5 kg a person and 35 kg a family: coverage under the National Food Security Act

Background

The National Food Security Act gives a legal entitlement to highly subsidised foodgrains through the Targeted Public Distribution System. The Act provides for coverage of up to 75 per cent of the rural population and up to 50 per cent of the urban population. On the population figures of the last completed census, that works out to about 81.35 crore people. Beneficiary households fall into two groups. Antyodaya Anna Yojana households, described in the Act as the poorest of the poor, are legally entitled to 35 kg of foodgrains per family per month. Each member of a priority household is entitled to 5 kg a month. The Central Government issues advisories asking all States and Union Territories to identify all eligible and poor households, and States keep revising their lists of beneficiaries so that false ration cards are removed and the people who qualify are reached. The Act is handled by the Union ministry for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, which answered for it in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.