Draft National Food
Security (Amendment) Bill, 2026
Prelims: NFSA 2013 | Antyodaya Anna
Yojana | TPDS
GS-II: Welfare Schemes | Food Security | Vulnerable Sections
Why in News?
The Department
of Food and Public Distribution released the Draft National Food Security
(Amendment) Bill, 2026 for public consultation. It proposes changing the
foodgrain entitlement of Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) beneficiaries from
a purely household-based entitlement to a partly per-capita framework.
Proposed Change
1.
Under the existing Section 3(1) of the
National Food Security Act, 2013:
i.
AAY Households: 35 kg
of foodgrains per household per month.
ii.
Priority Households (PHH): 5 kg
per person per month.
1.
The draft proposes:
i.
AAY Entitlement: 7 kg
per person per month.
ii.
Household Ceiling:
Maximum 35 kg per AAY household per month.
2.
The draft therefore does not
simply raise AAY entitlement universally. It changes the internal distribution
formula while retaining a 35 kg household ceiling.
Why the Amendment Has Been
Proposed
1.
The existing household entitlement
produces unequal per-capita outcomes.
2. A
two-member AAY household receiving 35 kg obtains a much higher per-person
allocation than a six-member household receiving the same quantity.
3. The
proposed amendment seeks to address this intra-category inequity by
aligning entitlement more closely with household size while maintaining an
upper limit. The Department explicitly links the proposal to more rational
allocation and nutritional requirements.
National Food Security Act,
2013
1.
The NFSA adopts a rights-based
approach to food security rather than treating food assistance solely as an
executive welfare scheme.
2. It
provides coverage of up to:
i.
75% of the rural population
ii.
50% of the urban population
3. The
Act covers approximately 81.35 crore persons based on the statutory
framework and Census-linked coverage.
4. Its
broader life-cycle approach also includes nutritional entitlements for children,
pregnant women and lactating mothers, apart from foodgrain entitlements
under the Targeted Public Distribution System.
Institutional Architecture
1.
Central Government:
Procurement, allocation and movement of foodgrains to designated depots.
2. States/UTs:
Identification of beneficiaries, intra-State distribution, ration cards and
supervision of Fair Price Shops.
3. Thus,
NFSA implementation is inherently a cooperative federal function,
combining central procurement capacity with State-level beneficiary
administration.
Policy Implications of the
Draft
1.
Equity: Per-capita
allocation can reduce the disadvantage faced by larger AAY households within
the existing 35 kg structure.
2. Targeting: Since
AAY covers the poorest households, changes in entitlement directly affect
highly vulnerable families.
3. Nutrition: Grain
entitlement remains only one dimension of food security; dietary diversity,
protein intake and micronutrient adequacy remain separate concerns.
4. Fiscal
and Procurement Management: Changes in entitlement formulas must be
integrated with procurement, storage and State-wise allocation systems.
5. The
proposal should therefore be viewed as a distributional correction within
NFSA, not a replacement of the broader food-security architecture.