State Food Ministers Meet Resolved to Modernize the PDS

The Government is considering a Special Purpose Vehicle for transportation of foodgrains from procuring states to consuming states and GPS tracking system to monitoring the movement of foodgrains. Briefing the media persons after the conclusion of two days’ Conference of State Food and Agriculture Ministers here today, Minister of Consumer Affairs & Food and Public Distribution, Prof. K V.Thomas said that States have resolved to modernize the Public Distribution System and create modern storage facilities.

Prof. Thomas said that during deliberations, it was reported by some of the States that there would be massive savings in foodgrains and subsidy amount if biometric-based bar-coded ration cards are issued to the beneficiaries. The intention was to ensure that the fruits of subsidy reach the poor and needy sections of the society and the PDS is streamlined / modernized with the help of modern techniques of Information Technology. It was stated that a Plan Scheme had already been drafted and sent to the Planning Commission for giving financial assistance to the States to computerize the PDS.

He said that the Conference also resolved to create modern storage facilities including 2 MMT of storage in the shape of silos. The States were strongly urged to provide lands for setting up silos and take advantage of the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) scheme of the Government of India.

The purpose of the conference was to provide a common platform to all the key decision makers involved in Food and Public Distribution System of India, from Centre and States / UTs to discuss and debate the various issues in modernizing the TPDS, to arrive at an action plan to be implemented by the various agencies and also to set timelines for completion of the same.

Minister of Consumer Affairs & Food and Public Distribution pointed out that this is the time to act given the huge subsidy of 60-80% on the price of foodgrains. Hence, it is the moral responsibility of all those involved to ensure that it reaches the true beneficiaries at the right time. He complimented the FCI for reducing storage losses from 2.5% to 0.1% through modernization of godowns. He requested all the States to prepare a 5-year prospective plan to create intermediate storage capacity at the district, block, Gram Panchayat and fair price shop level by leveraging existing schemes, both at the Central and State level.

During the deliberations, the Chairman UIDAI expounded on the tremendous possibilities that the Aadhar Scheme held for modernization of TPDS. He also spoke on the recommendation of the task force on reform of PDS and the PDS Network (PDSN).

In the Interactive sessions spread over two days, all the States and Union Territories made their presentation highlighting the issues faced by them and also giving their valuable suggestions for the smooth functioning of the TPDS and storage initiatives. Further, the States elaborated their plans in the direction of achieving transparency, modernization through latest technology and the progress made in the creation of storage. Many States provided details of the best practices evolved by them for improving the efficiency of TPDS, such as the use of coupons, SMS, bar-codes, biometric identification, smart cards, GPS enabled vehicles, etc.

North Eastern States were vocal in their demand for increased financial assistance to meet their transportation cost and to improve their transportation infrastructure. Many of the smaller States asked FCI to procure in their States until such time that they set up their own procurement infrastructure and institutions. Similarly hilly States and NE States also wanted maintenance of 3-4 months buffer stocks at district level as transportation is severely affected during winter and monsoon.

The Conference was attended by Food and Agriculture Ministers from 20 different States / UTs. The Union Finance Minister, Shri Pranab Mukherjee was the Chief Guest. The Agriculture Minister, Shri Sharad Pawar, Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, Shri Nandan Nilekani, Chairman, UIDAI and Shri Ajit Seth, Cabinet Secretary were some of the important participants in the Conference.

Source - Press Information Bureau Website Dated 9th Feb 2012