UP PCS Mains-2024

Approach Briefly introduce the Public Distribution System. Mention the loopholes in the Public Distribution System. Highlights the importance of technology-driven initiatives and institutions in the Public Distribution System. Conclude with suggestions.

Introduction

The Public Distribution System (PDS) is an Indian food Security System established under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution. Under this programme subsidised food is being provided to the vulnerable section of the society. The Food Corporation of India (FCI) has assumed the responsibility for the procurement, storage, transportation, and bulk allocation of food grains to the State Governments.

The operational responsibility including allocation within the State, identification of eligible families, issue of Ration Cards, and supervision of the functioning of Fair Price Shops (FPSs) rests with the State Governments. The PDS provides nearly 800 million people with subsidized grain through a network of over half a million fair-price shops.

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Loopholes in the Public Distribution System:

• Identification of beneficiaries: TPDS are prone to large inclusion and exclusion errors. This implies that entitled beneficiaries are not getting food grains while those that are ineligible are getting undue benefits. In 2009, PDS suffers from nearly 61% error of exclusion and 25% inclusion of beneficiaries.
• Leakage of food grains: TPDS suffers from large leakages of food grains during transportation to and from ration shops into the open market. The erstwhile Planning Commission found 36% leakage of PDS rice and wheat at the all-India level.
• Issues with procurement: Open-ended Procurement i.e., all incoming grains accepted even if buffer stock is filled, creates a shortage in the open market.
• Issues with storage: A performance audit by the CAG has revealed a serious shortfall in the government’s storage capacity. Incidents of rotting food grains are increasing, and the provision of minimum support price (MSP) discourages crop diversification.
• Environmental issues: The over-emphasis on attaining self-sufficiency and a surplus in food grains, which are water-intensive, has been found to be environmentally unsustainable. It was found that due to the cultivation of rice in north-west India, the water table went down by 33 cm per year during 2002-08, and deteriorating soil and water conditions from overuse of fertilizers.

Importance of technology-driven initiatives and institutions in the Public Distribution System:

• e-PDS portal: It is intended to be one-stop information for PDS and aims to bring transparency in the PDS by disseminating data, information, and news. It provides the following information:
  • Storage capacity of National and state godowns.
  • PDS stakeholders’ information - state and national level.
  • PDS beneficiaries register and ration card information.
  • Fair price shop (FPS) details.
• Mera Ration app: It was a mobile application developed by the Department of Food & Public Distribution under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution to facilitate various One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) related services such as:
• Migrant beneficiaries can register their migration details.
• Beneficiaries can identify and locate the nearest fair-price shop.
• Beneficiaries can easily check details of their Food grain entitlement, Recent transactions, and Status of Aadhaar seeding.
• Fair Price Shops: Around 5.38 lakh Fair Price Shops (FPSs) under the Public Distribution System (PDS) are operational in the country. It enables the smooth functioning of the Public Distribution System.
• Point of Sale (PoS) device: As on 6 May 2016 about 1.11 lakh FPSs have been automated by installing ‘Point of Sale’ (Merchant) device to swap the ration card.

Thus, the PDS is one of the biggest welfare programmes of the government, helping farmers to sell their produce at remunerative prices as well as the poorer sections of society to buy food grains at affordable rates. Its effectiveness can be enhanced with technology-based solutions as is evident from some of the states’ successes towards the same. Shifting towards Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) is also another idea to strengthen the PDS but with caution.