About TPDS
- The Government of India revamped the almost universal PDS and launched the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) in 1997 to narrow its coverage to a focused group of
- The aim was to provide food grains to a targeted population below the poverty line (BPL).
- Identification of BPL families was carried out through the BPL census conducted by the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India.
- Food grains were sold to this group at half the economic cost, while people above the poverty line (APL) were offered food grains at economic
- There was a fixed entitlement of food grains per month consisting of rice and wheat/atta for BPL families, while there was no fixed entitlement for APL
- The entitlement for BPL families increased over
- A supplementary food security scheme was launched in the year 2000 to cater to the poorest of the poor stratum of society, namely, the Antyodaya Anna Yojna(AAY).
- There was a set of five criteria to identify these families following a Supreme Court order. The entitlement was fixed at 35 kg per month per family covered under AAY.
- The scheme was expanded in two phases, in 2003 and in 2004,to increase coverage.
Efficacy of NFSA and TPDS
- During Covid crisis, the country’s technology-driven PDS swiftly came to the fore by successfully scaling up to distribute almost double the quantity of food grains to more than 80 crore beneficiaries in the country during April to November 2020
- 100% digitizedration cards/beneficiaries’ data under NFSA in all States/UTs. Details of almost 5 Crore ration Cards covering nearly 80 Crore beneficiaries are available on transparency portals of States/UTs.
- Nationally, achieved nearly 67% biometrically/Aadhaar authenticateddistribution of monthly allocated foodgrains to States/UTs under NFSA.
- Under PMGKY, each person who is covered under the National Food Security Act would get an additional ration for free, in addition to already subsidised food grain provided through the Public Distribution System (PDS).
- The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution reported that an average of 93-94 per cent food grains per month was distributed under NFSA and PMGKAY. So, only 6-7 per cent of food grains was not lifted by eligible or excluded beneficiaries.
Drawbacks
- While the integrated management of PDS through automation of operational fair price shops (FPS) or Aadhaar-seeding of ration cards helps deepen the portability of One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC), reducing targeting (inclusion/exclusion) errors, foodgrains access, and mitigating diversion or leakage should draw attention for an inclusive food safety net.
- The second dimension is targeting errors by assessing and analysing the per cent of inclusion/exclusion errors in NFSA list.
- The other dimensions of evaluation are awareness and education on ONORC portability, effectiveness of grievance redress system and social audit, and supply chain and PDS reforms.
Way forward
- The Food and Civil Supplies Department should keep a vigil on the functioning of FPSs, checking for any diversion of subsidised food grains to the open market.
- There can be graduated sanction for unscrupulous FPS dealers if they do not extend working hours for a stipulated period and fail to maintain a daily transaction ledger and update stocks/inventories.
- Data governance should be put in place to increase transparency and accountability of TPDS that can help deepen portability benefits of ONORC and scale up the implementation of integrated management of PDS.
- States and UTs should allocate food grains to those who are excluded from the TPDS by means of food coupons, cash transfer, and release of surplus stocks from the Central pool in a phased manner.
- The community kitchen concept must work with the support of civil society organisations to serve the excluded sections.
