Govt to computerise PDS, says minister

The consumer affairs ministry is planning to computerise the entire Public Distribution System (PDS) across the country with an investment of around Rs 520 crore.

The move would increase the transparency and efficiency and will control the bogus ration cards, according to NK Raghupathy, additional secretary and financial Advisor, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.

Speaking to reporters at the sidelines of a seminar on ‘Warehousing 2008: The Warehousing (Development and Regulation) Act 2007: Issues and Challenges’ organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry along with Food Corporation of India and Central Warehousing Corporation.

The project will be done electronically to eliminate the present manual system, said Raghupathy.

The new system will have personal details of all members of the family, including their entitlement along with thumb impression. A detail project report is under preparation through the National Institute of Smart Governance, Hyderabad.

The ministry is also planning to introduce smart card system to replace ration cards on a pilot basis in Haryana and Chandigarh. Project cost is estimated to be around Rs 150 crore.

Raghupathy said payment of cash subsidy for food grains in some districts is also planned on a pilot basis.

He noted, the government is taking measures to ensure that the interest of poorer section of the people is protected through the targeted PDS system. The government released a subsidy of Rs 23,071 crore in 2005-06 and for 2008-09 it is expected to be around Rs 49,000 crore.

The minimum support price for wheat has moved up to Rs 1,000 per quintal from Rs 640 and that of paddy as increased by Rs 280 to Rs 850.

Raghupathy noted that the country has to shift to a more elaborate and self-sustaining mechanism from MSP-based procurement.