 bill no 210 of  2018 the national food security (amendment) bill, 2018 by shri jagdambika pal, mp a billto amend the national food security act, of 2013be it enacted by parliament in the sixty-ninth year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the national food security (amendment) act, 2018short title and commencement(2) it shall come into force on such date as the central government may, by notificationin the official gazette, appoint(a) in clause (5), the words "or any combination thereof " shall be omitted; (b) for clause (6), the following clause shall be substituted, namely: —(6) "food security" means the supply to all persons, at all times other than during war, of the entitled quantity of foodgrains and meals specified under chapter ii, which meet their dietary needs and food preferences; and (c) for clause (9), the following clause shall be substituted, namely: —5(9) "meal" means fresh hot cooked food made from locally procured material and does not include pre-cooked meals or take home ration;" 3 in section 3 of the principal act,—amendment of section 3(i) in sub-section (1),—10(a) for the words "five kilograms of foodgrains", the words "five kilograms of foodgrains of the recipient's choice" shall be substituted;  and(b) in the first proviso, for the words "thirty-five kilograms of foodgrains", the words "thirty-five kilograms of foodgrains as per the recipient's choice" shall be substituted (ii) sub-section (3) shall be omitted4 in section 8 of the principal act,—15amendment of section 8(a) for the words "entitled quantities of foodgrains or meals", the words "entitled quantities of foodgrains of the recipient's choice or meals" shall be substituted; and(b) the following provisos shall be added at the end, namely:—20provided that such food security allowance shall not be less than the market price of the foodgrains of the recipient's choice prevailing at the time, as ascertained by the state government:provided further that such allowance shall be made available to the recipient within forty-eight hours from the time that the recipient is informed of the unavailability of foodgrains of the recipient's choice" 5 in section 12 of the principal act, in sub-section (2), clause (h) shall be omitted25amendment of section 126 in section 44 of the principal act,—amendment of section 44(a) the words, "flood, drought, fire, cyclone or earthquake" shall be omitted; and (b) the proviso shall be omittedamendment of schedule ii307  in schedule ii to the principal act, in column 3 under the heading "type of meal", for the words "take home ration" occurring against serial numbers 1, 3 and 6, the words "hot cooked meal" shall be substituted statement of objects and reasonsthe national food security act was enacted in 2013 to ensure access to nutritious food to every person in the country however, even after five years since the passing of the act, statistics show that hunger and starvation continue to be rampant in the country the reason for the limited success of the national food security act is that there were intrinsic shortcomings and contradictions within the actthe term "food security" conveys that every person should have access to nutritious food of his or her own choice at affordable prices at all times however, the principal act, while based on a rights-based approach, failed to provide the element of choice to the beneficiaries the act permitted the government to provide whatever foodgrains are available, rather than the ones demanded by the beneficiary this bill therefore seeks to ensure that beneficiaries are able to choose the foodgrains that they consumethe principal act also provided that the government should promote cash transfers and food coupons however, this will lead to privatisation and result in higher prices for the beneficiaries moreover, it amounts to abdication of its duty by the state this bill seeks to ensure that beneficiaries are not adversely affected by provision of food coupons in place of affordable foodgrainsfurther, the principal act permitted the government to provide beneficiaries "take home ration" in place of hot cooked meals for pregnant and nursing women as well as young children this bill seeks to ensure that hot cooked meals are provided to pregnant and nursing women and to young childrenfinally, the principal act withdrew the guarantee of food security in situations in which it may be required the most, that is, in cases of natural calamities such as floods, fire, cyclone, earthquake or drought this bill seeks to make it incumbent upon the government to ensure food security to all persons at all times including and especially in cases of natural calamitieshence this billnovember 27, 2017 annexure extracts from the national food security act, 2013 (20 of  2013)definitions2 (5) "foodgrains" means rice, wheat or coarse grains or any  combination thereof conforming to such quality norms as may be determined, by order, by the central government from time to time2 (6) "food security" means the supply of the entitled quantity of foodgrains and meal specified under chapter ii 2 (9) "meal" means hot cooked or pre-cooked and heated before its service meal or take home ration, as may be prescribed by the central government 3 (1) every person belonging to priority households, identified under sub-section (1)of section 10, shall be entitled to receive five kilograms of foodgrains per person per month at subsidised prices specified in schedule i from the state government under the targeted public distribution system:provided that the households covered under antyodaya anna yojana shall, to such extent as may be specified by the central government for each state in the said scheme, be entitled to thirty-five kilograms of foodgrains per household per month at the prices specified in schedule i:right to receive food grains and subsidised prices by persons belonging to eligible households under targeted public distribution systemprovided further that if annual allocation of foodgrains to any state under the act is less than the average annual offtake of foodgrains for last three years under normal targeted public distribution system, the same shall be protected at prices as may be determined by the central government and the state shall be allocated foodgrains as specified in schedule ivexplanation— for the purpose of this section, the "antyodaya anna yojana" means, the scheme by the said name launched by the central government on the 25th day of december, 2000; and as modified from time to time 8 in case of non-supply of the entitled quantities of foodgrains or meals to entitled persons under chapter ii, such persons shall be entitled to receive such food security allowance from the concerned state government to be paid to each person, within such time and manner as may be prescribed by the central governmentright to receive food security allowance in certain cases12 (1) the central and state governments shall endeavour to progressively undertake necessary reforms in the targeted public distribution system in consonance with the role envisaged for them in this actreforms in targeted public distrubution system(2) the reforms shall, inter alia, include—(a) doorstep delivery of foodgrains to the targeted public distribution system outlets;(b) application of information and communication technology tools including end-to-end computerisation in order to ensure transparent recording of transactions at all levels, and to prevent diversion;(c) leveraging "aadhaar" for unique identification, with biometric information of entitled beneficiaries for proper targeting of benefits under this act;(d) full transparency of records; (e) preference to public institutions or public bodies such as panchayats, selfhelp groups, co-operatives, in licensing of fair price shops and management of fair price shops by women or their collectives;(f) diversification of commodities distributed under the public distribution system over a period of time;(g) support to local public distribution models and grains banks; and (h) introducing schemes, such as, cash transfer, food coupons, or other schemes, to the targeted beneficiaries in order to ensure their foodgrain entitlements specified in chapter ii, in such area and manner as may be prescribed by the central governmentforce majeure44 the central government, or as the case may be, the state government, shall be liable for a claim by any person entitled under this act, except in the case of war, flood, drought, fire, cyclone or earthquake affecting the regular supply of foodgrains or meals to such person under this act:provided that the central government may, in consultation with the planning commission, declare whether or not any such situation affecting the regular supply of foodgrains or meals to such person has arisen or exists  lok  sabha———— a billto amend the national food security act of 2013————(shri jagdambika pal, mp)mgipmrnd—2264ls(s3)—17-12-2018