Public Distribution System - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Public Distribution System (PDS) is an Indian food security

Food security

Food security refers to the availability of food and one's access to it. A household is considered food-secure when its occupants do not live in hunger or fear of starvation. According to the World Resources Institute, global per capita food production has been increasing substantially for the past...

system. Established by the Government of India

Government of India

The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...

under Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution

Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution (India)

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution is a government ministry of India. The Ministry is headed by a minister of Cabinet rank...

and managed jointly with state governments in India

State governments in India

State governments in India are the governments ruling States of India and the main minsters in the state are the chief ministers. Power is divided between central government and state governments. While central government handles Military, external affairs etc., the state government controls...

, it distributes subsidised food and non-food items to India's poor

Poverty in India

Poverty is widespread in India, with the nation estimated to have a third of the world's poor. According to a 2005 World Bank estimate, 41.6% of the total Indian population falls below the international poverty line of 1.25 a day...

. Major commodities distributed include staple food grains, such as wheat

Wheat

Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...

, rice

Rice

Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...

, sugar

Sugar

Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...

, and kerosene

Kerosene

Kerosene, sometimes spelled kerosine in scientific and industrial usage, also known as paraffin or paraffin oil in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Ireland and South Africa, is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid. The name is derived from Greek keros...

, through a network of Public distribution shops (FPS) established in several states across the country. Food Corporation of India

Food Corporation of India

Food Corporation of India was setup on 14th January 1965 having its first District Office at Thanjavur - rice bowl of Tamil Nadu - and headquarters at Chennai under the Food Corporations Act 1964 to implement the following objectives of the National Food Policy :# Effective price support...

, a Government-owned corporation

Government-owned corporation

A government-owned corporation, state-owned company, state-owned entity, state enterprise, publicly owned corporation, government business enterprise, or parastatal is a legal entity created by a government to undertake commercial activities on behalf of an owner government...

, distributes food grains to FPS throughout the country, which are managed by state governments. As of date there are about 4.99 lakh Fair Price Shops (FPS) across India.

In terms of both coverage and public expenditure, it is considered to be the most important food security

Food security

network. However the food grains supplied by the ration shops are not enough to meet the consumption needs of the poor or are of inferior quality. The average level of consumption of PDS grains in India is only 1 kg per person / month. The PDS has been criticised for its urban bias

Urban bias

Urban bias refers to a political economy argument according to which economic development is hampered by groups who, by their central location in urban areas, are able to pressure governments to protect their interests...

and its failure to serve the poorer sections of the population effectively. The targeted PDS is costly and gives rise to much corruption

Political corruption

Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...

in the process of extricating the poor from those who are less needy.

Overview

Both the central and state governments shared the responsibility of regulating the PDS. While the central government is responsible for procurement, storage, transportation, and bulk allocation of food grains, state governments hold the responsibility for distributing the same to the consumers through the established network of Fair Price Shops (FPSs). State governments are also responsible for operational responsibilities including allocation and identification of families below poverty line, issue of ration cards, supervision and monitoring the functioning of FPSs.

Under PDS scheme, each family below the poverty line is eligible for 35 kg of rice or wheat every month, while a household above the poverty line is entitled to 15 kg of foodgrain on a monthly basis.

Fallouts of P.D.S System

1. Generally, the consumers get inferior food grains in ration shops.

2. Deceitful dealers replace good supplies received from the F.C.I (Food Corporation of India) with inferior stock.

3. Many retail shopkeeper

Shopkeeper

A shopkeeper is an individual who owns a shop. Generally, shop employees are not shopkeepers, but are often incorrectly referred to as shopkeepers. Today, a shopkeeper is usually referred to as a manager, though this term could apply to larger firms .*In many south asian languages like Hindi, Urdu,...

s have large number of bogus cards to sell food grains in the open market.

4. Many FPS dealers resort to malpractice

Malpractice

In law, malpractice is a type of negligence in, which the professional under a duty to act, fails to follow generally accepted professional standards, and that breach of duty is the proximate cause of injury to a plaintiff who suffers harm...

since they acquire little profit.

5. Despite the PDS, India accounts for over 400 million poor and hungry people. Numerous malpractices make safe and nutritious food inaccessible and unaffordable to many poor.

Several schemes have augmented the number of people aided by PDS, but the number is still extremely low. Poor supervision of FPS and lack of accountability

Accountability

Accountability is a concept in ethics and governance with several meanings. It is often used synonymously with such concepts as responsibility, answerability, blameworthiness, liability, and other terms associated with the expectation of account-giving...

have spurred a number of middlemen who consume a good proportion of the stock meant for the poor. There is also no clarity as to which families should be included in the BPL list and which excluded. This results in the genuinely poor being excluded whilst the ineligible get several cards.

The stock assigned to a single family cannot be bought in instalments. This is one of the biggest barriers to the efficient functioning of PDS in India. Many BPL families are not able to acquire ration cards either because they are seasonal migrant worker

Migrant worker

The term migrant worker has different official meanings and connotations in different parts of the world. The United Nations' definition is broad, including any people working outside of their home country...

s or because they live in unauthorised colonies. A lot of families also mortgage their ration cards for money.

To improve the current system of the PDS, the following suggestions are furnished for:

1. Vigilance squad should be strengthened to detect corruption, which is an added expenditure for taxpayers.

2. Personnel-in-charge of the department should be chosen locally.

3. Margin of profit should be increased for honest business, in which case the market system is more apt anyway.

4. F.C.I. and other prominent agencies should provide quality food grains for distribution, which is a tall order for an agency that has no real incentive to do so.

