Hunger in the Time of Growth: Food Insecurity, Welfare Retrenchment, and the Politics of Nutrition in India

Abstract

India has grown very fast in the last thirty years, yet hunger remains widespread across the country. Even with record levels of agricultural production and a food subsidy system that covers almost everyone, India still ranks 111th out of 125 countries in the Global Hunger Index 2023. It also continues to account for nearly one-third of the world’s undernourished people (FAO, 2023; GHI, 2023). This paper explores this contradiction—why economic growth has not translated into better nutrition—by looking at the structural and political factors that shape food insecurity in India.
Using secondary data from NFHS-5 (2019–21), NSS 77th Round (2019–20), and FAOSTAT, the study examines how fiscal tightening, growing privatization in agriculture, and fragmented welfare programs have deepened nutritional inequality across class, caste, and gender. The analysis shows that low real wages, rising prices of essential food items, and shifts toward targeted welfare—especially in the PDS and ICDS—have weakened the social foundation of food security (Drèze & Khera, 2023; Swaminathan, 2021).
Taking a political ecology perspective, the paper argues that hunger in India is not due to lack of food but due to failures in governance and policy. The study concludes that India needs a universal system of nutrition entitlements, supported by participatory governance and fair distribution of public resources, to fulfil the constitutional vision of ensuring “freedom from hunger” in the 21st century.