'Anti-Poor': CPI(M) Demands Withdrawal of Proposed NFSA Amendment, Accuses Union Govt of Trying to Weaken the Law

New Delhi: Terming the proposed amendment to the National Food Security Act (NFSA) “anti-poor”, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) on Tuesday (July 7) accused the Union government of trying to dilute and weaken the legislation.

The CPI(M) demanded the immediate withdrawal of the proposed amendment, which seeks to change the entitlement criteria under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) from a household-based system to a per capita system, reported The Hindu.

“The amendment will adversely impact states, particularly the southern states that have successfully implemented family planning programmes and consequently have smaller average household sizes. These states will suffer a significant reduction in their overall foodgrain allocations despite their achievements in population stabilisation,” the CPI (M) Polit Bureau said in a statement.

The party also said that the Union government’s proposal of increasing the food grain entitlement to 7 kg per person from the present 5 kg per person would not help larger households as the entitlement would continue to remain capped at 35 kg per month, irrespective of family size.

The CPI(M) statement added that this change would also substantially reduce the food grain entitlement of smaller households, which are at present guaranteed the full 35 kg under the existing scheme.

The Left party further added that the amendment would “disproportionately affect the poorest and most vulnerable sections of society,” including elderly couples, widows, persons with disabilities, tribal families, landless agricultural labourers, daily wage workers, persons with chronic illnesses and small nuclear families whose food security depends on the AAY, irrespective of household size, reported The Hindu.

“This anti-poor amendment exposes the Union Government’s attempt to gradually dilute and weaken the National Food Security Act, a landmark legislation enacted as a result of sustained people’s struggles to establish food as a legal right,” said the CPI(M) Polit Bureau in its statement.

It also said that despite repeated demands, the Union government for years continued to ignore the demand to revise the beneficiary lists under the NFSA.

At present, the NFSA beneficiary list continues to be based on the 2011 census, as a result of which, around 14 crore eligible persons remain outside the ambit of the law because of the outdated data.

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