भारत के सार्वजनिक वितरण प्रणाली (PDS) में सुधार
EnglishUP Current Affairs

Reforms in India’s Public Distribution System

  • Recently, the Government of India has adopted various measures to reform the Public Distribution System (PDS), emphasizing digitization, transparency, and efficient distribution, leading to significant reductions in leakages and improved targeting.
  • Supply side Measures –
    • Supply Chain Management System has been integrated for end-to-end operations across all levels of the Food Corporation of India (FCI).
    • Development of Central Food Procurement Portal (CFPP) for streamlined MSP operations.
    • Implementation of Warehouse Inventory Network and Governing System (WINGS) application to automate tagging of mills with depots.
    • Allocation of stack space in FCI.
    • Vehicle Location Tracking System (VLTS) innovative with integration with Railways for online real time tracking of food consignment.
    • Warehousing Development & Regulatory Authority (WDRA) registration of all FCI Godowns.
  • Distribution side Measures –
    • The Department of Food and Public Distribution has computerised the entire distribution process covering all 20.4 Cr household ration cards covering entire 80.6 Cr beneficiaries.
    • These ration cards have been digitised along with 99.8% of ration cards and 98.7% of individual beneficiaries being Aadhaar-seeded.
    • Foodgrain distribution is operationalised through 5.33 lakh e-PoS devices, covering nearly all Fair Price shops in the country.
    • These e-PoS devices enable Aadhar authentication of beneficiaries during the distribution process, which is used for distributing approximately 98% of total foodgrains, reducing leakages to ineligible beneficiaries and mitigating any risk of pilferage.
    • Digitalization and Aadhar seeding have led to the de-duplication of ration cards and approx. 5.8 Crore ration cards have been removed from the PDS system, ensuring only eligible persons are included in the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) / National Food Security Act (NFSA).
    • For convenience of beneficiaries, the department has facilitated eKYC of a beneficiary at any Fair Price Shop (ration shop) across the country.

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