over a long period of time, it may cause a situation of starvation. A massive starvation can take the form of famine.

Seasonal hunger is related to cycles of food growing and harvesting. This is prevalent in rural areas because of the seasonal nature of agricultural activities, and in urban areas because of the casual labour (e.g., there is less work for casual construction labour during the rainy season). This type of hunger exists when a person is unable to get work for the entire year.
Chronic hunger is a consequence of diets persistently inadequate in terms of quantity and/or quality. Poor people suffer from chronic hunger because of their very low income and in turn, inability to buy food even for survival.

The food security is ensured in India by the Government by carefully designed food security system. This system is composed of two components:
(a) Maintaining a Buffer Stock of food grains,
(b) Through the distribution of these food grains among the poorer sections of the society with the help of a Public Distribution System (PDS).

In addition to the above, the Government has launched several Poverty Alleviation Programmes (PAP) that comprise a component of food security. Some of these programmes are - Mid-Day Meals, Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY), and Food-For-Work (FFW) etc.

 

Two schemes launched by the government to provide food security to the poor are:

→Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY): This scheme was launched in December 2000. Under this scheme one crore of the poorer among the BPL families, covered by the Public Distribution System (PDS) were identified. Twenty-five kilograms of food grains were made available to each of the eligible family at a highly subsidized rate. After about two years, the quantity was enhanced from 25 kg to 35 kg. In June 2003, and August 2004, additional 50 lakh families were added to this scheme twice. In this way about 2 crore families have been brought under the AAY. 

  
→ Food for Work (FFW): This programme was launched in November 2004 in 150 most backward districts of the country. The main objective of this scheme is to intensify the generation of supplementary wage employment. This scheme is open to all rural poor who are willing to do unskilled labour. In return of the work, the workers are supplied foodgrains or money as they like.