Food for the Footloose: An Analysis of the Mukhyamantri Dal Bhat Yojana in Jharkhand

Bhaskar, Anjor (2025) Food for the Footloose: An Analysis of the Mukhyamantri Dal Bhat Yojana in Jharkhand. Working Paper. Azim Premji University, Bengaluru.

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Abstract

There is a large and growing mobile, unsettled, kitchenless population ‘out there’ which lacks food and nutrition security. Most of them belong to the unorganised sector and many of them face extremely harsh living and working conditions. This footloose population is largely excluded from most social security interventions. Many of them, particularly migrant workers, do not possess documents which enable them to purchase grain from the subsidised public distribution system. They also suffer from much higher rates of undernutrition than the settled populations. However, despite the obvious threat of hunger and food insecurity among the footloose, the subject has largely remained ignored like a blind spot in the academic and policy discourse on hunger, food security and urbanisation. Policies to set up and operate canteens providing subsidised cooked meals offer a solution for the food and nutrition insecurity faced by the urban poor footloose. However, their precise role and performance has not been studied or understood. This study of the Mukhyamantri Dal Bhat Yojana in Ranchi city of Jharkhand, therefore, is expected to help to understand the role of a state sponsored subsidised meal programme in addressing food insecurity of the urban footloose poor. Through a comprehensive analysis of the programme, it attempts to understand the performance of the policy as well as understand factors which drive its performance.

Item Type:	Monograph (Working Paper)
Authors:	Bhaskar, Anjor
Document Language:	Language English
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Food Security, Welfare Policy, Implementation, Policy Process, Footloose
Subjects:	Social sciences Social sciences > Political Science > Public policy
Divisions:	Azim Premji University - Bengaluru > University Publications > Working Paper
Full Text Status:	Public
Related URLs:	DOI
URI:	http://publications.azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/id/eprint/6118
Publisher URL:	https://azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/

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