PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM IN INDIA – AN OVERVIEW

Public distribution system in India is one the famous flagship welfare programmes in the world. To eradicate hunger and poverty, the government of India has introduced a Public Distribution System. The Public Distribution System (PDS) was started in the 1960s as a system to manage the scarcity of foodgrain supplies in the open market and as a system for distribution of foodgrains at affordable prices to the society. Since then it has come a long way from a “welfare-based” means to a “rights based” food-security platform under the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA) a first of its kind attempt in the world to legislate ‘right to food’ for nearly 67% citizens and to deliver foodgrains to the targeted population at an affordable prices of `3, 2, 1 per Kg of Rice, Wheat and Coarse-grains respectively, every month, and has become an important part of the Government’s policy for the management of food economy in the country. However, PDS is supplemental in nature and is not intended to make available the entire requirement of any of the commodities distributed under it to a household or a section of the society. Based on the novelty and weightage of this programme, this is an attempt to assess how the Public Distribution System is structured and functioning since inception.