Chennai, July 6: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Monday urged the Centre to reconsider the proposed amendment to the NFS Act and retain the existing allotment of 35 kg rice to poor families under the Antodaya Anna Yojana.
Presently, 65,261 MT of coarse grains such as rice, wheat and ragi are allocated every month for AAY cardholders in Tamil Nadu, and this entire quantity is supplied by the Centre free of cost, he said.
“Once the proposed amendment – the National Food Security (Amendment) Bill, 2026 – takes effect, the Government of India’s supply, computed on the seven-kilogram per person norm, would fall to approximately 42,040 MT, affecting the lives of the more than 70 lakh poor, vulnerable and marginalised sections of the society,” the chief minister said in a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Tamil Nadu, he said, has consistently maintained a robust and well-administered Public Distribution System, and has extended coverage and entitlements beyond Central norms wherever necessary, in keeping with its commitment to eliminating hunger and provide nutritional security to its people.
“Tamil Nadu is predominantly rice eating state and consumes rice in the form of Idli, Dosa, Pongal as tiffin or dinner and as meals for lunch by almost the entire population of the state,” Vijay pointed out.
Moreover, rice provided to AAY cardholders is a staple ingredient of their all the three meals of the day and cannot be substituted with any other commodity from open market resulting in substantial out of pocket expenses, driving them into poverty, malnutrition and hunger.
It must also be noted that the burden of this amendment would fall disproportionately on states such as Tamil Nadu, where the number of AAY cardholders below the family size of 5 members is 15.75 lakh covering a population of 58.51 lakh.
The proposed amendment, if brought into force without modification, would allow the food security of nearly 70 lakh of its most vulnerable citizens, to be diminished.
“Hence, the Centre is requested to reconsider the proposed amendment to the first proviso to sub-section (1) of Section 3 of the National Food Security Act, 2013, and retain the existing entitlement of 35 five kilograms of foodgrains per month for every household covered under the AAY, irrespective of the number of members in the family, as has been the position since the inception of the Act,” the chief minister said.
The draft amendment caps the per-capita entitlement to 7 kg per person in a family subject to a maximum of 35 kg per household as part of a restructuring plan. At present the AAY cardholders are eligible for 35 kg monthly foodgrains irrespective of the number of members in the family.
The state accounts for 18,64,600 AAY rationcards, covering 69,26,983 poor beneficiaries who are mostly from the most vulnerable sections of society and headed by widows, persons with disabilities and aged differently-abled persons, persons suffering from life-threatening illness, senior citizens above 60 years of age with no regular income for livelihood, Tribal families, landless agricultural labourers, daily wage earners etc.
“These are precisely the households that the National Food Security Act was designed to protect through an assured, unconditional entitlement,” Vijay pointed out in the letter.
Hence the Centre should reconsider the proposed amendment, and retain the existing entitlement of 35 kg to every household covered under AAY, the chief minister said. (PTI)
