Mamata Pradhan

Dr Mamata Pradhan is a scholar in development research on social protection programmes. She completed her Ph.D. in International Development from the University of East Anglia. Her Ph.D thesis involved research on understanding the demand side of social protection programmes. It specifically focussed on the world’s largest food-based safety net, that is, the case of public distribution of food in India. Her earlier work portfolio at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) based in India involved a large-scale multi-state and multi-stakeholder project focussed on issues of nutrition security. Her research has frequently utilised Net-Map, a participatory interview method for mapping power and networks. Apart from this large-scale project she has been involved in several other projects related to nutrition and public health. She is presently engaged in a transect study where urban, rural, and peri-urban food systems are studied across socioeconomic and location differences. Presently she is working as a research collaborator with IFPRI. She also researches on institutional solutions for smallholder agriculture in the form of farmer organisations in India and some ASEAN countries.

सार्वजनिक वितरण प्रणाली (पीडीएस), राष्ट्रीय खाद्य सुरक्षा अधिनियम और कोविड-19
2013 में लागू किया गया राष्ट्रीय खाद्य सुरक्षा अधिनियम (एनएफएसए) सार्वजनिक वितरण प्रणाली (पीडीएस) में मूलभूत सुधार ले आया और सबसे महत्वपूर्ण इसके जरिये कानूनी रूप से भोजन का अधिकार' दिया गया। यह लेख बिहार, ओडिशा और उत्तर प्रदेश में किये गए प्राथमिक सर्वेक्षण के आधार पर, एनएफएसए के लागू होने के बाद और कोविड-19 संकट के दौरान, सार्वजनिक वितरण प्रणाली (पीडीएस) में हुए परिवर्तनों का पता लगाता है।

PDS, National Food Security Act, and Covid-19
Introduced in 2013, the National Food Security Act (NFSA) brought about fundamental reforms in the public distribution system (PDS) and most importantly, declared a legal ‘right to food’. Based on a primary survey in Bihar, Odisha, and Uttar Pradesh, this article traces the changes in the PDS post NFSA, and during the Covid-19 crisis.
