MAJOR REFORMS IN PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM (PDS) FOR BETTER TARGETING, TRANSPARENCY & ACCOUNTABILITY?

           India has placed a lot of emphasis on improving the functioning of Public Distribution System in the country through automation of Fair Price Shops, computerization of Supply Chain Management and enforcement of provisions of National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013 regarding oversight and grievance redressal in partnership with States/UTs.

Steps taken by Government of India for better targeting, Transparency and Accountability.

Automation of Fair Price Shops: Based on the pilots and learnings from the States/UTs, in November 2014 Department of Food & Public Distribution prescribed the guidelines and specifications for use of PoS at FPS. At present 2,04,162 FPSs (as on 15th May 2017) out of 5,26,377 have PoS.

Direct Benefit Transfer (Cash): “Cash Transfer of Food Subsidy Rules, 2015” were notified on August 21, 2015 under which food subsidy is directly credited to the account of the beneficiaries. At present Chandigarh, Puducherry and Dadra & Nagar Haveli (in few urban areas) are implementing this scheme.

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Aadhaar Seeding in PDS: To weed out duplicate/in-eligible/bogus ration cards and to enable rightful targeting 77.56% i.e. about 17.99 crore ration cards (as on 15th May 2017) have been Aadhaar seeded. Under Section-7 of the Aadhaar Act 2016, the Department has notified the use of Aadhaar to receive subsidized foodgrains or Cash transfer on 8th February 2017.

Deletion of ration cards: As an outcome of digitization of Ration Cards/beneficiary records, de-duplication due to Aadhaar seeding, transfer/migration/deaths, change in economic status of beneficiaries and during the run-up to and implementation of NFSA a total of 2.33 crore ration cards have been deleted/cancelled. Based on this the Government has been able to achieve Rightful Targeting of Food Subsidies of about Rs 14,000 Crore per annum.

Digital/Cashless/Less-cash Payments in PDS: To promote the use of less-cash/digital payment mechanisms, the Department has issued detailed guidelines for use of AePS, UPI, USSD, Debit/Rupay Cards and e-Wallets on 7th December 2016. At present in 10 States/UTs a total of 50,117 FPSs are enabled for digital payments.

Automation of Fair Price Shops: On the basis of pilots and learnings from the States/UTs, in November, 2014 Department of Food & Public Distribution prescribed the guidelines and specifications for use of PoS at FPS. 

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New central sector scheme ‘Integrated Management of PDS’ (IM-PDS): The scheme has been approved with an outlay of Rs. 127.3 crore to be implemented during FY 2018-19 and FY 2019-20 for establishing Public Distribution System Network (PDSN) to establish central data repository and central monitoring system of PDS operations and to also enable implementation of national level portability.

          The recent initiative of Village Mall Scheme aimed at improving the viability of Fair Price shops. To set up Village Malls in the FP Shops, the State Government of AP.