PRESENTATION ON

SCHEMES OF THE
DEPARTMENT OF FOOD AND
PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
*****

Department of Food & Public Distribution

Government of India

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 ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT OF FOOD &
PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Department of Food & Public Distribution is part of Ministry of
Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution
Its main functions include –
• formulation and implementation of nation policies on
procurement, movement, storage and distribution of food
grains
• Implementation of Public Distribution System
• Formulation of national policies relating to export/import,
buffer stocking, quality control and specifications of
foodgrains
• Price control, Inter-State trade & commerce in and supplly
& distribution of Vanaspati, Oilseeds, vegetable oils, cakes
and fats
The President’s Address to the joint session
of Parliament on 4th June 2009
The National Food Security Act-

-will provide a statutory basis for a framework which assures

food security for all;

-Every below poverty line family in rural and urban areas to

be entitled to 25 kg of wheat or rice per month @ Rs.3 per kg;

-will also bring about systemic reforms in public distribution

system.

-Targeted identification cards would subsume and replace

omnibus BPL list.
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 Consultations with States/UTs, Central
Ministries, Planning Commission etc

Concept Note on NFSA circulated on 05.06.2009 –

responses invited

Consultation meetings held on-

10.06.2009- State Food Secretaries

11.06.2009- Central Ministries, Planning Commission
12.06.2009- Experts and Economists
01.07.2009- Central Ministries, Planning Commission

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 Finalisation of draft NFSA

•Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) constituted on

14.07.2009

•EGoM has held several meetings to discuss the NFSA

with a view to finalising the guidelines for framing the
proposed law.

• NAC is considering issues relating to coverage,

entitlement, etc.

•Once finalised, the proposed NFS Bill will be placed on

website of Department of Food and Public Distribution
for public scrutiny and comments. 5
 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ON PDS

• PDS EVOLVED AS A SYSTEM OF MANAGEMENT OF SCARCITY AND FOR

DISTRIBUTION OF FOODGRAINS AT AFFORDABLE PRICES

• PRIOR TO 1992 - PDS WAS A GENERAL ENTITLEMENT SCHEME FOR ALL

CONSUMERS WITHOUT ANY SPECIFIC TARGET

• IN JUNE, 1992 REVAMPED PDS LAUNCHED IN 1775 BLOCKS – FOCUS ON HILLY,

REMOTE, INACCESSIBLE BACKWARD AREAS, SCALE OF ISSUES 20 Kg. PER CARD

• TARGETED PDS INTRODUCED IN JUNE, 1997 – FOCUS ON BPL FAMILIES

• AAY INTRODUCED IN DEC,2000 THE POOREST OF THE POOR FAMILIES – INITIALLY

FOR ESTIMATED 1 CRORE FAMILIES, LATER EXPANDED TO COVER 2.50 CRORE
FAMILIES

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 TPDS - JOINT RESPONSIBILITY OPERATION

• GOI (CENTRAL POOL OF FOODGRAINS)

• PROCUREMENT and STORAGE

• MAINTENANCE OF MINIMUM BUFFER STOCKS
• TRANSPORATION UPTO PRINCIPAL DISTRIBUTION CENTRES OF FCI
AND BULK DELIVERY TO STATES & UNION TERRITORIES
• ALLOCATIONS TO STATES & UTS

• STATES & UT GOVERNMENTS

• STORAGE IN STATE/UT GODOWNS
• TRANSPORTATION TO FAIR PRICE SHOPS
• DISTRIBUTING TO RATION CARD HOLDERS THROUGH FPS
• LICENSING OF AND SUPERVISION OVER FAIR PRICE SHOPS
• IDENTIFICATION OF AAY & BPL FAMILIES
• ISSUANCE OF RATION CARDS TO ELIGIBLE FAMILIES
• ELIMINATING LEAKAGES/ GHOST CARDS ETC 7
 Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS)
• Coverage: 6.52 crore BPL families including 2.43
crore Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) families
• 11.52 crore APL families
• Foodgrains required: 470 lakh tons annually at
present scale of issue (@35kg/family to BPL and
15kg/family to APL per month)
• No. of ration cards issued by States/UTs: 11.05 crore
BPL and 13.23 crore APL ration cards
• No. of Fair Price Shops: 5.04 lakh (including 1.18
lakh run by SHGs / Cooperatives/ Panchayats/ Urban
Local Bodies)
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 Targeted Public Distribution System
Scale of Issue and CIP of foodgrains

