The Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) is a government-sponsored scheme of India, launched on December 25, 2000, by the NDA government under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, to provide highly subsidized food to the "poorest of the poor" families. The scheme was first implemented in the state of Rajasthan. The primary objective of AAY was to ensure food security for the most vulnerable and economically disadvantaged sections of society, addressing the problem of hunger among the poorest families who were identified through extensive surveying.
AAY is implemented under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) and is now an integral part of the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013. Under the NFSA, AAY households are one of the two categories of beneficiaries, the other being Priority Households (PHH). The scheme initially provided 25 kg of food grains per month, which was later increased to 35 kg of food grains per family per month, irrespective of the family size. Historically, the food grains were provided at highly subsidized rates: ₹3 per kg for rice and ₹2 per kg for wheat. However, under the NFSA, AAY beneficiaries now receive the grains free of cost (zero price). The scheme covers approximately 2.5 crore families nationally, including landless agricultural laborers, marginal farmers, rural artisans, slum dwellers, and the destitute.
A significant change has been proposed in the draft National Food Security (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which seeks to alter the entitlement mechanism. The proposed amendment aims to shift from the fixed 35 kg per household entitlement to a 7 kg per person per month entitlement for AAY beneficiaries. This change is intended to remove "intra-category inequities" and rationalize food grain allocation based on family size. Crucially, the total entitlement for any AAY household would remain capped at a maximum of 35 kg per month, meaning families with more than five members would still receive a maximum of 35 kg. The existing provision of 35 kg per household is what is being replaced, while the maximum quantity of 35 kg per household is what stays the same.