Technology use in PDS reforms   

The Public Distribution System in India is conceptualised as a safety shield against food inflation and for ensuring the distribution of foodgrains at affordable prices. Leakage in PDS due to corruption and inefficient management posed hurdles for beneficiaries deriving the desired benefits. Technology has revolutionised the system and brought transparency and efficiency to the distribution of PDS foodgrains in the country. The ‘End-to-End Computerization of TPDS Operations’ Department implemented by the central government facilitated the complete digitization of the database of ration cards and beneficiaries in all states and Union Territories and was the most significant step forward towards reforming the system through technology application. Fair Price Shops (FPS) are the backbone of the Indian PDS system, as the subsidised ration is distributed through FPS. The National Food Security Act, 2013 defines FPS as a shop that has been licensed to distribute essential commodities by an order issued under Section 3 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, to ration card holders under the Targeted Public Distribution System. The state government, while issuing FPS licences, accords preference to panchyats, self-help groups, cooperative societies, and FPS managed by women collectives. Automation of the FPS through the installation of electronic point of sale (ePOS) was the second big reform in PDS. The ePOS validates beneficiary data through biometric or Aadhar authentication and ensures that only genuine card holders or beneficiaries can avail of the PDS benefit. Absence of such a mechanism allowed the nexus of corrupt officials and employees in the Food and Civil Supplies Department in the States, allowing FPS owners to develop a nexus for leakage of PDS foodgrains to ineligible beneficiaries. Such a corrupt nexus also allowed pilferage of PDS benefits by wholesale foodgrain dealers selling the subsidised rice, wheat, or pulses at market rates, thus depriving genuine card holders. Currently, there are 23 crore ration card holders across the country under the NFSA. The government distributes 43 lakh MT of heavily subsidised rice, wheat, and millets to these card holders. The rollout of the One Nation, One Ration Card (ONORC) plan bolstered the use of technology to maximise benefits for targeted beneficiaries as it allowed the portability of ration cards from the original state to anywhere in the country. The plan was developed to ensure that migrating workers and their families are not deprived of PDS benefits after migrating to another state from their home state. It allows migrant workers to receive PDS benefits without registering again in the state of their workplace or temporary stay. Besides, the eligible family members can continue to draw their individual share of the benefit in one state, while other eligible beneficiary family members can receive their shares in their home state. This has ensured that the migrating workers do not have to spend more on buying foodgrains at their place of work or stay, which has contributed to increasing household savings. More than 125 crore ration card portability transactions under NFS and the flagship scheme PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana recorded under the ONORC plan speak volumes of huge benefits technology application has brought to the beneficiaries. It also indicates the quantum of savings in household savings for families migrating workers, which could be spent for education and healthcare needs or buying household consumer or utility goods. The increase in consumption by families of migrating workers, with savings ensured by the portability of ration benefits under the ONORC plan, has helped strengthen the local rural economy in the home state of these workers. According to Census 2011 data, the country has about 4.14 crore inter-state migrant workers, and the number has already increased over the past decade. States need to ensure that every single migrant worker and their family members are aware of the ONORC plan benefits as well as other technology used in PDS. The FPS, cooperative societies, panchayats, and SHGs, as the nodal points of targeted PDS under the flagship schemes of the central and state governments, can play the most crucial role in informing the availability of the portability benefits to ration card holders. This can reduce the worries of migrant workers about food security while migrating outside their home state in search of better livelihoods. Distress in the agriculture sector on account of rising input costs of seeds, fertilisers, labour, irrigation, and lack of remunerative prices has compelled members of farm families to migrate to different states for greener pastures and look for alternative livelihoods. Agricultural reforms are aimed at ensuring remunerative prices, access to easy credit, affordable input, irrigation, and crop insurance benefits to address the agricultural crisis through the implementation of government schemes and programmes. Until the benefits of these reach out to farmers affected by rural and farm distress, the migration of unskilled workers will continue. Apart from preventing leakage, pilferage of foodgrains, and deprivation of beneficiaries, continuing PDS reforms through innovative use of technology is crucial to providing relief to farmers hit by such distress, and drawing a comprehensive roadmap is the need of the hour.