I agree with the tenor of the editorial “Ensuring food security” (July 7) that refurbishing the public distribution system (PDS) for the targeted group and not universalising it is a better way to ensure food availability for the poor. The network of nearly 472,000 fair price shops across the country provides an effective supply chain. Nevertheless, established about six decades ago, the system has failed to achieve the basic objective due to many structural and procedural weaknesses.
Of the various committees that have studied its working (including the one appointed at the behest of the World Bank), the one headed by Justice D P Wadhwa, appointed by the Supreme Court, has discovered that the root cause of its failure lies in deep-rooted corruption, hoarding, black marketing, political interference and a nexus between officials, investigating agencies, dealers, wholesalers, etc. Instead of succumbing to the ills of the system, the government should appoint a non-government committee to suggest measures to re-engineer procurement, storage, transportation and supply mechanism; reorganise control set-up and introduce double checks; ensure honest implementation and provide for exemplary punishment to the manipulators of the system. It may also think of delinking PDS from the agriculture and food ministry and put it under the charge of a dynamic young minister.
Y G Chouksey, Pune
