State links PDS to UID to plug leakages in food supplies but gaps remain Madhya Pradesh has opted for the technologically most sophisticated—and costliest—method for revamping its public distribution system (PDS). It is one of a handful of states that is trying to ensure that subsidised food reaches the segment it is meant for, the poorest of the population or those below the poverty line (BPL). But the route it has...
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MP govt to bring transparency in PDS: Minister
-PTI Madhya Pradesh Cooperative and Public Health Minister Gaurishankar Bisen today said efforts would be undertaken to bring transparency and accountability in the public distribution system (PDS) in the state.The bio-metric cards or coupons would be used in the entire state with the online computer system to be implemented in the PDS, Bisen told reporters at BJP office here.Informing that bio-metric cards are currently being used as a pilot project in...
More »Don't replace subsidised food with cash: Swaminathan
-IANS Eminent agriculture scientist and a member of the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC), M.S. Swaminathan, has cautioned against the government's plan to replace subsidised food with cash under the proposed National Food Security Act (NFSA). "The government's plan to replace subsidised ration with cash under the public distribution system (PDS) is faulty. It will lead to low procurement and less production subsequently. This will be bad for Indian agriculture," Swaminathan...
More »Computerization to Check Leakages in PDS
-Press Information Bureau Government of India has taken up the computerization of Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) in a phased manner to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the TPDS. In the first phase, the scheme on Computerization of TPDS Operations had been approved to be implemented on pilot basis in three districts each of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh and Delhi. A pilot scheme on Smart Card based delivery of essential...
More »PDS leakages: the plot thickens by Jean Drèze and Reetika Khera
While diversion rates still remain high, evidence seems to point to substantial improvements in the public distribution system around the country. It is well understood that a substantial proportion of the grain, mainly wheat and rice, that is meant to be distributed to eligible families under the Public Distribution System (PDS) ends up being sold in the open market by corrupt intermediaries, including some dealers who manage PDS outlets. The extent...
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