Public Distribution System

Concept

under Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution
PDS can be distinguished from private distribution in terms of control exercised by the public authority
Motive is welfare rather than private gain
System includes all the agencies that are involved from procurement stage to final delivery of good to consumer
agency involved in process of procurement, transportation, storage and distribution is FCI
at state level, it is state Civil Supply Department and Fair Price Shops which are involved in PDS provision
- FPS are last link in the process, mostly owned by private individuals
- FPS not allowed to sell anything other than govt supplied essential commodities
- specific quantity is allocated to each FPS depending upon number of ration cards attached to FPS
- prices of these fixed by govt
- dealer needs licence to run it
procurement of cereals is undertaken by FCI on behalf of central govt
some state govt agencies also procure grains for central pool as well as their own account
allocation to different states is made by govt

PDS mere rationing system to distribute scarce commodities and later seen as FPS
Rice and wheat occupied high share of food grain distribution
operation of PDS irregular, dependent on PL-480 with little internal procurement
procurement prices not remunerative
mid 60s $\to$ decided to look much beyond mgmt of scare supplies in critical situations
stoppage of PL-480 forced govt to procure grains internally. India took a leap in direction of providing more sustainable institutional framework for food security
Setting up of FCI and Bureau of Agricultural Cost and Prices in 1965 marked beginning of second phase

Food security system during this period evolved as an integral part of development strategies to bring a striking technological change in selected food crops, especially rice and wheat

inc in food production
buffer stock accumulation inc in FCI and hence focus shifted from buffer stock maintenance to inc in PDS supply
during fifth and sixth FYP govt focused on plans like Gareebi Hatao along with reducing overstocking of foodgrains
imports gradually declined and India became net exporter by 1975
Till the late 1970s, PDS was largely confined to the urban population and did not guarantee adequate food security to the rural poor
early 1980s, some state governments extended the coverage of PDS to rural areas and introduced a targeted grouping approach (Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, and Kerala)
started to meet crisis was transformed into an instrument for efficient management of essential consumer goods necessary for maintaining stable price consideration
designed and implemented by both central and state governments
Central government mainly deals with buffer stock operations and controls the internal and external trade of food grains
State government focuses on the identification and distribution

NSFA targeted 75% rural population and 50% urban population
Issues of targeting: exclusions and inclusion errors
ghost card beneficiaries
lack of optimal storage (CAG audit identified storage capacity gap)
FCI resorts to open ended procurement of rice and wheat without storage capacity
rising subsidy and financial burden
inconsistent quality
lack of appropriate grievance redressal mechanism
lack of transparency in selection procedure of PDS dealers
challenges of corruption and leakages
food inflation (open market)
lack of end to end computerization
lack of crop diversification

One Nation One Ration Card or Integrated Mgmt of PDS
- portability of ration cards under the NFSA
- cardholders can lift their entitlement to food grains from any fair price shop
Tech based reforms (Wadhwa Committee)
- Help in plugging leakages
- automation of FPS thru installation of e POS devices
- Status like Chhattisgarh and MP have implemented measures to streamline TPDS thru digitalization of ration cards and use of GPS tracking to track mvmt of trucks carrying foodgrains
- computerized allocation of FPS. Eg. declaration of stock balance, web based truck challans etc
- issue of smart cards in place of ration cards (HR, AP)
- PDS and UID synergy to identify right business through biometric authentication (Aadhar)