The National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA) is an Act of Parliament that fundamentally shifted India's approach to food access from a welfare measure to a rights-based approach. Signed into law on September 12, 2013, effective from July 5, 2013, the Act was created to address chronic hunger, malnutrition, and the systemic inefficiencies of the pre-existing Public Distribution System (PDS).
The NFSA legally entitles up to 75% of the rural population and 50% of the urban population to receive subsidized food grains. This is achieved through the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), which divides beneficiaries into Priority Households (PHH) and Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) households. PHH members are entitled to 5 kg per person per month, while AAY households, the poorest of the poor, are entitled to 35 kg per household per month. The Act also mandates that the eldest woman of the household, aged 18 years or above, be the head of the household for the ration card, promoting women's empowerment.
The NFSA connects to other social security measures by converting schemes like the Midday Meal Scheme and Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) into legal entitlements. It also provides a maternity benefit of not less than ₹6,000 for pregnant women and lactating mothers. A significant recent change occurred on January 1, 2023, when the government began providing the NFSA foodgrains free of cost (zero cost) to beneficiaries, merging the scheme with the benefits of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY). Furthermore, a proposed draft National Food Security (Amendment) Bill, 2026, seeks to change the AAY entitlement from a fixed 35 kg per household to 7 kg per person per month, capped at 35 kg, to address inequities based on family size.