5-Feb-2021: Targeted Public Distribution System and FPS licenses

The Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) is operated under the joint responsibilities of the Central and the State/UT Governments, wherein the operational responsibilities, such as identification of beneficiaries/ households under NFSA, issuance of ration cards to them, allocation & transportation of foodgrains up to all Fair Price Shops (FPSs), distribution to beneficiaries, licensing & monitoring of FPSs, grievance redressal of beneficiaries, etc. rests with the concerned States/UTs. However, as and when any complaints are received in this Department from individuals, organizations as well as through media reports regarding any irregularities in the functioning of the TPDS, including leakages & diversion of subsidized foodgrains thus not reaching to the intended beneficiaries, issuance of license etc., they are forwarded to the concerned State/UT Government for inquiry and appropriate action at their end.

An offence committed in violation of the provisions of the TPDS (Control) Order, 2015 is liable for penal action under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955. Thus, the Order empowers all State/UT Governments to take punitive actions in case of contravention of the relevant provisions of the Order. During the last three years 2018 to 2020, actions pertaining to number of FPS licenses suspended/ cancelled/show cause notices issued/FIR lodged were taken by States/UTs in a total of about 19,410 cases so far.

5-Feb-2021: Direct cash transfer under PDS

A scheme of direct cash transfer into the bank account of beneficiaries of Public Distribution System instead of providing foodgrains is already being implemented on a pilot basis in the three Union Territories of Chandigarh, Puducherry and urban areas of Dadra & Nagar Haveli. The scheme of cash transfer of food subsidy is implemented as per provisions of the Cash Transfer of Food Subsidy Rules, 2015, notified under the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA) which inter alia provides food subsidy in cash directly into the bank accounts of entitled households to enable purchase of entitled quantity of foodgrains from the open market. The scheme can be taken up in identified areas, subject to fulfillment of certain conditions regarding preparedness for its implementation like complete digitization and de-duplication of beneficiary database, seeding of bank account details in the digitized beneficiary database and availability of foodgrains in the open market. Identified area is defined under the Rules as State or Union Territory or any specified area within the State or Union Territory for which there is a written consent of the State Government for implementation of the scheme. It is therefore optional for the States/UTs to implement the cash transfer of food subsidy scheme or continue with distribution of foodgrains as per provisions of NFSA through fair price shops.

5-Feb-2021: Cancellation of ration card due to non-seeding with Aadhaar

As per the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) Control Order, 2015 the review of ration cards/beneficiaries list, identification of bogus/ineligible/ duplicate ration cards and inclusion of genuine eligible beneficiaries/households is the role of concerned State/UT  Government. Under TPDS reforms States/UTs collectively have reported the cancellation of about 2.06 Crore ineligible/duplicate/bogus ration cards since 2017 due to various reasons such as deduplication/bogus/migration/death or other reasons. In this regard, States/UTs have been advised to undertake proper verification (including field verification) of each identified case to ensure that ration cards of genuine beneficiaries are not deleted/ suspended. Further, States/UTs are regularly issuing new ration cards to the genuinely eligible households/beneficiaries in place of cancelled ration cards under ceiling limit of the National Food Security Act (NFSA). Presently, Department is allocating foodgrains of about 80 Cr. Beneficiary under NFSA.

A grievance redressal mechanism under NFSA comprising of District Grievance Redressal Officer (DGRO) and Independent State Food Commission (SFC) at different levels are available in all States/UTs for the beneficiaries to register their complaints and grievances. Besides, an online grievance redressal mechanism/toll free helpline (1967/1800-series) are also available in all States/UTs.

It is stated that the NFSA provides for use of Aadhaar for the unique identification of beneficiaries at the time of lifting of foodgrains for better targeting of food subsidy. Further, the Department under the Section-7 of the Aadhaar Act, 2016 has issued the Notification vide SO No. 371[E] dated 8/2/2017 [as amended from time to time]. However, as per the latest amendment, the timeline given to States/UTs for linking of Aadhaar with all ration cards has been extended up to 31/03/2021. Until then clear instructions have been issued to all States/UTs that no genuine beneficiary/household shall be deleted from the list of eligible households and shall not be denied from their entitled quota of foodgrains under NFSA, on the ground of not possessing an Aadhaar number, failure of biometric authentication due to network/ connectivity/ linking issues or any other technical reasons etc.

2-Feb-2021: Illegal export of PDS rice

Of-late a report had appeared in the media titled “Bought in Andhra at Rs. 10, sold in Malaysia at Rs. 123” alleging diversion of the PDS foodgrains in Andhra Pradesh. Up on inquiry, the Government of Andhra Pradesh has informed that they have seized 435.80 MTs of Rice worth of Rs. 1,08,95,000/- and has taken all preventive measures and necessary action against the culprits.

