NATIONAL FOOD SECURITY ACT (NFSA)

The National Food Security Act, 2013 (also referred to as Right to Food Act) was passed by the
Parliament of India on 12 Sept, 2013 and enacted retroactively from 5 July 2013, the day on which the
National Food Security Ordinance came into force. The intent of the NFSA was spelt in the Lok Sabha
Committee Report The National Food Security Bill, 2011, Twenty Seventh Report) which states Food
Security means availability of sufficient food grains to meet the domestic demand as well as access, at
the individual level, to adequate quantities of food at affordable prices. The report also mentions - The
proposed legislation marks a paradigm shift in addressing the problem of food security from the current
welfare approach to rights based approach. About two thirds (67%) of the population will be entitled to
received subsidized food grains under Targeted Public Distribution System. In a country where 40% of the
children are undernourished, the importance of the scheme increases significantly.
Welfare approach means the benefit given to the citizens by the government is a means of welfare and
not a basic right of the citizens. Such welfare measures are suggested in the section Directive Principle
of State Policy of the Indian Constitution. The Article 47 reads Duty of the government to raise the level
of nutrition and the standard of living and to improve public health. The PDS system was in compliance
with this Article up to now when subsidized food was provided as a welfare measure. With the enacting of
the NFSA, which is also said to be Right to Food, providing free food has become an obligation on the
government. The Act says in case of non availability of food-grains, the person shall be entitled to receive
food security allowance from the state government. A District Grievance Redressal Officer shall be
appointed to address the grievances of the aggrieved person. Although no Constitutional Amendment has
been enacted to make this right a Constitutional Right the Article 21 in the Fundamental Rights Right to
life and liberty- can be interpreted to cover Right to Food as well.
Provisions of the bill:
1. Public Distribution System (PDS): Priority households are entitled to 5 kg of food grains per person per
month, and Antyodaya households to 35 kg food grains per month. The eligible households (both
Antyodaya and Priority households) shall extend up to 75% of rural population and 50% of urban
population. Issue price of food grains is Rs. 3/2/1 per kg for rice/wheat/millets.
2. Children Entitlements: For children in the age group 6 months to 6 years, an age-appropriate meal shall
be provided free of charge through the local Anganwadi. For children in the age group 6 years to 14
years, one free mid day meal shall be provided in all government and government aided school up to
class VIII. For children below 6 months of age, exclusive breastfeeding shall be promoted. For children
suffering from malnutrition, free meal shall be provided through local Anganwadi.
3. Entitlements for Pregnant and Lactating women: Every pregnant and lactating woman is entitled to a
free meal at the local Anganwadi, during pregnancy and six months after child birth. A maternity benefit
of Rs. 6000/- is also available in installments.
4. Eligibility Criteria: The identification of eligible households is left to the state government subject to
the schemes guidelines for Antyodaya and subject to the guidelines to be specified by the state
governments for the priority households.
5. Women Involvement: In order to improve the participation of women, the Act says that any women over
the age of 18 years shall be the head of the household. In case, the family does not have any woman
member over the age of 18 years, a male can become the head of the household.
6. Grievance Redressal Mechanism: The state government shall appoint or designate a District Grievance
Redressal Officer for expeditious and effective redressal of grievances of the aggrieved person
Criticism of the Bill
The Bill has been criticized on political, economic as well as implementation front. The political leaders
are of the opinion that the bill is more of a political gimmick to catch votes. The economic analysts are of
the opinion that the country is ill equipped to undertake such a huge burden on the government.

Implementation side, the PDS is well known to be inefficient and leaky. The Act might well encourage
hoarding, black marketing and diversion of the grains to open market. Furthermore, the infrastructure
(storage and transportation) of the country needs to be improved to meet the requirements of the Act.
Also, the text of the Act does not speak about the eligibility criteria to select the beneficiaries. The Act
requires the beneficiaries to have an Adhar card which is not universally found in the country. The PDS
system needs to improve on the technology as well as efficiency front to implement the provisions of the
Act.
In short, the logistics need to be worked out and the infrastructure needs to be improved befor e the full
potential of the Act can be unleashed.

Global Effects of the Act

The World Trade Organization (WTO) has apprehensions about the NFSA. The major concern areas of WTO
are
1. Export prices are determined by both diverted grains and open market prices. As the Indian Public
Distribution System is highly leaky, the export prices are expected to be affected by the NFSA.
2. In case of scarcity of grains due to bad weather, India will need to import to meet the gap for buffer
norms. However this scenario might be rare, it might lead to spike in the international prices.
3. Given the amount of transportation, storage and leakage cost in the PDS, the cost of grain per kg
distributed by the system happens to be over twice the market price. Hence, the subsidy given is
around 200% of the market price to keep the price as low as Rs. 1/2/3 per kg. This high amount of
subsidy can distort the domestic as well as the international trade.
4. The right to food to the hungry, as acclaimed by the Act cannot be enforced judicially as of date.
Antyodaya Anna Yojna (AAY): AAY is an Indian government sponsored scheme for ten million of the
poorest of the poor families. It was launched in 2000. It provides 35kgs of rice and wheat at Rs. 3 and Rs
2 per kg respectively.
Anganwadi: Anganwadi was stated by the Indian government in 1975 as part of the Integrated Child
Development Scheme (ICDS) to combat child hunger and malnutrition. It is part of the Indian public
healthcare system.