National Food Security Act, 2013
Government of India enacted National Food Security Act (NFSA) in July, 2013.
- · It gives legal entitlement to 67% of the population (75% in rural areas and 50% in urban areas) to receive highly subsidized foodgrains for a period of three years from its enactment.
- · This subsidised price is also known as Central Issue Prices (CIPs).
- · Under the act, nutri-cereals, wheat and rice are allocated to eligible households at Rs. 1/-, Rs. 2/- and Rs. 3/- per kg respectively through Targeted Public Distribution Systems (TPDS).
· Categories of beneficiaries under the Act:
- - Priority households: Beneficiaries under this category receive foodgrain at 5 kg per person per month at the subsidised price.
- - Antyodhya Anna Yojana (AAY) families: They receive foodgrains at 35 kg per family per month at subsidised price
- · Coverage under the Act is based on the population figures of Census, 2011.
- · The state-wise coverage ratio of NFSA based on the rural and urban coverage ratio of 75:50 was done using the National Sample Survey Household Consumption Expenditure coverage under food security law Survey data for 2011-12.
- · The annual allocation of foodgrain under National Food Security Act and Other Welfare Schemes is about 610 Lakh Metric Tons.
- · Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Consumer Affair, Food and Public Distribution.
- · Any amendment to the act mandates parliamentary approval.
Issues in discussion
The issues concerning the act that have been in discussion for quite a while now are:
1. Revision of the CIPs:
- - The subsidised prices were fixed only for a period of three years from the commencement of the act (July 3, 2013) bringing it to an end on July 5, 2016.
- - But the government has not yet revised the CIPs.
- - One of the criteria for revision is that the revised price should not exceed the MSP for wheat and coarse grain and derived price for rice.
2. Updation of population coverage under the act:
- - As per 2011 census, currently, 81.35 crore persons are covered under the act.
- - Section 9 of NFSA gives the Centre the authority to decide the percentage of beneficiaries covered under the act.
- - Considering the increase in population since 2013, states and UTs have been demanding an updation of the list with an annual updating system under NFSA.
NITI Aayog’s recommendations
- · Recently, NITI Aayog was asked by the concerned ministry to recommend measures to address the issue of coverage of beneficiaries.
- · The think tank recommended reduction of the beneficiary coverage ratio from the current 75:50 (rural:urban) to 60:40.
- · This would bring down the number of people covered under the act to 71.62 crores at estimated population levels of 2020. This in-turn will reduce the expenditure for the government by Rs.47,229 crore.
- · On the other hand, non reduction of the coverage ratio will result in an increase of beneficiaries by 8.17 crores to 89.52 crores, thereby increasing government expenditure by Rs.14,800 crore
- · Any changes made to the act would require amending the act with parliamentary approval
Other recommendations
- · In the past, the Shanta Kumar Committee, which submitted its report in January 2015 on “Reorienting the role and restructuring of Food Corporation of India”, had recommended reducing the coverage ratio from 67% of the country’s population to 40%.
- · The Economic Survey 2020-21 had also recommended a revision of the Central Issue Prices (CIP) of foodgrains released from the central pool, observing that the food subsidy, at its current level of Rs 4,22,618 crore, has become unmanageably large.