Category Scale CIP

Rs.2/-Kg. Wheat
AAY 35/-Kgs.
Rs.3/-Kg. Rice
Rs.4.15/-Kg. Wheat
BPL 35/-Kgs.
Rs.5.65/-Kg. Rice
Rs.6.10/-Kg. Wheat
APL 15-35/-Kgs.
Rs.8.30/- Kg. Rice
Scale of issue (kg per family per month)- BPL FAMILIES -June 1997-10
kg, April 2000-20 kg, July 2001-25 kg and April 2002-35 kg.
For AAY FAMILIES -December 2000-25 kg, April 2002-35 kg. 9
 Sugar
Scale & Coverage

States Scale Category

J&K, Hill States,
700 gms. per
N.E. States, Islands All BPL & APL
capita
Territories

500 gms. per

Other States BPL
capita

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Annual Requirement of foodgrains for
PDS and Other Schemes
(in lakh tonnes)

Categories Rice Wheat Total

AAY 67.16 34.8 101.96
BPL 113.89 60.92 174.81
APL (@16.2kg.average) 76.16 147.84 224.00
Sub-Total of TPDS # 257.21 243.56 500.77
Other Welfare Schemes * 35.00 15.00 50.00
Flood, Drought, Disasters 18.00 24.00 42.00
Open Market Sales 20.00 30.00 50.00
Grand Total 330.21 312.56 642.77
# At present scale of issue
* At present levels of allocations. May increase with universalization
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 Procurement of Foodgrains
(in lakh tons)
Year Rice Wheat Coarse grains Total Procurement

1999-00 182.28 163.55 0.00 345.83

2000-01 212.81 206.30 6.51 425.62
2001-02 221.28 190.54 3.14 414.96
2002-03 164.22 158.01 0.60 322.83
2003-04 228.28 167.95 6.51 402.74
2004-05 246.85 147.87 8.26 402.98
2005-06 276.56 92.26 11.51 380.33
2006-07 251.07 111.28 0.00 362.35
2007-08 287.36 226.89 2.03 516.28
2008-09 336.85 253.82 13.76 604.43
2009-10* 311.26 225.25 4.07 540.58
Average 247.17 176.70 5.13 428.99
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*As on 21st Sept. 2010
 ALLOCATION AND OFFTAKE UNDER TPDS
from 2004-05 to 2010-11
(lakh tons)

YEAR ALLOCATION OFFTAKE % OFFTAKE

(RICE & WHEAT) (RICE & WHEAT) (RICE & WHEAT)

(BPL+AAY) APL TOTAL (BPL+AAY) APL TOTAL (BPL+AAY) APL TOTAL

2004-05 273.30 443.68 717.00 229.20 64.32 293.55 83.90 14.50 40.90

2005-06 272.70 443.53 716.22 230.85 80.20 311.05 84.70 18.10 43.40

2006-07 273.70 302.83 576.56 229.01 84.68 313.69 83.70 28.00 54.40

2007-08 274.60 118.16 392.78 245.68 87.22 332.90 89.50 73.80 84.80

2008-09 276.01 111.75 387.76 251.80 94.20 346.01 91.20 84.30 89.20

2009-10 276.09 199.94 476.03 263.40 160.63 424.03 95.40 80.3 89.10

2010-11 92.25 59.00 151.25 90.14 51.40 141.54 97.7 87.1 93.6
(upto
July)
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 OTHER WELFARE SCHEMES

• Foodgrains allocated to GoI Ministries and States & UTs at BPL issue prices,
and free of cost under village grain bank scheme.

