National
Food Security Act, 2013
The Constitution of India does not recognise
the right to food as a fundamental right under Article. But it can be covered
under the ambit of right to live with human dignity. Article 47 also imposes a
duty upon states to raise the level of nutrition and standard of living and
improve public health. Food security was previously dealt with under the Public
Distribution System (PDS) and the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS).
National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA) brought a drastic change in Food
Distribution and Security schemes and protocols. After the enactment of the new
Act, 67% of the population was entitled to receive highly subsidised
foodgrains.
Salient Feature of the Act
Various new features of the Act has been
discussed below:
1. Targeted Public Distribution System: Under
this system, the households identified by the government as 'Priority
Households' are entitled to 5 kg of foodgrains per person per month at
subsidised prices. For targeting these types of households, Antodyan Anna Yojna
was launched by the government in December 2000. Now this scheme comes under
NFSA and households identified are entitled to thirty-five kilograms of food
grains per person per month at prices ranging from Rs. 3 – Rs. 1 per kg.
Children between the age group of 6 months to 6 years, including children
suffering from malnutrition, will be provided with free meals by the local
'Anganwadi'. Children between 6 years to 14 years will be provided with mid-day
meals in government schools or government-aided schools. Pregnant women and
lactating mothers will also be provided free meals and maternity benefits of
Rs. 6000.
2. Identification of Eligible Households: The
task of identifying eligible households are done by the respective states/UTs.
The states/UTs can frame their own criteria or use Socie Economic and Caste
Census data. People living in tribal areas or hilly areas are paid special
attention.
3. Commission: The Act establishes a State
Food Commission with the objective of monitoring and evaluating the
implementation of the Act and advising the state government. The commission
consists of of a chairperson, five other members and a member secretary. The
commission is also tasked with preparing an annual report for presenting before
the legislature and Act as the appellate authority for District Grievance
Redressal Officers.
4. Grievance Redressal: The Act provides
two-tier grievance redressal mechanism: the State Commissions and District
Grievance Redressal Officers (DRGO). The DRGO are appointed by the State
Government, and the State Commission is the appellate authority for every
complaint filed before DRGO.
5. Transparency and Accountability: Section 27
of NFSA provides that all TDPS records should be placed in the public domain.
Section 28 further provides that local authorities authorised by the state
government should conduct periodic social audits on the functioning of fair
price shops, TPDS and other welfare schemes and take necessary actions in such
manner as may be prescribed by the state government.
6. Penalties: Section 33 of the Act provides
that any public servant or authority found guilty, by the State Commission at
the time of deciding any complaint or appeal, of failing to provide the relief
recommended by the District Grievance Redressal Officer, without reasonable
cause, or wilfully ignoring such recommendation, shall be liable to a penalty
not exceeding five thousand rupees.
7. Compensation: Section 8 of the Act provides
that in case of non-supply of the entitled quantities of foodgrains or meals to
entitled persons, such persons shall be entitled to receive such food security
allowance from the concerned State Government to be paid to each person, within
such time and manner as may be prescribed by the Central Government.
8. Reforms in Targeted Public Distribution
System: Section 12 of the Act provides that the Central Government shall
endeavour to progressively undertake necessary reforms in the Targeted Public
Distribution System in consonance with the role envisaged for them in this
Act.
The reforms shall, inter alia, include—
(a) doorstep delivery of foodgrains to the
Targeted Public Distribution System outlets;
(b) application of information and
communication technology tools including end-to-end computerisation in order to
ensure transparent recording of transactions at all levels, and to prevent
diversion;
(c) leveraging "aadhaar" for unique
identification, with biometric information of entitled beneficiaries for proper
targeting of benefits under this Act;
(d) full transparency of records;
(e) preference to public institutions or
public bodies such as Panchayats, selfhelp groups, co-operatives, in-licensing
of fair price shops and management of fair price shops by women or their
collectives;
(f) diversification of commodities distributed
under the Public Distribution System over a period of time;
(g) support to local public distribution
models and grains banks;
(h) introducing schemes, such as cash
transfer, food coupons, or other schemes, to the targeted beneficiaries in
order to ensure their foodgrain entitlements specified in Chapter II, in such
area and manner as may be prescribed by the Central Government.
9. Obligation of the Central Government: The
central government shall provide for ensuring the regular supply of foodgrains
to persons belonging to eligible households, allocate from the central pool the
required quantity of foodgrains to the State Governments under the Targeted
Public Distribution System.
10. Obligation of the State Government: The
State Government shall be responsible for implementation and monitoring of the
schemes of various Ministries and Departments of the Central Government in
accordance with guidelines issued by the Central Government for each scheme,
and their own schemes, for ensuring food security to the targeted beneficiaries
in their State.
Amendments and New Bill
The National Food Security (Amendment) Bill,
2018 has been introduced in Lok Sabha to amend the National Food Security Act,
2013. The Proposed Changes are enumerated below:
l The definition of 'Food Security' given under
Section 2(6) should be changed and include an exception condition of war in
which the supply of food to the entitled persons will not be possible.
l The definition of 'Meal' given under Section
2(9) is to be modified and include s fresh hot cooked food made from locally
procured material and does not include pre-cooked meals or take-home
ration;".
l Changes in Section 3 have to be made to
entitle any person the option to take food grains of their choice rather as
specified by the state government.
l Changes under Section 8 has to be made to
substitute the words "entitled quantities of foodgrains or meals"
with the words "entitled quantities of foodgrains of the recipient's
choice or meals".
l Clause (h) of subsection (2) of Section 12
shall be omitted.
l The words, "flood, drought, fire, cyclone
or earthquake" under section 44 shall be omitted the proviso given under
section 44 should also be omitted.