The Public Distribution System (PDS) in India is indeed a crucial mechanism to ensure food security for its citizens, particularly those belonging to economically disadvantaged sections. Here’s a breakdown of how it works:
1. Collaboration Between State and Central Governments: PDS operates as a joint collaboration between the state and central governments. The central government, primarily through the Food Corporation of India (FCI), is responsible for procurement, storage, transportation, and bulk allocation of essential food grains to the state governments.
2. Operational Responsibilities: While the central government handles the logistics of procurement and bulk allocation, the operational responsibilities lie with the state governments. These responsibilities include allocation within the state, identification of eligible families, issuance of ration cards, and supervision of Fair Price Shops (FPSs).
3. Fair Price Shops (FPSs): These are the primary distribution points for subsidized food grains and other essential commodities under the PDS. They are run by authorized dealers appointed by the state governments. FPSs play a crucial role in ensuring that the benefits of the PDS reach the intended beneficiaries.
4. Commodities Allocated: The central government allocates essential commodities like wheat, rice, sugar, and kerosene to the states for distribution through the PDS. However, some states also distribute additional items of mass consumption through PDS outlets, such as pulses, edible oils, iodized salt, spices, etc.
5. Inclusion of Additional Items: The inclusion of additional items beyond the essential food grains reflects the evolving nature of the PDS to address the diverse dietary needs and nutritional requirements of the population.
6. Subsidized Pricing: The commodities distributed through the PDS are sold at subsidized prices to ensure affordability for the economically weaker sections of society. This is achieved through government subsidies.
7. Challenges and Reforms: The PDS faces challenges such as leakages, inefficiencies, and targeting errors. Over the years, various reforms have been initiated to improve the effectiveness of the system, including the adoption of technology for better targeting, Aadhaar linkage for authentication, and the introduction of direct benefit transfers (DBT) in some states. Overall, the PDS remains a cornerstone of India’s social welfare policies, playing a crucial role in ensuring food security and alleviating poverty by providing essential food items at affordable prices to millions of households across the country.
THE HISTORICAL TIMELINE OF PDS:
Public Distribution System in the 1960s: During the period between the World Wars, the distribution of essential commodities was already established in the country.
However, the emergence of the Public Distribution System (PDS) with a focus on distributing food grains in urban scarcity areas stemmed from the significant food shortages experienced during the 1960s.
Revamped Public Distribution System (RPDS):
Launched in June 1992, the Revamped Public Distribution System (RPDS) aimed to strengthen and streamline the PDS while enhancing its outreach to far-flung, hilly, remote, and inaccessible areas where a sizable portion of the impoverished populace resides.
It encompassed 1775 blocks, incorporating area-specific initiatives such as the Drought Prone Area Programme (DPAP), Integrated Tribal Development Projects (ITDP), and Desert Development Programme (DDP), along with certain Designated Hill Areas (DHA) identified in consultation with state governments for special attention. Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS): In June 1997, the Government of India introduced the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) with a focus on aiding the poor. Under this system, states were mandated to devise and implement foolproof mechanisms for identifying the impoverished for the delivery of food grains, ensuring transparent and accountable distribution at the Fair Price Shop (FPS) level. Initially intended to benefit approximately 6 crore poor families, the scheme allocated around 72 lakh tonnes of food grains annually.
Expansion of Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) Scheme: The Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) Scheme has since been expanded to cover 2.50 crore of the poorest households, with expansions occurring as follows:
1. First Expansion: In 2003-04, the AAY Scheme expanded by adding another 50 lakh Below Poverty Line (BPL) households headed by widows, terminally ill persons, disabled individuals, or those aged 60 years and above with no assured means of subsistence or societal support. This expansion increased coverage to 1.5 crore families (23% of BPL).
2. Second Expansion: As announced in the Union Budget 2004-05, the AAY further expanded by 50 lakh BPL families, encompassing all households at risk of hunger. Criteria for identification included various vulnerable groups both in rural and urban areas, such as landless agricultural laborers, marginalized farmers, artisans, slum dwellers, and the elderly without support.
3. Third Expansion: As per the Union Budget 2005-06, the AAY extended to include another 50 lakh BPL households, elevating its coverage to 2.5 crore households (38% of BPL).
Swaminathan Committee on Farmers (October 2006)
Background: The National Commission on Farmers (NCF), chaired by Professor M.S. Swaminathan, was established on November 18, 2004. It submitted five reports between December 2004 and October 2006, aligning with the objectives of the 11th Five Year Plan. These reports aimed to address agricultural challenges outlined in the Common Minimum Programme.
