Manthan Topic: Plugging The Leaks of PDS

“For every Rs 4 spent on the PDS, only Re 1 reaches the poor” “57% of food grains does not reach the intended people”

Team Name:- YouthFighters-2013

Manav Rachna International University, Faridabad

Production of Food Grains & Pulses has increased over 20% in 2002-2012 but still we are unable to provide necessary amount of grains and pulses to the beneficiary families due to weak Distribution System.

Production of food Grains in India

Data for consumption of commodities

Unit 2004-05

2009-10

Off take under

PDS(Rice+

Wheat)

Mn. Tonnes 29.4 42.4

PDS Food

consumed by

the population ,

NSSO

Mn. Tonnes 13.2 25.3

Major Characteristic of PDS

Providing food grains and other essential items to

vulnerable section of the society at

reasonable(subsidized) prices.

Major problems in PDS 1. Fake ration cards which do not

resemble real beneficiary families.

2. Shadow ownership of ration cards

due to inefficient issuing and distribution

of ration cards.

3. Determining and maintaining the cost

of essential items available at a Fair Price

Shop(FPS).

Maintaining the different levels of Public Distribution System including storage, transportation and allotments of an FPS by innovative ways will be very helpful in maintaining the low cost of commodities for the beneficiary families.

Proposed organizational structure of a Public Distribution System(PDS)

• Choice of location of main storage facility should be near farms,

• High-Tech facilities for stock maintenance and prevent unauthorized access to the food stocks,

• Central storage at large scale and state-wise storage of commodities.

Storage of Commodities

• Consumer feedback & priority based allotment system of FPS for transparency in system,

• Each FPS should be allotted per 2000 beneficiary families in that locality,

• State-wise online channel of billing and maintenance of stocks for accurate and fast system operation,

Allotment & Maintenance of

FPS

• Implementation of biometric identity based distribution of goods(aadhar card or digital AAY or BPL cards),

• All FPS should be operated through an online channel moderated by the local channels of National Informatics Centre(NIC).

Distribution of Goods

Storage of Commodities and stock maintenance

Storage of commodities is the first and a vital part of the Public Distribution system because

a good stock maintenance ensures low cost and good quality of goods.

Here are some key standards that should be brought to implementation level :-

1. The storage should be near to the farms to avoid loss during long distance transport .

2. The organization ensures that food should only be available to only screened officials.

3. Containers should be closed, clean and safe to avoid any kind of contamination.

4. Complete digital maintainence of stocks for accurate data and time saving activities of storage house.

5. It will be the responsibility of storage facility officer’s that transport takes safely and reaches to

destination on time.

Farms

Main Storage Facility Local Storage Facility

Near to Farms Near to FPS

Allotment & Maintenance of Fair Price Shops Rules for allotment of FPS :- 1. All the vacancies of FPS and owners of FPS should be notified on website and newspaper, 2. Every FPS should be allotted by authority in a locality of 2000 AAY or BPL card holders, 3. The owner of FPS should be resident of the same locality where the FPS vacancy is notified, 4. Preference should be given to the cooperative societies, war widows and women self groups. Maintenance of FPS :- 1. All facility should be computerized, if not then billing and stock maintenance should be computerized, 2. The viability of FPS should be maintained which includes commission rates and maintenance cost of FPS like electricity bills and shop rent, 3. Other items should also be allowed to be sold at FPS on MRP so that to maintain economic viability of FPS 4. Fortified ATTA(Wheat Floor) should also be sold by government which will improve the general health and reduces instances of Vitamin A deficiency and iron deficiency.

Key elements of the implementation plan

Storage Facility Distribution of Goods Maintaining FPS

1. The storage facility shall be governed by a government body,

2. Building main storage facility near farms for easy transport and protection of commodities,

3. Implementing high-tech facilities like cold storage, humidity maintenance and stock maintenance by

technical staffs,

4. All storage facilities will have a team of agricultural knowledge who will check the quality of the

storage facility and other food products,

5. All transport facilities of food products will be the responsibilities of storage facility governing

body,

6. The governing body may give the transport system to a private company by public tender through a

transparent allotment system.

Maintaining storage facility

Storage Facility Distribution of Goods Maintaining FPS

Key elements of the implementation plan

1. Allotment of FPS will be based on consumer feedback system and on the recommendation based on

the RWA’s and Panchayat of that locality,

2. Each FPS will be allotted to a locality having 2000 beneficiary families,

3. Maintenance of bills and stocks of FPS by an online channel to maintain accurate data of

distribution,

Allotment & maintenance of FPS

Storage Facility Distribution of Goods Maintaining FPS

Key elements of the implementation plan

Regulating Distribution of goods

1. All FPS will be equipped with biometric and digital card reader so that fake and bogus card are eliminated

from the system,

2. During allotments preferences shall be given to the war widows & members of weaker sections,

3. All FPS will distribute goods through Automated system using online technology with the help of zone

centers of NIC,

4. All AAY, BPL and other food distribution cards will be created by time-bound door-to-door verification and

online mechanism, this will eliminate the bogus cards,

5. Introduction of ATTA(Wheat floor) in the distribution system

Impact & Reach of Proposed solution

• The proposed structure will serve around 8 million beneficiary families,

• The proposed PDS system will generate job opportunities for about 2 million citizens,

• Adapting to this kind of system will also enhance the use of technology in government systems,

• The system consists of various advantages over existing system that makes it more reliable and efficient,

• Better connectivity between farmers and government bodies by good storage facility,

• More accurate system by using innovative ideas in the system,

• Less time consuming environment of system for ease of consumers,

• Due to the innovative techniques used in this system makes this system more trustworthy.

Challenges 1. Availability and accessibility of land for storage facility near the farms and near FPS will be

the challenging & important task for PDS,

2. Implementation of high-tech facilities will initially face budget problem, due to which

processing may take more time,

3. A transparent and trustworthy system which is a mandatory part and is a major problem for

this system to sustain,

4. Maintenance of various FPS shops with local NIC authority will be a tough job to perform,

5. Identifying the true beneficiary families and removing existing bogus card holders is major

problem for proper distribution of goods is a major problem.

Appendixes Resources:-

The draft of National Food Security act,2013

Report of Justice Wadhwa Committee on Public Distribution System(PDS), 2004

Agriculture data, Worldbank,

Data Portal India,

Articles of Times of India on PDS,

Wikipedia