The document summarizes issues with India's public distribution system including identification of poor families, diversion of goods, delivery errors, lack of transparency and accountability. It proposes several reforms such as establishing food banks, improving targeting criteria, leveraging Aadhaar IDs, increasing cooperative involvement and monitoring delivery routes. Key problems include many deserving families lacking access, bogus ration cards, diversion of goods intended for poor, irregular delivery schedules and lack of transparency. Reforms aim to reduce costs, improve targeting and monitoring, and increase accountability.

1. Prepared by:
CHANGEAGENTS
(Pooja verma
Surbhi bari
Prachi
Khushboo
Ankita)

2. An overview of public distribution system
in India

3. 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(belowpoverty 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 withouttheir
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 theAPL
category under theTPDS, are not availed by the intended
beneficiaries and are instead diverted out of the system.

4. Alarming diversion ratio (proportion of PDS grain “diverted”to the open market) has been
estimated by several researchers in the past by matchingNationalSampleSurvey (NSS) data on
householdpurchases with FoodCorporation of India (FCI) data on “offtake ” .The former tell us
howmuch 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 southernStates 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-deliveredin Andhra Pradesh,Arunachal Pradesh,
Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh andTamil Nadu, the FPSs in
otherStates, do not enjoy this facility
• Irregular delivery schedule of FPS quota is a persistent problem in most
States.This has contributedto low off-take by consumers and hence to large
diversionof subsidized grains to the open market

5. SystemTransparency andAccountability –
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 likeVigilance
Committee, Anti-HoardingCells 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.

6.  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.

7. .

8.  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.

9. TheUID 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
individualsand families.This can lead to a high-qualitybeneficiary 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.

10. 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. InTamil 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

11.  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.

12.  Performance Evaluation ofTargeted 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
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 http://eprints.cscsarchive.org/287/1/Inclusion-Exclusion.pdf