Prepared by:CHANGEAGENTS

(Pooja vermaSurbhi bari

PrachiKhushboo

Ankita)

An overview of public distribution system in India

Identification of poor:

•A large number of families living below the poverty line have not been enrolled

and therefore do not have access to ration cards• A number of bogus ration cards which do not correspond to real families, exist in the BPL(below poverty line) & AAY (antayodaya anna yojana, population under poorest of poor categories). Food drawn on the basis of these bogus cards is a significant leakage from the system, as it does not reach the intended beneficiaries. •A number of instances where benefits are being availed in the names of rightfully entitled families without their knowledge. This shadow ownership is possible due to inefficiencies in ration card issuance and distribution•Errors in categorization of families that lead to BPL families getting APL cards and vice versa.•A significant portion of benefits provided to the APL category under the TPDS, are not availed by the intended beneficiaries and are instead diverted out of the system.

Alarming diversion ratio (proportion of PDS grain “diverted” to the open market) has been estimated by several researchers in the past by matching National Sample Survey (NSS) data on household purchases with Food Corporation of India (FCI) data on “offtake ” .The former tell us how much grain people are buying from the PDS. The latter tell us how much grain has been lifted by State governments from FCI godowns under the PDS quota. Based on this method, the estimated diversion ratio was around 54 per cent in 2004-05. Tamil Nadu had the lowest diversion rate (around 7 per cent); the rate was well below the national average in the other southern States also (around 25 per cent in each case). By contrast, the estimated diversion rates ranged between 85 and 95 per cent in Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, and Rajasthan.

Errors in delivery mechanism:• The retail outlets (FPSs) in most States are operated by private individuals, while in some others, these are partly or fully in cooperative sector • While food grains are door-delivered in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, the FPSs in other States, do not enjoy this facility • Irregular delivery schedule of FPS quota is a persistent problem in most States. This has contributed to low off-take by consumers and hence to large diversion of subsidized grains to the open market

System Transparency and Accountability –The most serious flaw plaguing the system at present is the lack of transparency and accountability in its functioning. The system lacks transparency and accountability at all levels making monitoring the system extremely difficult.

Grievance Redressal Mechanisms – There are numerous entities like Vigilance Committee, Anti-Hoarding Cells constituted to ensure smooth functioning of the PDS system. Their impact is virtually non-existent on the ground and as a result, malpractices abound to the great discomfiture of the common man.

Concept of food banks:

Establishment of food banks will help to reduce cost of distribution operations by localizing them. They will enable local level procurement and will also help to reduce costs involved in storage ,transportation and handling.

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single woman member (in most cases this would be either widow, divorced/separated, or unmarried),

disabled person as a single bread winner from casual works, no member above the age of 14 years age, any member works as a bonded labor, and destitute characteristics and households bearing similar attribute should be compulsorily

included in the BPL list.

The UID program has the specific objective of creating a unique database of residents in India and will put together the best technologies and processes for this purpose. UID can share the burden of PDS reform by assisting in the positive identification of unique individuals and families. This can lead to a high-quality beneficiary database without duplicate and ghost cards, improving the targeting of benefits.The initiatives by UID in the services space will create an ecosystem for easy implementation of PDS reforms like direct benefits transfer. The UID database can also be used by the PDS system for confirmation of offtake by the resident.

They give credit facilities to the rural households to purchase food grains. They not only cater the banking needs of members but also render other services for the development of the village economy. At all India level 100 per cent of the villages are covered by PACS and more than 75 per cent of the households enjoy the services directly. In Tamil nadu also, the coverage of rural households by PACBs is on par with the national average. With regard to PDS, in Tamil nadu Cooperatives have been actively involved either as lead societies or as link societies

The movement from the warehouses to the PDS outlets is through trucks — which are tightly controlled by route charts. The charts display the route the truck has to adhere to, details of commodities it carries, and the shop to which the goods are to be delivered. Any elected representative or government official who notices any deviation from the route is authorized to check the vehicle and report to the nearest police station.

Surprise checks should be done by a team of administrative officials in PDShops and if any irregularities detected , PDS dealers license should be terminated

An committee on state level can be formed which at regular interval of time reviews the whole functioning of the shops, and suggest the necessary changes.

Performance Evaluation of Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) (Planning Commission 2005)

Wadhwa Committee Report on Public Distribution System in India http://planningcommission.nic.in/plans/planrel/fiveyr/10th/volume2/v2_ch3_4.pd

f http://eprints.cscsarchive.org/287/1/Inclusion-Exclusion.pdf