1. As Grains pile up,
India Starves…..
Team: The Innovative
Madras Christian College, Chennai
2. What is Public Distribution System?
Govt. of India has implemented a number of “POVERTY ALLEVIATION
PROGRAMMES” in which one of the programs is Public Distribution
System (PDS) procures and maintains the Food Corporation of India.
Provides food items and non food items through a network of ‘fair price
shops’ to the vulnerable sections of the society at reasonable (subsidised)
prices.
Major
problem
faced by the
FCI
3. What is Public Distribution System?
• The Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) was introduced with
effect from June 1997.
• Under the targeted public distribution system, there are three kinds of
ration cards: Antyodaya cards (for the poorest of the poor), BPL cards (for
those below poverty line) and APL cards (for all others).
Rice Wheat
Rural Urban Rural Urban
2004-2005 35,928,158 8,008,817 16,197,120 3,545,888
2009-2010 63,321,151 15,129,050 44,697,283 12,988,843
Number of Households depended on PDS
Rise in
Consumption
Levels observed
keeping the
population
growth in mind.
4. How it works?
Products are
distributed
from the
warehouses
according to
quota of
various FPS/
Ration
Shops.
Step 4
Distribution
Products are
stored in
various FCI
Warehouses
across the
nation
Step 3
Storage
Products
collected by
the FCI is
subsidised &
allocates the
quantity to
States.
Step 2
Collection
Farmers sell
their
products
either to FCI
or to private
people
Step 1
Farmers
5. Leakages
Loss in quality, quantity& distribution.
Increased sale of subsidized food products to Black markets.
Lack of sales from APL card holders causing Large quantities of subsidized goods
to perish
Losses during storage caused due to unscientific warehouse storage system
practiced by food cooperation of India
Incorrect identification of BPL families
Bogus ration cards
Lack of transparency and accountability
Malpractices in Ration Shop
8. Preventing leakage: Public level
Public Body rating Efficiency : Public body formed by the
government to rate the efficiency of PDS.
Increased participation in PDS : Encouraging the public to
use PDS effectively by improving the quality of the products.
Helping FDA & TACFI*: People must actively participate in
helping the FDA & TACFI to minimise malpractices &
corruption within the system.
Regular usage of Ration Card: Active usage of Ration Card
especially by APL card holders to make use of the facilities
provided by the government.
FDA- Food and Drug Administration
TACFI – The Anti-Corruption Federation of India
9. Preventing leakages: Government level
• Modernising PDS: This include several steps including Smart
Card, Computerised processing, Non use of Smart Card
leaves it Invalid etc. to avoid leakages.
• Shift in Distribution: A action has to be taken to limit Ration
Shops in regions having High Income Class people who
doesn’t use these services & thus will help in increasing
number of shops in the regions were it is required.
• Transparency: The entire process of FCI must be transparent
& available to the public .
• Distribution of Food Stamps: This will reduce the India's
dependence on buffer stock for price stabilization and in
turn reduce cost.
• Checking sale to black market : The above mentioned steps
will help in checking sale of subsidised goods to black
market.
10. Modernising Public Distribution System
• Use of Smart Card: Helps in making the system Foolproof & thus
minimising the leakages as in Chandigarh UT and State of Haryana.
• Digitalizing the entire process: Digitalizing the entire process as in the
state of Chhattisgarh, Assam & Delhi.
• Use of Biometric Ration Register Machines which checks leakage.
• Computerised quality checking till the distribution: Computerised
quality checking will help in accumulation of quality food products.
• Improved packing system: Help in preserving the products for longer
time & limit the use of loose products limiting malpractices.
11. Modernising Public Distribution System
• First In First Out (FIFO) could be practiced in the case of
food grains to avoid wastage.
• GPS enabled Tracking System for transportation for
enhanced monitoring of the Goods Transferring process
& limiting the chances of unlawful unloading.
• Information about availability of food grains to be
disseminated through SMS / Internet to enable social audit.
• Mobile Fair Price Shops providing Food & essentials at street level thus
reducing the need for Store Houses & convenient for working class
people.
Mobile Triveni Supermarket,
Kerala
12. References
• PDS - Department of Food and Public Distribution, http://dfpd.nic.in/
• Public Distribution System (PDS), in 10th Plan at Planning Commission
• Public Distribution System: Introduction at Right to Food Campaign
• Public Distribution System, IIM, Ahmedabad by Arnab Saha
• 5.17 The Public Distribution System, Budget of India, 2000
• Newspaper reports from New York Times, Times of India, Hindustan
Times, The Hindu
