What are the reformative steps taken by the Government to make food grain distribution system more effective?
Approach · directive: “what”
What it asks · List the reforms made to the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) to improve its reach, targeting and transparency, and note how far they have made it effective.
It asks 2 things — answer each
- List the reformative steps taken to make food grain distribution more effective: legal entitlement, digitisation, shop automation, supply chain, portability, grievance redress, cash-transfer pilots
- Assess how far they have made the system effective, and the gaps that remain
Open with · The Shanta Kumar High Level Committee (2015) estimated that 46.7% of PDS grain was diverted in 2011-12; the TPDS that delivers the NFSA entitlement has since been rebuilt through law, technology and portability.
Cover
- Legal entitlement: NFSA, 2013 covers up to 75% rural and 50% urban people, 5 kg per person or 35 kg per Antyodaya family.
- Digitisation and automation: 100% digitised, Aadhaar-seeded ration cards; 99.8% of fair price shops on ePoS with biometric authentication (2024).
- Portability: One Nation One Ration Card, begun in four States in August 2019, covers all States/UTs with over 158.8 crore portability transactions.
- Supply chain and accountability: GPS-tracked trucks, SMS alerts, doorstep delivery, silos; State Food Commissions, social audits, vigilance committees.
- Cash and free grain: DBT pilots in Chandigarh and Puducherry (2015); PMGKAY free grain to 81.35 crore people for five years from January 2024.
- Gaps and way forward: authentication failures, 2011 Census caps, weak Food Commissions; update coverage, offline fallback, phased cash option.
Close with · A PDS that authenticates without excluding and travels with the migrant is India's main instrument for SDG 2: end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition.
Add value (verified)
- The Department of Food and Public Distribution's own page says the NFSA provides for TPDS reforms, and records that cash transfer of the food subsidy began in Chandigarh and Puducherry in September 2015 and in part of Dadra and Nagar Haveli in March 2016.National Food Security Act (NFSA) 2013, National Food Security Portal, Department of Food and Public Distribution ↗“National Food Security Act (2013) provides for reforms in the TPDS including schemes such as Cash transfers for provisioning of food entitlements.”
- The Department's NFSA page states the entitlements: 5 kg per person per month for priority households and 35 kg per family per month for Antyodaya households.National Food Security Act (NFSA) 2013, National Food Security Portal, Department of Food and Public Distribution ↗“While AAY households, which constitute poorest of the poor are entitled to 35 kg of foodgrains per family per month, priority households are entitled to 5 kg per person per month.”
- The Shanta Kumar High Level Committee on FCI (report, January 2015) estimated diversion of 46.7% of PDS grain in 2011-12, and recommended phased cash transfers starting with cities above one million people.PIB, 22 Jan 2015 — Recommendations of High Level Committee on restructuring of FCI ↗“That diversions of grains from PDS amounted to 46.7 percent in 2011-12 (based on calculations of offtake from central pool and NSSO's (68th round) consumption data from PDS)”
- Year-end review 2024: 100% digitised ration cards, 99.8% of fair price shops automated with ePoS devices, and ONORC enabled in all States/UTs.PIB, 24 Dec 2024 — Year-End Review of the Department of Food and Public Distribution, 2024 ↗“100% digitized ration cards under National Food Security Act across India 99.8% Fair Price Shops (FPSs) in country automated using electronic Point of Sale (ePoS) devices for transparent distribution of subsidized food grains to beneficiaries One Nation One Ration card plan enabled in all States/UTs across the country”
- ONORC began with inter-State portability in four States in August 2019 and has recorded over 158.8 crore portability transactions since.PIB, 24 Dec 2024 — Year-End Review of the Department of Food and Public Distribution, 2024 ↗“Since inception of ONORC plan in August 2019, more than 158.8 Crore portability transactions have been recorded under the ONORC plan in the country”
- Cabinet (29 Nov 2023): free foodgrains to about 81.35 crore beneficiaries under PMGKAY for five years from 1 January 2024.PIB, 29 Nov 2023 — Free Foodgrains for 81.35 crore beneficiaries for five years: Cabinet Decision ↗“Free Foodgrains for 81.35 crore beneficiaries for five years: Cabinet Decision”
- SDG 2's official wording.United Nations — Sustainable Development Goal 2 ↗“End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2019, GS Paper III — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer· 374words · Minimalist IAS
The Shanta Kumar High Level Committee (2015) estimated that 46.7% of PDS grain was diverted in 2011-12. The Targeted PDS, which serves up to 75% of rural and 50% of urban India, has since been rebuilt through law, technology and portability.
Reformative steps for more effective food grain distribution
- Legal entitlement: the NFSA, 2013 made grain a right, 5 kg per person a month for priority households and 35 kg per Antyodaya family, and wrote TPDS reforms into the law itself.
- Digitisation: all ration cards were digitised by end-2024, and Aadhaar seeding removes duplicate and bogus cards; the Annavitran portal tracks distribution.
- Shop automation: by end-2024, 99.8% of fair price shops ran ePoS devices with biometric authentication, so the right person gets the right quantity.
- Portability: One Nation One Ration Card, begun in four States in August 2019, reached all 36 States/UTs by end-2024, with over 158.8 crore portability transactions, a lifeline for migrants.
- Supply chain: GPS-tracked trucks, SMS alerts to cardholders, doorstep delivery to shops and modern silos cut diversion in transit.
- Accountability: State Food Commissions, district grievance officers, social audits and vigilance committees under the Act.
- Cash and free grain: direct transfer pilots in Chandigarh and Puducherry (2015) and Dadra and Nagar Haveli (2016); free foodgrains to 81.35 crore people under PMGKAY for five years from January 2024.
- Digitised ration card
- Aadhaar seeding
- ePoS authentication at the shop
- ONORC portability anywhere
- social audit and grievance redress
How far the system has become effective
- Gains: bogus cards weeded out, shop-level diversion curbed, migrants covered and grievance channels created.
- Gaps: biometric and connectivity failures can exclude the genuinely poor; coverage caps still rest on the 2011 Census; Food Commissions are weak; storage losses continue.
Way forward
- Update coverage with fresh Census data so eligible households are not capped out.
- Offline fallback at shops where biometrics or networks fail, with every denial recorded and audited.
- Choice of cash: the Shanta Kumar panel's phased cash option, starting with cities above one million people, where markets work.
- Stronger oversight: functioning State Food Commissions and regular social audits of fair price shops.
A PDS that authenticates without excluding, and travels with the migrant, is India's main instrument for SDG 2: 'end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition'.
Prepared by Minimalist IAS to the answer standard of Shivam Singh (mentor, 7 years) · facts checked against official sources (how we verify) · updated 3 Oct 2026. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.
