While the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013 aimed to ensure food and nutritional security for poor households, numerous exclusion errors have unfortunately plagued it, leaving many families vulnerable to hunger and systemic indifference.

Stories of Exclusion:

1. Anar Devi – Sarhua village, Palamu District, Jharkhand: In December 2015, Anar Devi’s name was inexplicably removed from the Public Distribution System (PDS) list. She has spent seven years tirelessly trying to rectify this, to no avail.
2. Faguni Devi – Korba, Chhattisgarh: A 70-year-old belonging to a particularly vulnerable tribal community, Faguni Devi lives alone and cannot engage in manual labor. Since January 2022, she has received ration only twice and relies on food donations.
3. Devki – Baramsar, Jaisalmer, Rajasthan: In addition to the meager 10 kg of ration she receives through PDS, Devki depends on income from the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). However, the availability of work has been low for the past two years.

Here’s a table summarizing the data:

About National Food Security Act:

The NFSA was enacted in 2013 to provide food and nutritional security. It covers up to 75% of the rural population and 50% of the urban population under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), encompassing about two-thirds of the population. The Below Poverty Line people (Antyodaya Anna Yojana) receive 7 kg of subsidized food grains per person per month, while general households receive at least 3 kg per person per month. Pregnant and lactating women are entitle to meals and maternity benefits, restricted to two children only. The eldest woman aged 18 years or above becomes the head of the household for issuing ration cards. Recently, the government merged the PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana with NFSA. This made the food available under NFSA free of cost to beneficiaries.

Extent of Exclusion of beneficiaries:

Calculations indicate that over 150 million people are currently not make a place in the Public Distribution System. As per the Chief Minister of Rajasthan in a letter to the Prime Minister, 7.4 mn people in the state are still unable to access ration. This is due to central government-imposed ceilings.

Reasons for Exclusion:

1. Political pressure and interference in updating the list of beneficiaries for electoral gains.
2. Inadequate identification of needy households during list updates by ground-level government officials due to poor-quality surveys.
3. Migration from rural areas for employment, livelihood, and marriage, leading to household counting errors.
4. The NFSA quota of beneficiaries is based on the 2011 census, despite population growth and the postponed next census.
5. Deletion of ration cards due to increased per capita income, government data indicating fewer people need subsidized ration. This effort is to eliminate ineligible, duplicate, fake, or ghost beneficiaries.

Solutions to the Exclusion Problem:

1. Expedite surveys and release accurate data publicly. This will lead to improved policy planning and budget allocation. Additionally, use census data to revise NFSA coverage limits.
2. Leverage the government’s e-shram registration portal data, which includes Aadhar and income categories, for ration distribution.
3. Implement the One Nation One Ration Card scheme to enable NFSA beneficiaries. To access their entitlements from anywhere in the country.
4. The Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution emphasized every state to implement SMART-PDS.

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