• HRD Ministry Mid Day Meal Scheme

• WCD Ministry Wheat Based Nutrition Programme
Nutrition Programme for Adolescent Girls
• RD Ministry Annapoorna Scheme
• DFPD Scheme for Welfare institutions
Scheme for SC, ST OBC Hostels
Emergency Feeding Programme in KBK districts of
Orissa
Village Grain Banks scheme (VGB)

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ALLOCATION OF FOODGRAINS UNDER OTHER
WELFARE SCHEMES
RICE & WHEAT
(LAKH TONS)

2004-05 141.48
2005-06 94.93
2006-07 56.93
2007-08 45.45
2008-09 41.41
2009-10 42.11
2010-11 47.49
(upto October 2010)

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 Some challenges in TPDS
• Diversion/leakages
• Bogus / ineligible ration cards
• Lack of greater community participation in
monitoring
• Allotment of FPS dealerships
• Viability of Fair Price Shops
• Weak Grievance Redressal mechanism

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 Nine Point Action Plan to Strengthen TPDS
i) States should undertake a campaign to review BPL/AAY list
to eliminate ghost/ ineligible ration cards.

ii) Strict action should be taken against the guilty to ensure

leakage free distribution of foodgrains.

iii) For sake of transparency, involvement of elected PRI

members in distribution of foodgrains be ensured.

iv) BPL/AAY lists should be displayed at all FPSs.

v) District-wise and FPS-wise allocation of foodgrains should be

put on websites and other prominent places, for public
scrutiny.
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 Nine Point Action Plan to Strengthen TPDS
vi) Wherever possible, doorstep delivery of foodgrains
should be ensured by States, instead of letting
private transporters/wholesalers to transport goods.

vii) Timely availability of foodgrains at FPS level and

fixed dates of distribution to ration card holders
should be ensured.

viii) Training of members of FPS level Vigilance

Committees should be ensured.

ix) Computerisation of TPDS operations should be

undertaken.

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 Technology based applications for improving
functioning of TPDS

• Computerization of TPDS operations

– FCI to Block level Godowns. Pilot in 3 Districts each of Andhra
Pradesh, Assam, Chattisgarh & Delhi

• Computerization of ration card related database

– 10 states have reported taking up data digitization

• Smart Card based delivery to Ration Card holders

– Pilot Project in Haryana & Chandigarh

• GPS based tracking Vehicles transporting TPDS

commodities
– Tamilnadu, Delhi and Chattisgarh

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 Technology in PDS Reform
Sl. No. Problem Areas
Consumer Issues
1 Duplicate and Bogus Cards
2 Delivery from FPS
3 Grievance Redressal
4 Accountability
5 Transparency
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Proposed Solutions
Digitization of beneficiary details, Biometrics
with De-duplication (UID compliant)
Smart card, Secured coupons based
distribution
Call Center / Helpline with computer based
monitoring in public domain
Performance index at each level, monitoring
through online data
SMS based alerts, SMS and Email based
queries, Web based Information System in
Public domain
 Some Best Practices Reported by States
• ANDHRA PRADESH
• Issuance of ration cards under “Iris Biometric Technology” to all
the existing cardholders along with bar coded coupons.
CHHATISGARH
• Improving economic viability of FPS - State Government
provided Rs. 42 crores as seed capital to Gram Panchayats and
SHGs for running FPS.
• One month credit facility to FPS.
• Transparency in distribution - During Rice Utsav, PDS commodities
are distributed in the presence of vigilance committee members and
Nodal officer appointed by Collector.
• DELHI
• Public Audit System - through the bonafide cardholders to see
records whether they have received entitled foodgrains at prescribed
rates.

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 Some Best Practices Reported by States-
contd.
GUJARAT
• FPS Model Center, the State Government has allowed the Model FPS
to sell the daily use items to increase viability of FPSs.
 
