Proposed NFSA Amendment Shifts AAY to Per-Capita Model, Cutting Poorest Entitlements

The National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013 provides a statutory right to subsidised foodgrains to approximately two-thirds of India's population through the Public Distribution System (PDS). The Act created two beneficiary categories: Priority Households (PHH), entitled to 5 kg of foodgrains per person per month, and Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) households, entitled to a fixed 35 kg per household per month irrespective of household size. The AAY programme itself predates the NFSA — it was launched in late 2000 to provide special protection to the poorest of the poor, with beneficiaries originally identified by local communities without rigid criteria. The Supreme Court subsequently provided a framework, directing that Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) and households with no earning member — widows living alone, elderly couples, disabled persons without support — be covered under AAY. Under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), AAY rations are currently provided free of cost.

The NFSA's design deliberately retained the household-based entitlement for AAY while shifting PHH to a per-capita model. The rationale was protective: AAY households disproportionately consist of small, fragile households — a widow living alone, an elderly couple — who would suffer severe absolute losses if their entitlement were recalculated on a per-person basis. The household floor of 35 kg thus functioned as an economic safety net, not merely a food ration.