What are the salient features of the National Food Security Act, 2013? How has the Food Security Bill helped in eliminating hunger and malnutrition in India?

Govt. of India in 2013 enacted The National Food Security Act to provide subsidized food grains to 75% of the rural population and 50% of the urban population totalling around 84 crore people. Following are some of the important features of the Act:

• The Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) beneficiaries are provided 35 kg per month per family @ Rs. 3/kg rice, Rs. 2/kg wheat and Rs. 1 per kg coarse grains. 

• Priority households are provided 5 kg per person per month @ Rs. 3/kg rice, Rs. 2/kg wheat and Rs. 1 per kg coarse grains.

• Women are provided free meal during pregnancy and up to six months after child birth through Aanganwadi and Rs. 6000 in instalments.

• Children aged 6 months to 6 yrs are provided free meal at local Anganwadi. 

• Children aged 6 yrs to 14 yrs are provided mid-day meal scheme at school.

• The eldest woman who is not less than 18 years of age, in every eligible household, are made the head of the household for the purpose of ration cards. 

• Food security bill has to a certain extent helped in eliminating hunger but it has not been able to

eliminate malnutrition in India. 

This is due to the following reasons:

• The food supplied under the Act is not sufficient to meet the quantity and quality requirements of a family. India has slipped to 101st place out of 116 countries in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2021, down from 94th place in 2020. 

• As per the Act, mostly wheat & rice are supplied which lacks most of the nutrients required to eliminate malnutrition in children.

• Nutrition encompasses more than simple food. It includes factors such as health, water, sanitation, gender perspectives, and social standards, to which the Act does not cater to.

• Hunger & Malnutrition can be dramatically reduced, if not eliminated, within a decade through a massive public health campaign: This would ensure a modern sewerage and sanitation system in every urban, semi-urban and semi-rural area and pure drinking water, septic tanks and lavatories in rural areas.