GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO: 286
ANSWERED ON: 06.08.2013
IRREGULARITIES IN PDS .
(a) whether the Public Distribution System (PDS) in certain regionsStates in the country has been affected by rampant corruptionirregularities;
(b) if so, the reaction of the Government thereto indicating the number of corruption cases including leakages, diversions and black marketing of foodgrains reported and the action taken against those held responsible during each of the last three years and the current year, State-wise;
(c) whether the Government has issued any directivesinstructions to the States to weed out corruptiondiversion and to plug the loopholes in the PDS;
(d) if so, the details thereof and the reaction of the States thereto; and
(e) the steps including employment of Information Technology taken by the Government to strengthen PDS?
ANSWER
(a) to (e): Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) is operated under the joint responsibility of the Central and the StateUnion Territory (UT) Governments wherein operational responsibilities for allocation of foodgrains within the StatesUTs, identification of eligible Below Poverty Line (BPL) families, issuance of ration cards to them and supervision over and monitoring of functioning of Fair Price Shops (FPSs) rest with the concerned StateUT Governments.
There have been reports about irregularities in implementation of TPDS in certain regionsStates in the country. As and when complaints are received by the Government from individuals and organizations as well as through press reports, they are sent to StateUT Governments concerned for inquiry and appropriate action. A statement indicating State-wise number of complaints on TPDS received in the department from 2010 to 2013 (upto July, 2013) is at Anneure-I.
Further, in order to maintain supplies and securing availability and distribution of essential commodities, Public Distribution System (Control) Order, 2001 has been notified on August 31, 2001 which mandates the State and UT Governments to carry out all required action to ensure smooth functioning of TPDS. An offence committed in violation of the provisions of this Order is liable for penal action under the Essential Commodities Act, 155. State and UT Governments have been directed in July 2006 to implement -point Action Plan for streamlining the working of TPDS. Utilisation Certificates (UCs) for the foodgrains allocated to State Government are obtained regularly from the State Governments.
Reports are being sought periodically from StateUT Governments regarding irregularities in TPDS and action taken on such cases by them under Clause 8 & of the PDS(Control) Order, 2001. Statewise details regarding action taken by StatesUTs under the said Order during the last three years and current year are at Anneure-II.
Further, instructions have been issued to StatesUTs to conduct a regular review of the eligible beneficiaries and take action as per law against the familiespersons found in possession of bogusineligible ration cards. As a result thereof, StatesUTs as on 30.6.2013 have reported deletion of 381.0 lakh bogusineligible ration cards from July, 2006 onwards. A statement showing State-wise number of bogusineligible rations cards deleted by the StateUT Governments is at Anneure-III.
Government has been regularly reviewing and also issuing instructions to StatesUnion Territories to strengthen functioning of TPDS by improving monitoring mechanism and vigilance, increased transparency in functioning of TPDS, adoption of revised Model Citizens Charter, use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools and improving the efficiency of Fair Price Shop operations.
Modernization of TPDS is the foremost priority of the Government as it faces challenges such as leakages and diversion of foodgrains, inclusioneclusion errors, fake and bogus ration cards, lack of transparency, weak grievance redressal system, etc. Government has approved a Plan Scheme on Endto-End Computerization of TPDS under 12th Five Year Plan with a view to provide infrastructure and financial support to StatesUTs. Component-I of the Plan Scheme comprising activities, namely, digitization of ration cards beneficiary and other databases, computerization of Supply-Chain Management, setting up of transparency portal and grievance redressal mechanisms has been approved with a total cost of Rs.88.07 crore out of which Government of Indias share is Rs. 8.37 crore and StatesUTs share is Rs. 3.70 crore. The cost sharing between Centre and States would be on 0:10 basis for North-Eastern States, whereas for other StatesUTs costs will be shared on 50:50 basis. Under the scheme, NIC is the technical partner and will provide the Common Application Software (CAS) as per StateUT specific requirements.