India’s nutrition transition has overtaken its food-security policy. With reference to the role of food fortification and PDS reform in addressing hidden hunger, critically analyse.

Introduction:

NFHS-5 (2019-21) records anaemia in 67% of children aged 6-59 months and 57% of women 15-49 — a hidden hunger that calorie-based welfare under the National Food Security Act 2013, covering 81.35 crore beneficiaries, does not capture; India's nutrition transition has outpaced its food-security policy.

Statutory base: The NFSA 2013, anchored in PUCL v. Union of India (2001) reading the right to food into Article 21, mandates 5 kg per person per month at Rs 3 (rice), Rs 2 (wheat) and Re 1 (millets); PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana has extended free foodgrains to December 2028, but its caloric tilt reproduces a 'fill the belly' welfare logic.

Food fortification: Mandatory rice fortification in PDS, ICDS and PM POSHAN from April 2024 under FSSAI Food Fortification Regulations 2018 adds iron, folic acid and B12 through the '+F' logo; ICMR has flagged exemption for sickle-cell and thalassemia patients, qualifying universal rollout and demanding district-level haemoglobinopathy mapping.

Institutional architecture: POSHAN Abhiyaan (2018), Mission POSHAN 2.0 (2021) and Saksham Anganwadi converge on early-life nutrition through the POSHAN Tracker; supply-chain stockouts of Iron-Folic Acid tablets, weak last-mile counselling and underutilised Anaemia Mukt Bharat platforms under-deliver the National Multi-sectoral Action Plan.

Way forward / Conclusion:

Pair fortification with dietary diversification through millets, pulses and biofortified crops via ICAR's HarvestPlus, and add a sickle-cell exit clause — to convert NFSA from a calorie scheme to a nutrition entitlement and align with the right to food under Article 21.