Terms of Reference: The NCF focused on key issues such as medium-term strategies for food security, enhancing farming systems’ productivity and sustainability, rural credit policy reforms, and special programs for diverse farming regions.
Key Findings and Recommendations: The committee identified agrarian distress causes, including incomplete land reform and inadequate access to resources. It recommended inserting “Agriculture” into the Concurrent List of the Constitution to ensure farmers’ resource control. Statistics showed land holdings inequality, with the bottom half of rural households owning only 3% of total land in 1991-92, while the top 10% owned 54%.
The NCF proposed measures to prevent farmer suicides, emphasizing health insurance, state-level Farmers’ Commissions, and microfinance restructuring. It advocated for crop insurance, aquifer recharge, and market interventions to stabilize prices.
Additionally, it suggested creating Village Knowledge Centers and promoting rural livelihoods. To enhance farmers’ competitiveness, the NCF proposed promoting commodity-based farmer organizations, improving Minimum Support Price implementation, and fostering non-farm employment opportunities. It underscored preserving bioresources, conserving biodiversity, and facilitating breed conservation. Overall, the NCF emphasized holistic measures to address farmers’ distress and enhance agricultural sustainability, productivity, and livelihoods.
RENOWNED ECONOMIST ABHIJIT SEN, A STRONG ADVOCATE OF THE CONGRESS’ PDS (ca 2004-2014)
Born in Jamshedpur on November 18, 1950, Sen hailed from an illustrious lineage of economists, with his father Samar Sen serving in the World Bank. Educated at Sardar Patel Vidyalaya in New Delhi, he later pursued Physics at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University, before transitioning to economics. Sen obtained his PhD from Cambridge University, focusing on India’s agrarian constraints under the supervision of Suzy Paine. Having taught economics at esteemed institutions like Sussex, Oxford, Cambridge, and Essex, Sen joined Jawaharlal Nehru University’s Centre for Economic Studies and Planning in 1985. He served as the chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) from 1997, advocating for statutory recognition and setting minimum support prices (MSPs) based on production costs. Sen’s groundbreaking report on Long Term Grain Policy in 2000, proposing MSPs to cover cultivation expenses and family labor, laid the foundation for the ‘Swaminathan formula,’ recommending MSPs be at least 50% above production costs. He also championed a universal PDS, influencing the National Food Security Act of 2013, which provided subsidized wheat and rice to a significant portion of the population. During his tenure in the Planning Commission from 2004 to 2014, Sen remained a key figure in shaping India’s economic policies. Awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2010 for his public service, Sen’s advocacy for a robust PDS and fair pricing for farmers’ produce left an indelible mark on India’s agricultural landscape.
GOVT OF INDIA’S REPORT UNDER THE NDA GOVERNMENT TENURE TO THE UNITED NATIONS IN 2017 REAFFIRMING THE AFFIRMATIVE SOCIAL ACTION BY THE PREVIOUS TWO UPA GOVERNMENTS
Niti Aayog, in its report to the United Nations, validated the UPA government’s efforts in poverty alleviation, highlighting the impact of initiatives like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). During 2004-05 to 2011-12, sustained economic growth of 8.3% facilitated gainful employment, raised wages, and effectively empowered the poor. The MGNREGA alone generated over 2 billion person-days of employment in 2016-17, predominantly benefiting disadvantaged groups and women. The report underscored the significant reduction in poverty levels, with nearly 2 crore people lifted out of poverty annually from 2004-05 onwards. India’s growth post-economic reforms of 1991 contributed to this decline across all economic, social, and religious groups. Emphasizing food security, the report highlighted the National Food Security Act’s role in providing subsidized food grains to a large section of the population through the Public Distribution System (PDS). The report stressed the need for universal access to basic services, focusing on priority areas like sanitation, education, health, and nutritional security, especially for vulnerable groups like women and children.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Swaminathan Committee on Farmers, (October 2006)
Excluding the Needy: The Public Provisioning of Food in India; Madhura Swaminathan
Identification of BPL Households for Poverty Alleviation Programmes; Indira Hirway
Food and Power in Bihar and Jharkhand: PDS and Its Functioning; Jos Mooij
ONLINE REFERENCES:
https://www.fao.org/3/x0172e/x0172e06.htm https://nfsa.gov.in/portal/PDS_page https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/abhijit-sen-an-advocate-of-msp-public-distribution-system/articleshow/93875406.cms?from=mdr https://indianexpress.com/article/india/niti-aayog-report-upa-govt-poverty-alleviation-congress-4723525/
