PDS REFORM: 2.25 CRORE PEOPLE REMOVED FROM FOOD SECURITY SCHEME

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Picture Courtesy:   THE HINDU

Context 

The Union Government has removed about 2.25 crore ineligible beneficiaries from the free food grain scheme as part of an ongoing effort to cleanse the database and improve subsidy targeting.

Food Security Framework in India 

Food security is built on four core pillars: availability, access, utilization, and stability.  

Availability: Ensuring a stable, sufficient food supply via domestic production or imports. 

• Green Revolution: India achieved self-sufficiency in food grains like wheat and rice through policies introduced in the mid-1960s.
• Buffer stocks: The Food Corporation of India (FCI) procures surplus food grains, primarily wheat and rice, from farmers at a Minimum Support Price (MSP) and stores them to manage supply and price fluctuations.
• Technological and infrastructural improvements: Investments in irrigation, storage, and modern farming techniques help increase productivity and reduce post-harvest losses.

Access: Addresses the economic and physical ability of individuals and households to access food.  

• National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013: Legally entitles up to two-thirds of the population to receive subsidized food grains through the Public Distribution System (PDS).
• Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS): Provides subsidized food grains to Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and Priority Households (PHH).
• One Nation, One Ration Card (ONORC): Provides portability of PDS benefits, allowing beneficiaries to access their entitlements from any Fair Price Shop in the country.

Utilization: Depends on diet, sanitation, and health. 

• Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS): Provides nutritional support and health services to children under six and to pregnant and lactating mothers.
• PM POSHAN Scheme (formerly Mid-Day Meal Scheme): Provides nutritious cooked meals to schoolchildren to improve their nutritional status and encourage school attendance.
• Rice fortification: Government fortifies PDS rice with vitamins and minerals to combat micronutrient deficiencies.

Stability: Ensure a reliable food supply 

• Buffer stock management: Maintaining food reserves to meet demands during shortages, such as droughts or floods.
• Open Market Sales Scheme (OMSS): A policy to release surplus food grains into the market to help stabilize prices and ensure affordability.
• Resilience measures: Promoting climate-resilient farming practices, investing in water management, and strengthening logistics to withstand supply chain disruptions. 

How Beneficiary Cleanup are done?

Aadhaar Seeding and e-KYC

Aadhaar-seeding is key to cleaning up ration cards, with nearly 99.8% linked by early 2025, helping eliminate duplicates and ghost beneficiaries. (Source: PIB)

Data Analytics

The Centre cross-verifies PDS data with other government databases (Income Tax, Road Transport, etc.) to flag potentially ineligible individuals, whom states then verify on the ground.

State-led Verification Drives

State governments conduct physical verification drives to validate beneficiary lists. For example, Maharashtra launched a special drive to screen beneficiaries and update lists based on current income.

One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC)

ONORC is now implemented across all States and UTs, enabling beneficiaries, especially migrant workers, to access food entitlements from any FPS in India. This also aids in creating a dynamic database and reducing duplication.

What is the significance of the Beneficiary Cleanup drive?

Tackling Inclusion Errors

Subsidy leakage occurs because many ineligible individuals, such as "ghost" beneficiaries (deceased, migrated) or those exceeding criteria (e.g., government employees, income tax payees), remain on the list.

Ensuring Fiscal Prudence

The food subsidy is a major government expenditure, budgeted at ₹2.03 lakh crore for 2025-26 (Source: Union Budget). Removing ineligible names ensures the sustainability of food security programs by curbing wasteful spending.

Creating Space for Eligible Beneficiaries

NFSA coverage, capped by the 2011 Census, excludes many due to population growth. Removing ineligible names allows states to add genuinely poor households within the legal quota.

Aligning with Expert Recommendations

The Shanta Kumar Committee (2015) suggested improving PDS targeting by reducing coverage from 67% to 40% of the population, focusing on the most vulnerable.

Challenges in the Cleanup Process

The over-reliance on technology risks excluding genuine beneficiaries from the NFSA due to Biometric Failures (e.g., worn fingerprints of laborers/elderly), Connectivity Issues in remote areas, and Administrative Hurdles (documentation errors).

Outdated Coverage Cap based on the 2011 Census. The Supreme Court has repeatedly directed the Union government to update coverage, stressing that the Right to Food (under Article 21) cannot be restricted by decade-old data.

Weak Grievance Redressal Mechanisms turning procedural errors into survival crises for the most marginalized. 

Way Forward

Update NFSA Coverage: The government must develop a mechanism to update state-wise beneficiary quotas based on current population projections, as advised by the Supreme Court.

Strengthen Grievance Redressal: Establish accessible, time-bound, and effective grievance redressal mechanisms at the block and panchayat levels to provide a safety net for those who may be wrongfully excluded.

Adopt a Human-Centric Technology Model: While leveraging technology, ensure there are provisions for manual overrides and alternative verification methods in case of biometric or network failures.

Promote Dynamic Verification: The process of updating beneficiary lists should be a continuous and dynamic exercise, not a one-time drive, to keep the system responsive to changes in families' socio-economic status.

Conclusion

PDS beneficiary list cleanup is vital for fiscal discipline and targeted subsidies, but needs cautious, humane implementation, to ensure a leak-proof, inclusive food security system balancing efficiency with the Right to Food for all citizens.

Source: THE HINDU