1:Time to Sort Out India’s Cereal Mess: Reforming Paddy Procurement
Syllabus
- GS-III: Major crops cropping patterns in various parts of the country; Public Distribution System—objectives, functioning, limitations, revamping; issues of buffer stocks and food security.
Context
The editorial addresses the systemic issues in India’s foodgrain procurement system, triggered by excessive and unsustainable paddy stocks, highlighted by procurement woes in states like Tamil Nadu. It calls for fundamental reform to ensure both food security and ecological sustainability.
Main Body: Multidimensional Analysis
Economic and Food Security Dimension
India’s central pool stocks for rice and wheat have consistently exceeded mandated buffer norms, often by two or three times. While this ensures food security and the successful operation of the Public Distribution System (PDS), it represents an immense fiscal cost (food subsidy bill) and leads to inefficiency in storage and management. The editorial questions the sustainability of this procurement model which generates massive surpluses.
Ecological and Cropping Pattern Dimension
The current procurement policy, heavily skewed toward paddy (rice) and wheat via the Minimum Support Price (MSP) mechanism, encourages monoculture. This is ecologically devastating, particularly in regions like Punjab, Haryana, and Tamil Nadu, where it leads to severe water scarcity (paddy is a water-guzzling crop), undermines soil health, and increases fertilizer use. The system creates a misalignment between national food needs (promoting crop diversification) and farm-level economic incentives (growing only rice/wheat).
Policy and Reform Dimension
A key challenge is the limited role of alternative crops and farmer organizations. The editorial implicitly argues for a shift towards a more diversified procurement system that includes millets and pulses to address nutritional security and ecological balance. It suggests that farmer organizations could potentially manage local storage and decentralized procurement, reducing the burden on the central agencies (FCI) and improving efficiency. The focus must shift from simply ensuring procurement to ensuring sustainable and balanced crop cultivation.
Positives, Negatives, & Government Schemes
| Aspect | Description |
| Positives | Food Security: Guarantees sufficient national buffer stocks to manage emergencies and run welfare schemes (PDS). Income Stability: MSP provides a floor price, guaranteeing income stability for a large segment of farmers. |
| Negatives | Ecological Damage: Exacerbates groundwater depletion, especially in non-traditional rice-growing areas. Fiscal Unsustainability: Drives a massive and increasing food subsidy bill for the government. Storage and Waste: Massive surplus stocks lead to storage bottlenecks and significant post-harvest losses due to inadequate infrastructure. |
| Relevant Schemes | Minimum Support Price (MSP): The price signal that drives the current procurement imbalance. National Food Security Act (NFSA): The legal mandate that requires the government to maintain large stocks for the PDS. Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY): Crop insurance scheme, but the core issue remains with procurement incentives. |
Relevant Examples
- Tamil Nadu Procurement Glitches: Localized issues in a state-level procurement often expose the underlying fragility of the centralized, high-volume system.
- Water Depletion in Punjab: A classic case where the economic incentive of MSP for paddy has led to a major environmental crisis (rapidly falling water tables).
Way Forward
- Diversification Incentive: Introduce a Minimum Support Price (MSP) for Millets and Pulses that is highly attractive, coupled with procurement infrastructure for these crops to incentivize farmers to switch away from paddy.
- Decentralized Storage: Promote the construction of scientific, decentralized storage facilities (like silos and local godowns) managed through farmer cooperatives or private players to reduce reliance on the overburdened FCI.
- Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT): Pilot a Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme for food subsidy in place of physical PDS grain distribution in select areas to reduce procurement volume and storage requirements.
Conclusion
The current cereal mess is a consequence of treating procurement only as a food security measure, ignoring its ecological and fiscal impact. Sorting it out requires a paradigm shift: policy must align economic incentives with environmental needs, making food security sustainable, diversified, and fiscally prudent.
2: Unpacking the Global ‘Happiness’ Rankings: Beyond Economic Measures
Syllabus
- GS-I: Salient features of Indian Society; Diversity of India.
- GS-IV (Ethics): Human Values—lessons from the lives and teachings of great leaders, reformers and administrators.
Context
The editorial discusses the implications of the World Happiness Report 2025 rankings, which often place economically powerful nations lower and highlight the complex factors that define national well-being beyond mere GDP figures, prompting a debate on the definition of ‘happiness’ in a developing country like India.
Main Body: Multidimensional Analysis
Economic vs. Holistic Dimension
Traditional economic metrics like GDP measure monetary transactions and production flow but often fail to capture true human well-being. The Happiness Report uses a composite index based on six key factors: GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity, and perception of corruption. The disparity (e.g., India’s high GDP but relatively low ranking) underscores that the quality of life, social capital, and institutional trust are more crucial for national happiness than economic aspiration alone.
Social Capital and Trust Dimension
Countries consistently ranking high (like Finland) demonstrate high levels of social trust, strong welfare systems, and a deep-seated sense of community and fairness. The editorial suggests that India needs to rebuild its social capital through stronger community fabric, shared public spaces, and inter-generational engagement. When citizens trust their institutions and each other, they feel more secure and respected, which translates directly to higher well-being, irrespective of short-term economic fluctuations.
Mental Health and Governance Dimension
The editorial links happiness to effective governance and mental health. Simplified, transparent, and reliable public services (from accessing ration cards to public transport) create a feeling of security and respect for the citizen. Furthermore, it emphasizes that mental health is an economic imperative; stress, anxiety, and depression—often exacerbated by institutional failure—directly impact productivity. Integrating psychological well-being into economic strategy, as highlighted by WHO estimates, yields substantial returns.
Positives, Negatives, & Government Schemes
| Aspect | Description |
| Positives | Policy Shift: Promotes a policy discourse that includes well-being, sustainability, and social equity alongside economic growth. Community Focus: Highlights the importance of strengthening social bonds and institutional trust. Mental Health Integration: Puts a necessary focus on mental health as a core economic and social indicator. |
| Negatives | Subjectivity of Happiness: The methodology relies heavily on subjective surveys, which can be influenced by cultural biases and short-term events. Comparative Bias: Rankings often lead to simplistic, unfavorable comparisons, diverting attention from real domestic challenges. |
| Relevant Schemes | Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM): Can integrate mental health services into the digital health ecosystem. Fit India Movement/Yoga: Promotes physical and mental wellness as part of public health initiatives. |
Relevant Examples
- Finland’s Ranking: Consistently topping the list due to high social safety nets and trust.
- Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness (GNH): A global pioneer in using a non-economic, holistic measure of national progress.
Way Forward
- National Well-being Index: Develop an India-specific National Well-being Index that is sensitive to local cultural, social, and economic realities.
- Institutional Trust: Focus on governance reforms to ensure simplified, transparent, and responsive public service delivery to build institutional trust.
- Mental Health Infrastructure: Increase the budget allocation for and infrastructure of mental health services, ensuring integration with primary healthcare at the community level.
Conclusion
True national progress must be measured by the well-being of its citizens, not just the size of its economy. By prioritizing social capital, institutional integrity, and psychological well-being, India can move toward a more holistic path where aspiration is paired with empathy, making its growth truly inclusive and sustainable.
