Tuesday, February 18th, 2025

Food security saved 18 lakh children from dwarfism, information revealed in the study

New Delhi : The expansion of grain distribution, mandated through the National Food Security Act of 2013, helped prevent stunting of nearly 18 lakh children in eight states. This has been revealed in a research paper published in the Journal on Applied Economics of the American Economic Association. The study authors evaluated the impact of NFSA on child stunting, nutrition and dietary diversity.

increase in workers’ income

On behalf of economist Aditya Srinivas of IIM Bangalore, two professors of geography and economics from the Universities of California and Calgary jointly conducted the analysis. It also revealed that food transfers through PDS increased daily wages and total wage income. This improved the welfare of poor families. Additionally, it helped the poorest people cope with local climate shocks such as poor rainfall or drought.

5 kg grains to every person

NFSA standardized the quantity and prices of entitlements. In this, provision of 5 kg of staple grains per person per month was made mandatory. This includes giving grains at the rate of Rs 3 per kg for rice and Rs 2 per kg for wheat. Earlier, states had discretion over the prices and quantities offered to PDS beneficiaries. This paper provides evidence of how food transfers alone can impair child development in developing countries.

Study conducted in 8 states

In the study, random families were selected from 30 villages in eight states: Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Odisha. About 41% of India’s population lives in these states. The main focus of the study was on families with ration cards and non-eligible families, those who did not receive ration cards. The change from per-family to per-capita eligibility benefited larger families. This entailed expanding food transfers post-NFSA to states with less generous eligibility. The authors used these changes in eligibility to measure the value of PDS transfers before and after NFSA.

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