-Economic and Political Weekly The need for the public distribution system varies widely across states and districts. In some districts, the poor draw more than 80% of their grain from thePDS, but in other districts this share is less than 10%. A wide diversity of relationships with the PDS exist, suggesting a need for alternative modes of provisioning. A variable geometry of food provisioning might emerge, with cash working better for...

-The Times of India Salem: Salem Periyar University and University of Hertfordshire, United Kingdom, have jointly conducted a research on the public distribution system (PDS) in selected rural areas of Salem district since 2017. At the end of two-year research, the team has found that the PDS has great support among its users in rural areas and contributed positively to food security Vice-chancellor of Periyar University P Kolandaivel said, “In the coming months,...

-The Hindu Many in Jharkhand have been denied food under the public distribution system as their ration cards have been cancelled in the mad rush for putting in place a digital system. While activists claim that some have died from starvation, the government denies this. Shiv Sahay Singh reports on the faulty PDS A few weeks before Kaleshwar Soren, 45, died, he sold the last of his belongings, a Palash tree, for...

-TheWire.in Food minister Ram Vilas Paswan aims to implement the plan across the country in a year. New Delhi: The Centre has announced plans to roll out a ‘one nation, one ration card’ system which will aim to make sure that a beneficiary is able to avail herself of the Public Distribution System (PDS) – no matter which part of the country she may be in. The measure, intended primarily to benefit migrant...

-Livemint.com * A new research paints a mixed picture on the relative merits of Aadhaar-based biometric authentication in the PDS * The research highlight there can be several ways to authenticate beneficiaries in the public distribution system Since 2017, the Indian government has mandated the use of Aadhaar-based biometrics in India’s public distribution system (PDS) to tackle the longstanding issue of leakages. Critics, however, suggest that this has excluded many beneficiaries and increased...