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Gender justice and food security: The case of public distribution system in India

Author

Listed:
  • Mamata Pradhan

    (School of International Development, University of East Anglia (UEA), Norwich Research Park, Norwich.)

  • Nitya Rao

    (School of International Development, University of East Anglia (UEA), Norwich Research Park, Norwich.)

Abstract

This article contributes to the debates around food and nutrition security from a perspective of gender justice, central to which is the recognition of men and women as having equal rights and entitlements to a life free from hunger and malnutrition. Using both quantitative and qualitative data from the Indian state of Bihar, we assess various elements of gender justice through the functioning of the Public Distribution System, the largest food-based safety net programme in the world. Despite universal entitlements, we find that power relations embedded in local politics, caste and class heterogeneity and political economy considerations, mediate the gendered access to food through state transfers.

Suggested Citation

  • Mamata Pradhan & Nitya Rao, 2018. "Gender justice and food security: The case of public distribution system in India," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 18(4), pages 252-266, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:prodev:v:18:y:2018:i:4:p:252-266
    DOI: 10.1177/1464993418786795
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ashwini Deshpande, 2002. "Assets versus Autonomy? The Changing Face of the Gender-Caste Overlap in India," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(2), pages 19-35.
    2. Ashwini Deshpande, 2007. "Overlapping Identities under Liberalization: Gender and Caste in India," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 55(4), pages 735-760, July.
    3. Angus Deaton and Jean Drèze & Jean Drèze, 2002. "Poverty and Inequality in India: A Reexamination," Working papers 107, Centre for Development Economics, Delhi School of Economics.
    4. Jean Drèze & Reetika Khera, 2013. "Rural Poverty And The Public Distribution System," Working papers 235, Centre for Development Economics, Delhi School of Economics.
    5. Bina Agarwal, 1997. "''Bargaining'' and Gender Relations: Within and Beyond the Household," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 3(1), pages 1-51.
    6. Hemanshu Kumar & Rohini Somanathan, 2017. "Caste connections and government transfers- The Mahadalits of Bihar," Working papers 270, Centre for Development Economics, Delhi School of Economics.
    7. repec:pri:rpdevs:deaton_dreze_poverty_india is not listed on IDEAS
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    Cited by:

    1. Neetu Abey George & Fiona H. McKay, 2019. "The Public Distribution System and Food Security in India," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-14, September.
    2. Kumar, Shashank & Raut, Rakesh D. & Queiroz, Maciel M. & Narkhede, Balkrishna E., 2021. "Mapping the barriers of AI implementations in the public distribution system: The Indian experience," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).

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