Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C.Joseph Vijay | Photo Credit: JOTHI RAMALINGAM B

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reconsider the proposed amendment in the National Food Security Act, 2013, which if implemented would allow the food security of nearly seventy lakhs of State’s most vulnerable citizens to be diminished.

The existing provision is 35 kg of foodgrains per household per month, irrespective of the number of members in the family. However, the proposed amendment provides for 7 kg of foodgrains per person per month, subject to an overall ceiling of thirty-five kilograms per household.

The Government of India has explained that the intent is to remove intra-category inequities and align entitlements more closely with nutritional requirements. The practical effect, however, will be a substantial reduction in the quantum of foodgrains reaching the poorest households of Tamil Nadu, as average family size is only 3.54 in the state. Tamil Nadu presently has 18,64,600 AAY ration cards in circulation, covering 69,26,983 poor beneficiaries, says the letter.

At present, 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 Government of India free of cost. Once the proposed amendment takes effect, the Government of India’s supply, computed on the seven-kilogram per person norm, would fall to -6- approximately 42,040 MT, affecting the lives of the more than seventy lakh poor, vulnerable and marginalized sections of Society, the letter said.

Tamil Nadu is a 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. Moreover, rice provided to the AAY cardholders is a staple ingredient of their all the three meals of the day and cannot be substituted with any other commodity from the 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 Government of India is therefore 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 thirty-five kilograms of foodgrains per month for every household covered under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana, irrespective of the number of members in the family, as has been the position since the inception of the Act, the letter said.

Published on July 6, 2026