To bring transparency and efficiency in the functioning of the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), this Department in association with all States/UTs had implemented a scheme on ‘End-to-End Computerization of TPDS Operations’, which inter-alia comprised digitization of ration cards/ beneficiaries’ data, installation of electronic Point of Sale (ePoS) devices at all Fair Price Shops (FPSs), etc. for transparent distribution of foodgrains to all beneficiaries under National Food Security Act (NFSA). As part of these activities, 100% digitization of NFSA ration cards has been achieved in all States/UTs, Aadhaar seeding of almost 91% ration cards at the national level has been achieved so far (100% in Andhra Pradesh). Besides, almost 92% of total 5.4 Lakh FPSs in the country are distributing foodgrains through ePoS devices.  At the national level, more than 70% of the monthly allocated foodgrains to States/UTs are being distributed to NFSA beneficiaries after their biometric authentication on ePoS devices.       

Further, NFSA provides for implementation of a two-tier grievance redressal mechanism in all States/UTs, including Andhra Pradesh, i.e. District Grievance Redressal Officers (DGRO) and independent State Food Commissions (SFC)along with setting up of 4 level Vigilance Committees at State, districts, blocks and FPSs levels for the monitoring and grievance redressal, transparency and accountability in TPDS operations.

9-Apr-2020: Food grains to be provided to non-NFSA beneficiaries with ration cards issued by State governments

Government of India has directed Food Corporation of India (FCI) to provide food grains @5 Kg per person per month for 3 months at the rates of Rs. 21/Kg for wheat and Rs. 22/Kg for rice uniformly across the country to all beneficiaries not covered under NFSA to whom ration cards have been issued by state governments under their schemes. States have been given the option to lift these stocks in one go or on monthly basis over 3 months upto June 2020.

In order to support the NGOs/Charitable organizations involved in relief operations, Government has given directions to FCI to provide wheat @Rs. 21/Kg and Rice @22/Kg uniformly across the country to all such organizations without any upper limit on quantity. These directions are expected to have a salutary effect on the food grain supply position in the country by ensuring that every section of the society is provided access to adequate food grains at reasonable prices during the Covid 19 pandemic.

As part of the mammoth exercise being undertaken by FCI to move food grain stocks across the country to feed the largest Food Security system in the world covering more than 81 crore people through 5.3 Lakh Fair Price Shops (FPS), a new milestone was created on 09.04.20 when the agency transported 77 rakes carrying about 2.16 Lakh MT. With this, the total food grain stocks transported by FCI since lock down is nearing 2.5 Million Metric Tonnes.

Under the PM Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana (PMGKAY), a total of 12.1 MMT of food grains are being supplied to 81 crore people in 3 months @5 Kg per person. FCI is fully geared up to meet the challenge of positioning such large quantity of grain in every state as per their distribution plans. Special efforts are being made to move a record quantity of 6 LMT boiled rice by end of April to West Bengal to meet the state’s requirement under PMGKAY. Plans have been worked out to move boiled rice from Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Odisha as these states contribute maximum boiled rice to the national pool. However, in order to create adequate storage space for induction of boiled rice into the state, FCI has already requested West Bengal government to speed up lifting of available wheat stocks from its warehouses.

Along with undertaking transportation of stocks at unprecedented levels post-lockdown, FCI is carrying out procurement of rice in states like Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, Chhattisgarh etc. It is also gearing up to start acceptance of wheat of winter crop in major procuring states like Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, UP, Rajasthan etc. as per the procurement plans being worked out by the respective state governments according to the safety protocols of social distancing. With the anticipated procurement of about 40 MMT Wheat and 9 MMT Rice during Rabi season, the food grain stocks in national pool will be fully replenished ensuring that there is no threat to the Food Security of the country.

4-Feb-2020: Automation of Ration Shops

The Department in association with all States/UTs is implementing a scheme on ‘End-to-End Computerization of Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) Operations’ including automation of Fair Price Shops (FPSs) to bring transparency and efficiency in the allocation and distribution of highly subsidised food grains to beneficiaries covered under National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA). So far, nearly 88% FPSs in the country have been automated by installing ePoS devices at FPSs.

As regard financial assistance to States/UTs, ‘The Food Security (Assistance to State Governments) Rules 2015’ under NFSA provides for reimbursement of an additional dealer margin to States/UTs at the rate of Rs.17 per quintal of food grains distributed through the ePoS devices, to meet up the expenditure incurred towards the purchasing cost, operational/ running/ maintenance expenses of ePoS devices and incentives for their use. Such expenditure would be shared between Centre and State/UT Governments on 75:25 basis for 23 Special Category States/UTs and on 50:50 basis for 13 General Category States/UTs. So far, this Department has released a total of about Rs. 100 Crore to concerned States under NFSA during the current financial year.

To sustain the reforms brought in by the scheme on ‘End-to-End Computerization of TPDS Operations’ and to introduce new reforms, the Department in association with States/UTs is implementing another scheme namely “Integrated Management of Public Distribution System (IM-PDS)” w.e.f. April 2018 with a total outlay of Rs. 127 Crore. The main objective of the scheme is to introduce nation-wide portability of ration card holders under National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA), through 'One Nation One Ration Card' system. This system enables the migratory ration card holders/beneficiaries to lift their entitled food grains from any Fair Price Shop (FPS) of their choice in the country by using their existing/same ration card issued in their home State/UT after biometric/Aadhaar authentication on electronic Point of Sale (ePoS) devices installed at the FPSs. So far this facility is available in 12 States.