Govt gets 611 complaints till June this year on public distribution system

The government has received 611 complaints till June this year regarding irregularities in the functioning of the public distribution system, Parliament was informed on Tuesday.

In a reply to Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Food and Consumer Affairs Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti said the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) is operated under the joint responsibilities of the central and the state/UT governments.

The operational responsibilities, such as identification of beneficiaries/households under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), issuance of ration cards, allocation of foodgrains to all Fair Price Shops (FPSs), distribution to beneficiaries, licensing and monitoring of FPSs, and grievance redressal of beneficiaries including irregularities/diversion/corruption in TDPS operations lies with the concerned state/UT government, she added.

"However, as and when any complaints are received in this department from an individual, organisations as well as through media reports regarding any irregularities in the functioning of the TPDS are forwarded to the concerned state/UT government for inquiry and appropriate action at their end," Jyoti said.

The minister provided the list of complaints on TDPS received in the department from individuals, organisations, and through media reports.

As per the data, 941 complaints were received in 2018, 855 during 2019, 2076 in 2020, and 611 till June this year.

"Further, an offence committed in violation of the provisions of the TPDS (Control) Order, 2015 is liable for penal action under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955. Thus, the Order empowers all state/UT governments to take punitive actions in case of contravention of the relevant provisions of the Order," the minister said.

Number of FPS licenses suspended/ cancelled/show cause notices issued/FlR lodged stood at 13,836 during 2018, 5493 in 2019, and 81 during the last year, the data showed.