5. Frequent checks & raids should be conducted to eliminate bogus and duplicate cards, which is again an added expenditure and not fool proof.

6. The Civil supplies Corporation should open more Fair Price shops in rural areas.

7. The Fair Price dealers seldom display rate chart and quantity available in the block-boards in front of the shop. This should be enforced.

In aggregate, only about 42% of subsidised grains issued by the central pool reach the target group, according to a Planning Commission study released in March 2008.

Food stamps

Food stamps is an indirect financial support given to the needy and to the underprivileged by issue of coupons, vouchers, electronic card transfer etc. they can purchase commodities at any shop or outlet and would not have to purchase food from a particular shop as in the case of the PDS system in India. The state government would than pay back the grocers shop for the stamps they possess.This was the plan proposed by the Finance minister in his budget but the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government which came to power in 2004, it decided on a Common minimum programme (CPM) and one of the agenda was food and nutrition security. Under that the government had plans for strengthening the Public distribution System (PDS). However the Finance minister P. Chidambaram in his budget speech went contrary to the idea proposed in the CPM and proposed the idea of the food stamp scheme. and has proposed to try the scheme in few districts of India to know its viability. ) In the CPM the government had propsed that if it is vaiable it would universalise the PDS but if the Food stamps would be introduced it would be a Targeted public distribution system and a group of about 40 economist have cautioned the NAC headed by Sonia Gandhi against the food security bill as it would put an additional burden on the ex-chequer and instead have advised to go ahead and experiment with food stamps and other alternative methods and did point out the flaws in PDS . These set of 40 economist hail from different institutes like Delhi School of Economics, Indian Statistical Institute, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Centre for Development Studies, Harvard, MIT, Columbia, Princeton, London School of Economics, University of British Columbia, University of California and University of Warwick.

Avoid wastage of food

The Food Corporation of India (FCI) collects food grains from the farmers from all over the country and than distributes it to state government which than further distributes it to the fair price shops. It’s a very lengthy process and to add to the miseries the FCI does not have enough warehouses to store all the grains and hence there is immense wastage of food grains as it is kept in open eaten by rats, if procurement and sale happens in the open market than wastage would be drastically reduced.

Distribution of food stamps

The government may have to set up a complete system for the same or would have to put this responsibility on Post office, banks or such other institutions. In this process there could be leakages which are a matter of concern. Also there would be a burden which would come on the poor class who has to benefit from the same of going and collectinf the food stamps.

Debate Against Cash Subsidy

In the admits of sweeping political reforms to transform the public functioning making it Corruption-free, The Government of India has put in place several proposals to tackle corruption hence defending its stand. Among the proposals have been the policies on food, fertilizers and fuel to help the lower bulk of population in both rural and urban help attain a sustainable living standard. Pranab Mukherjee this February 2011 in his budget speech had put forward the proposal of Cash Subsidy as a substitute. ”

Ancient System

Such forms of taxation system had earlier inherited in various traditional societies in the pre-colonial era in India. The Arthasastra written in the Mauryan Empire had classified tax payment from rich to enable transfer to the poor bulk of population which comprised of both Financial and Welfare aspect. Kautilya had suggested this approach The King/Emperor should collect tax from the rich to help the helpless. .Similarly under the Islamic Dynasty a theory refined as ‘Zakat’ had evolved which was imposed on food grains, fruits, camels, cattle, goats etc. under the state charge for income diversion from rich to the poor.

Conditional Cash Subsidies

The exposure of such cash transfers had been attained by the existing structures in Brazil and Mexico which have often classified it as conditional cash subsidies. As per the suggested name these subsidies are provided in lieu of certain conditions, further they aren’t provided on food but maintaining a minimum school attendance and a visit to heath centre’s for vacancies which inflicts with the developmental issues along with a welfare motive for the society. However, such aspects are not practical in nature to have a positive implementation in India. Targeting the correct beneficiaries is a major task ahead in comparison with a large chuck of population in Latin America where the population density is fairly low. These subsidies could only complement but no substitute for a solution. Another basic argument lies in search for evidence that such conditional cash subsidies would work better than the Mid-Day Meal schemes of the Central government.
To concise, such conditional cash transfers are productive in providing scholarships to poor students or cycles to girl student as seen in Bihar. They could further complement the existing Public Distribution Systems but the idea of it being a substitute is a mere failure.

Inflationary Pressures

Often the Whole Sale Price Index of measuring inflation in India is marked by a high degree of fluctuation. Form 11 % in the first week to 18 % in the second and ending on 14% in the third. These incidences could well challenge the cash transfer process in compensating public with a deregulated market where prices fluctuate so often.
Hence, designing a specific average weighted index in lieu of price fluctuations seems quite unrealistic in nature. To consider the works of a Public Distribution Centre, it always has provided for an inflation proof mechanism.

External links

PDS - Department of Food and Public Distribution, Official website at Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution
Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution (India)
The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution is a government ministry of India. The Ministry is headed by a minister of Cabinet rank...
Public Distribution System (PDS), in 10th Plan at Planning Commission of India
Planning commission of India
The Planning Commission is an institution in the Government of India, which formulates India's Five-Year Plans, among other functions.-History:...
Public Distribution System: Introduction at Right to Food Campaign

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