Food security in India

Food security has been a major concern in India. In 2022, the Global Food Security Index ranked India at 68th out of the 113 major countries in terms of food security.[1] In 2023, the Global Hunger Index ranked India at 111th out of 125 countries.[2] According to United Nations, there are nearly 195 million undernourished people in India that make up a quarter of the world's undernourished population. In addition, roughly 43% of children in India are chronically undernourished.[3] Though the current nutritional standards meets 100% of daily food requirements, India lags far behind in terms of a quality protein intake at 20%; this shortcoming can be alleviated by making available protein-rich food products such as soybeans, lentils, meat, eggs, dairy, etc. more readily accessible and affordable for Indian citizens.[4] The Human Rights Measurement Initiative[5] finds that India is operating at only 56.8% of its capacity based its economic power to ensure its citizens have adequate food security.[6]


In order to ensure citizens' fundamental rights to accessible and affordable food, the Parliament of India enacted the National Food Security Act in 2013. Also known as the Right to Food Act, this Act seeks to provide subsidized food grains to approximately two-thirds of India's 1.33 billion population.[7] It was signed into law on 10 September 2013, retroactive to 5 July 2013.[8][9]

  1. ^ "Global Food Security Index (GFSI)". The Economist. 7 February 2023.
  2. ^ "India slips in Global Hunger Index, ranks 107 out of 121 nations". Al Jazeera.
  3. ^ "Nutrition and Food Security - UN India". UN India. Archived from the original on 6 January 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  4. ^ "India: Global Food Security Index". Archived from the original on 12 July 2012. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  5. ^ "Human Rights Measurement Initiative – The first global initiative to track the human rights performance of countries". humanrightsmeasurement.org. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  6. ^ "India - HRMI Rights Tracker". rightstracker.org. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  7. ^ "National Food Security Act" (PDF). PRS Legislative Research. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 January 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  8. ^ "Press Information Bureau". Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  9. ^ "Food Security Act To Be Implemented From June 5". BTVI.in. Archived from the original on 17 July 2014. Retrieved 5 January 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)