The Public Distribution System (PDS) in Maharashtra provides food security needs to the citizens of the state by making sure the essential commodities are available at a subsidized price. The PDS has been criticised for its failure to serve the poorer sections of the population effectively. The targeted PDS is meant for extricating the poor from the clutches of hunger however, looking at the present status the system is giving rise to the corruption depriving the needy.
The Public Distribution system (PDS) includes procurement, storage, transportation and distribution of food grains at subsidised prices to implement National Food security Act. The department of food, civil supplies and consumer protection of the government of Maharashtra are responsible for the implementation of the Public Distribution System in the state. But truly speaking due to rampant corruption the entire system itself landed in doldrums. The PDS is in danger of being totally derailed not only in Maharashtra but several States across the country. Recent disruptions of the PDS have taken different forms, from compulsory biometric authentication to so-called direct benefit transfer (DBT). The consequences are alarming, marching towards starvation but tend to go unreported.
Major obstacles in this system are the leakages, in other words theft of the food grains. This particular aspect remained unacceptably high starting from 30 percent to around 50 percent leakage. Significantly, the government has claimed that there is strong evidence of declining leakages in recent times due to the state having undertaken serious PDS reforms. There might be some decline in the leakages as the government says, but the fact remains that supply of food grains is still interrupted in most of the parts especially in rural areas. The officials have pointed finger towards the APL quota as the biggest source of continuing leakages.
The PDS has been one of the main policy instruments of the government of India to provide food security to the people of this country, especially the vulnerable ones. The National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013, also relies heavily on it to deliver even more grain at highly subsidized prices to 67 percent of the population. But the existing PDS system has been highly “leaky”, with large amounts of grains (40 to 50 percent) being pilfered and diverted to the open market. Also, the existing PDS delivers better in a very small vicinity of the state. At the same time those where there is concentration of poor, raising issues of equity PDS delivery is worst. The percent share of total leakage increased with states where greater percent of India’s poor resided.
The implementation of the National Food Security Act is an important opportunity to phase out this leaky quota and complete the process of PDS reform across the country. It plays an important role in ensuring food security, alleviation of poverty and fulfilling the nourishment needs of the population. Over the years, the Public Distribution System has become an important part of the government in outlining the state policies for the management and food security of the country.
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