Introduction:
The Indian Public Distribution System (PDS), initiated in June 1947, aims to distribute subsidized food and non-food items to the impoverished population, ensuring affordable access to essential commodities and managing emergency situations.
Body:
Public distribution system:
- PDS was established to address food shortages by providing affordable rates for food grains. The Central government collaborates with state governments in implementing the PDS.
- The Food Corporation of India (FCI) is responsible for procuring, storing, transporting, and distributing food grains to state governments. Operational responsibilities, including resource allocation, determining eligible households, issuing ration cards, and monitoring Fair Price Shops (FPS), are handled by State Governments.
- State/UTs are tasked with distributing wheat, rice, sugar, and kerosene under the PDS. Support poverty-alleviation programs, particularly rural employment programs, have contributed to normalizing food prices and ensuring affordable food availability for the underprivileged.
- The buffer stock of food grains in warehouses helps maintain the flow of food, even during periods of lower agricultural output. The minimum support prices and procurement system have aided in enhancing food grain output.
Limitations regarding public procurement:
- Identification of Beneficiaries: TPDS is prone to significant inclusion/exclusion errors, leading to entitled individuals missing out or ineligible individuals receiving benefits. An expert group estimated a 61% exclusion error and a 25% inclusion error.
- Leakage of Food Grains: TPDS faces substantial food grain leakages during transportation and black marketing, with a Planning Commission finding a 36% leakage of PDS rice and wheat nationwide.
- Issues with Procurement: Open-ended procurement can lead to market scarcity, accepting all grains even with a full buffer stock.
- Issues with Storage: CAG audit reveals severe government storage capacity shortfall, raising concerns about inadequate covered storage amid rising procurement and rotting food grains.
- Impact of Minimum Support Price (MSP): The provision of MSP drives farmers to shift from coarse grains to rice and wheat, hindering crop diversification.
- Environmental Concerns: Overemphasis on food grain self-sufficiency, especially water-intensive crops, is found to be environmentally unsustainable, causing groundwater depletion and soil deterioration.
Government initiatives:
- Aadhaar-Linked Ration Cards: Enables online entry, verification, and tracking of monthly entitlements for efficient beneficiary data management.
- National Food Security Act (NFSA): Introduced in 2013, it provides individual entitlement of 5 kg per person per month of food grains to around 82 crores of the population.
- Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY): Started in December 2000, it provides heavily discounted rates of Rs 2/kg for wheat and Rs 3/kg for rice to the poorest households.
- Computerized Fair Price Shops: Fair Price Shops are automated with ‘Point of Sale’ devices, authenticating beneficiaries and recording subsidized grain quantities.
- Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT): Cash transferred under DBT, replacing food grains subsidy, allows beneficiaries to purchase from any market, potentially saving Rs.30,000 crore annually.
- GPS Technology for Transportation: GPS tracking for food grain transportation prevents diversion, ensuring secure movement from state depots to Fair Price Shops.
- SMS-Based Monitoring: Citizens can register for SMS alerts, facilitating monitoring during TPDS commodity dispatch and arrival.
- Web-Based Citizens’ Portal: A web portal for public grievance redressal, including toll-free call centers for complaint registration and suggestions, enhances citizen engagement in grievance resolution.
The way forward:
- PDS, a crucial welfare initiative, supports farmers and provides affordable food to the needy. Technological solutions and cautious DBT adoption can boost its efficiency.
- The RBI advises a cautious migration to cash transfer, emphasizing prudent implementation and robust infrastructure. Strengthening TPDS through capacity building, training, and leakage control is the optimal approach.
- Increased public engagement via social audits and involvement of SHGs, Cooperatives, and NGOs enhances transparency. PDS can contribute to nutritional improvement by distributing bio-fortified foods, addressing prevalent malnutrition in India.
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