GS Paper III 2021 · Q13
15 marks · 250 words Farm subsidies, MSP, PDS & food security X-Ray · Core #73What 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 ?
Approach · directive: “what / how has”
What it asks · State the salient features of the National Food Security Act, 2013 and assess how far it has reduced hunger and malnutrition.
It asks 2 things — answer each
- State the salient features of the National Food Security Act, 2013
- Assess how far the Act has helped in eliminating hunger and malnutrition: gains, limits and the way forward
Open with · The National Food Security Act, 2013 turned food from a welfare scheme into a legal right for nearly two-thirds of Indians on Census 2011 estimates; the right is secure on paper, its effect on hunger and malnutrition is the harder test.
Cover
- Coverage: 75% rural and 50% urban population in two categories, Antyodaya and priority households.
- Entitlement: 5 kg per person per month at Rs 3, Rs 2 and Re 1 for rice, wheat and coarse grains; 35 kg per Antyodaya household.
- Nutrition rights: Rs 6,000 maternity benefit and meals for pregnant and lactating women (section 4); meals for children up to 14 (section 5); eldest woman heads the ration card.
- Accountability: District Grievance Redressal Officers, State Food Commissions and PDS transparency.
- Gains: justiciable right, ePoS and One Nation One Ration Card portability, free grain under PMGKAY; free foodgrains for 81.35 crore beneficiaries since January 2023.
- Limits: NFHS-5 (2019-21) stunting only 38.4% to 35.5%, anaemia up 58.6% to 67.1%; cereal-centric basket; Census 2011 base excludes the newly poor.
- Leakage: the Shanta Kumar Committee (2015) found PDS leakages of 40-50%, up to 60-70% in some States; way forward is diversification, delivery of sections 4 and 5, computerised PDS.
Close with · Grain in the ration shop is the floor, not the ceiling; adding diet diversity, health and sanitation to the right to food moves India to the nutrition security that sections 4 and 5 of the Act promise.
Add value (verified)
- The Department of Food and Public Distribution's own summary confirms the coverage and the two beneficiary categories, and that coverage rests on Census 2011 population estimates.Salient Features of NFSA, NFSA Portal (Department of Food and Public Distribution) ↗“The Act provides coverage for nearly 2/3 rd of the country's total population, basis Census 2011 population estimates. 75% of Rural and 50% of Urban population is entitled to receive highly subsidised foodgrains under two categories of beneficiaries”
- The Shanta Kumar High Level Committee on restructuring FCI (January 2015) found PDS leakages of 40-50%, rising to 60-70% in some States.PIB (22 January 2015): Recommendations of High Level Committee on restructuring of FCI ↗“Given that leakages in PDS range from 40 to 50 percent, and in some states go as high as 60 to 70 percent”
- The same committee held that NFSA's 67% coverage was too high and should come down to about 40%, enough to cover BPL families and some above the line.PIB (22 January 2015): Recommendations of High Level Committee on restructuring of FCI ↗“67 percent coverage of population is on much higher side, and should be brought down to around 40 percent, which will comfortably cover BPL families and some even above that”
- Cabinet decision of 23 December 2022: foodgrains free of cost for about 81.35 crore NFSA beneficiaries from 1 January 2023.PIB, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution (23 December 2022): Free foodgrains to 81.35 crore beneficiaries under National Food Security Act ↗“The Central government will provide free foodgrains to about 81.35 crore beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) for one year from January 1, 2023”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2021, GS Paper III — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer· 371words · Minimalist IAS
The National Food Security Act, 2013 turned food from a welfare scheme into a legal right: nearly two-thirds of Indians, on Census 2011 estimates, are entitled to subsidised grain. The right is secure on paper; its effect on malnutrition is the harder test.
Salient features of the Act
- Coverage: 75% rural and 50% urban population, in two categories: Antyodaya and priority households.
- Entitlement: 5 kg of foodgrains per person per month at Rs 3 for rice, Rs 2 for wheat and Re 1 for coarse grains; 35 kg per Antyodaya household.
- Nutrition rights: a maternity benefit of at least Rs 6,000 and meals for pregnant and lactating women (section 4); age-appropriate meals for children up to 14 years (section 5).
- Women-led: the eldest woman heads the ration card.
- Accountability: District Grievance Redressal Officers, State Food Commissions and PDS transparency.
| Category | Who | Entitlement |
|---|---|---|
| Priority | 75% rural, 50% urban | 5 kg per person |
| Antyodaya | poorest households | 35 kg per household |
How far it has helped against hunger
- Right, not discretion: a justiciable entitlement replaced discretionary coverage.
- Portability: ePoS authentication and One Nation One Ration Card let migrants draw rations anywhere.
- Shock absorber: free grain under PMGKAY in the pandemic; free foodgrains for about 81.35 crore NFSA beneficiaries since January 2023.
Where malnutrition persists
- Slow gains: NFHS-5 (2019-21) shows child stunting down only from 38.4% to 35.5% and child anaemia up from 58.6% to 67.1%.
- Cereal-centric: the Act secures calories, not protein, micronutrients or diet diversity.
- Leakage and exclusion: the Shanta Kumar Committee (2015) found PDS leakages of 40-50%, up to 60-70% in some States; coverage still rests on Census 2011, so the newly poor are left out.
Way forward
- Diversify the basket: millets and pulses through the PDS, so the ration shop serves nutrition, not only calories.
- Deliver sections 4 and 5: fund maternity benefits and anganwadi meals in full, with health, sanitation and women's education alongside.
- Fix the pipe: end-to-end computerisation, online beneficiary lists and an updated population base, as the Shanta Kumar Committee urged.
Grain in the ration shop is the floor, not the ceiling: adding diet diversity, health and sanitation to the right to food moves India to the nutrition security that sections 4 and 5 of the Act promise.
Prepared by Minimalist IAS to the answer standard of Shivam Singh (mentor, 7 years) · facts checked against official sources (how we verify) · updated 3 Oct 2026. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.
