New Delhi: A Indian government document found that significant changes are unfolding in India’s food consumption pattern. The share of total household expenditure on food has fallen dramatically in rural and urban areas, as well as across all states and union territories (UTs), since 1947.
According to the paper’ Changes in India’s Food Consumption and Policy Implications,’ the Economic Advisory Council (EAC) to the Prime Minister, this is the first time in modern India (post-independence) that average household spending on food is less than half the overall monthly spending of households, a marker of significant progress.
Within food items, the share of expenditure on cereal has declined significantly across rural and urban areas.
“However, this decline was more substantial for the bottom 20 per cent of the households in rural and urban areas. This is a clear indication of the effectiveness of the government’s food security policies, which provide free food grains to large numbers of beneficiaries across all states of the country, with a particular focus on the vulnerable bottom 20 per cent of households,” the findings showed, indicating reassurance about the effectiveness of these policies.
Mumbai Metro Will Run Extended Train Services During Ganapati Festival
The significant decline in the share of cereals in household expenditures has allowed households to diversify their diets, with increased spending on milk and milk products, fresh fruits, eggs, fish, and meat, bringing a sense of optimism about the changing food consumption patterns.
Schemes like PMGKAY, which provides free food grains to approximately 800 million eligible people across the country, seem to have performed the role of an expansionary fiscal policy where households are spending their ‘saved expenditure’ from cereals on diverse food items.
The paper said that significant changes in the food composition of household expenditures have implications for agriculture policy and the country’s health and nutrition policies. Indians’ changing consumption baskets will also impact the calculation of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in the future.
“As household demand shifts and supply factors improve, the government should continue to support agricultural policies that promote the production and accessibility of diverse food items, mainly fruits, vegetables, and animal-source foods,” read the paper.
Agriculture policies must be tailored beyond cereals, whose consumption is declining across all wealth classes of society.
“At the same time, support policies like MSP, which overwhelmingly targets cereal procurement, will have a limited impact on the welfare of farmers,” it noted.
The EAC-PM paper also observed a significant increase in the share of household expenditure on served and packaged processed food.
This increase was universal across the classes but more pronounced for the country’s top 20 per cent of households and significantly more in urban areas.
“While food processing is a growth sector and a significant creator of jobs, this rising consumption of processed and packaged food will also likely affect health outcomes,” the paper stressed, underlining the urgency of policies to regulate the nutritional content of these foods and promote healthier alternatives.
For more updates Subscribe to Media Eye News
–IANS
