Govt receives 108 comments on draft Bill to change AAY foodgrain entitlement norm: MoS

The Union Government has received around 108 comments from the public on the draft National Food Security (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to replace the fixed household-based allocation under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) with a per-person entitlement, Parliament was informed on Tuesday, August 4.

The draft Bill proposes that AAY households be given 7 kg of foodgrain per person every month, subject to a ceiling of 35 kg per household, instead of the current flat entitlement of 35 kg per household irrespective of its size. The window for public comments on the draft closed on July 13.

Responding to a question from Congress chief Mallikarjuna Kharge, Minister of State for Food Nimuben Jayantibhai Bambhaniya said 108 comments and suggestions have been received from various stakeholders, including members of the public, on the proposed amendment.

"The government is mindful of the concerns raised by the public and remains committed to consultation, dialogue and consensus-building," she said in her written reply to the Upper House.

The minister said there are 26,81,565 AAY households in the country with more than five members. Under the existing flat-rate system, she noted, the entitlement for such larger households works out to less than 7 kg of foodgrain per person per month.

Bambhaniya said her ministry had carried out an analysis of AAY household data to study how foodgrain entitlements are distributed, which revealed sharp disparities in per-capita availability linked to household size.

Large AAY households, those with more than seven members, receive less than 5 kg of foodgrain per person a month, lower than the 5 kg per person entitlement given to Priority Households (PHH) under the National Food Security Act. In contrast, small AAY households with one or two members receive substantially higher per-capita quantities, he said.

"These variations result in inequities within the AAY category and highlight the need to examine the existing entitlement structure to ensure greater equity and fairness in foodgrain distribution," the minister added.