Food security in India: recent advances and emerging challenges

India has made remarkable strides in improving food security over the past two decades. Among the most impactful measures are the National Food Security Act (2013) and the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) 2005, both of which have transformed the landscape of social protection. This talk will highlight the achievements of these landmark policies, while also addressing the challenges they have encountered along the way. In recent years, new issues have emerged, particularly with the use of inappropriate digital technologies in food security programs, including those designed for children. Join us for an engaging discussion on these critical developments and their implications for the future.

SPEAKER:

Doctor Reetika Khera is a professor of economics at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi where she currently occupies the Narendra and Chandra Singhi Chair Professor. She works on social policy in India, especially food, health and nutrition, social security, conducting primary field studies across the country for the past 20 years. She has published widely in professional journals as well as popular media. She earned her PhD in Economics at the Delhi School of Economics and completed a post-doc at Princeton. She has been a visitor to King's College London (2016), Stanford University (2017) and taught at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (2018–2020).