KERALA:
• Sabari Stores: For viability of Fair Price Shops (FPS), the Kerala
State Civil Supplies Corporation purchase and supply the items on
short-term credit basis. The scheme has been implemented in all the
district of the State and the FPSs selected were named as “Sabari
Stores.

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Some Best Practices Reported by States- contd.
MADHYA PRADESH
• Credit support facility: On pilot basis, MP State Civil
Supplies Corporation has arranged credit facility for
two districts namely Rajgarh and Sagar to facilitate
better off-take of foodgrains.
• All Fair Price Shops are operated by Co-operative
institutions with compulsory participation of ration
card holders to ensure accountability.
• Door-Step-Delivery System
TAMILNADU
• Use of GPS technology to tract vehicles transporting
PDS commodities.
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 Implementation of Measures to strengthen
Public Distribution System
States reported
Implementation
1 Review of BPL/AAY lists to eliminate ghost cards 31

2 Action against guilty to curb leakages 33

3 Involvement of PRIs in Distribution of foodgrains 27

4 Display of BPL/AAY list in FPS 30
5 District & FPS wise allocation on website 20
6 Doorstep delivery of foodgrains 17
7 Timely availability of foodgrains 32
8 Training of FPS level vigilance committees 27
9 Computerization of TPDS operations 10
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 Implementation of Measures to strengthen
Public Distribution System (contd.)

States reported
Implementation
10 Adoption of Citizen’s Charter 26

11 Deletion of bogus/ineligible ration cards 25

12 Monthly certification on delivery of foodgrains 20

13 No. of FPS allotted to various groups 29
14 Action against defaulters 26
15 Wheat flour distribution 14
16 Training program taken up 24
17 Public awareness campaign taken up 19

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 VILLAGE GRAIN BANK SCHEME
• Coverage – Food scarce & drought prone areas,
desert, tribal and hilly areas
• Objective – To provide safeguard against starvation
during lean season to marginalised and vulnerable
families (BPL/AAY families)
• Scheme Details – Foodgrain @ 1 Qtl/family for
maxm. of 40 families on loan basis.
• Govt. grant – Free foodgrain and Rs.12200 per VGB
as cash grant for infrastructure costs.
• Eligible agencies – NGOs, SHGs, LBs/VPs/GSs,
Community organizations
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 VILLAGE GRAIN BANK SCHEME –
Implementing States
Andhra Pradesh (6585) Manipur

Assam (100) (67) Meghalaya (44) (40)

Bihar (415) Nagaland (486) (300)

Chattisgarh (1904) (1904) Orissa (500) (500)

Gujarat (354) (226) Tripura (103) (39)

Jharkhand (583) Uttar Pradesh (1281) (500)

Kerala (387) Uttarakhand (55) (55)

Madhya Pradesh (2784) (2644) West Bengal (820) (820)

Maharashtra (1377) (1101) Total - 17 States (18692) (13085)

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 VILLAGE GRAIN BANK SCHEME -
Issues
• States interest in implementation lacking
• Need for Monitoring functioning of VGBs by
States
• VGBs to function as lending banks – effective
recovery essential for successful functioning
• Timely furnishing of Utilisation Certificates to
GOI

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 Publicity cum Awareness in TPDS
• Objective – To create awareness among TPDS
beneficiaries on entitlements, rights, price,
availability of essential items, etc.
• Scheme Details – for publicity through
audio/visual/print media, bill boards, posters, etc.
• Govt. Grant – 80% cash grant of Central Govt. 20%
State Share – Given in two installments
• Issues – Lack of State’s interest, Timely UC

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 PDS Training

GOI provides grants-in –aid for

• conducting training programmes for officials

of State Civil Supplies Departments
• Seminar/workshops for senior level officials of
States/UTs and members of vigilance
committees under PDS
• Proposals are to be sent by States/UTs to GOI
for consideration
Thank You....

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