“The Committee is of the view that the continued reliance on 2011 Census data for determining NFSA coverage may lead to exclusion of newly eligible and vulnerable households due to population growth, migration and socio-economic changes,” said the report by the panel headed by DMK member Kanimozhi Karunanidhi.

“The Committee, therefore, recommends that the Government, in coordination with the State/UT Governments, undertake a comprehensive and time-bound exercise to update the beneficiary database, intensify identification of the remaining 0.79 crore eligible persons and periodically revise the coverage limits in line with updated population estimates,” the report said.

Enacted by the then UPA government in 2013, the NFSA provides coverage to up to 75 per cent of the rural population and up to 50 per cent of the urban population, which comes to 81.35 crore people, according to Census 2011. At present, against the intended coverage of 81.35 crore persons, only 80.56 crore beneficiaries are covered, leaving scope for identifying 0.79 crore beneficiaries.

Section 9 of the NFSA, which deals with coverage of population under Targeted Public Distribution System, states, “The percentage coverage under the Targeted Public Distribution System in rural and urban areas for each State shall, subject to sub-section (2) of section 3, be determined by the Central Government and the total number of persons to be covered in such rural and urban areas of the State shall be calculated on the basis of the population estimates as per the census of which the relevant figures have been published.”

While the Food Security law provides for the availability of food grains to beneficiaries at subsidised rates — rice at Rs 3/kg, wheat at Rs 2/kg, and coarse cereals at Rs 1/kg — the government has decided to provide free food grains to its beneficiaries.

Under the NFSA, each Antyodaya Anna Yojana household is entitled to 35 kg of food grains per month, and the priority households are entitled to 5 kg per person per month.