(a) whether the Government have set up monitoring committees at District/
State level to check the blackmarketing of the items being distributed
through the FPS under the Public Distribution System;
(b) if so, the number of cases detected and registered by these
Committees during the last three years;
(c) the main reasons for the blackmarketing being done at a large scale
by the fair price shops; and
(d) the steps taken by the Government to check it immediately?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC
DISTRIBUTION ( SHRI SRIRAM CHAUHAN )
(a) and (b) The concept of Monitoring Committee in the form of Vigilance
Committees has been an important constituent of Public Distribution System
(PDS) since long. As per PDS guidelines issued in March, 1987 and TPDS
guidelines issued in February,1997, State Governments have been advised to
constitute Vigilance Committees as a measure of social audit of the working
of PDS in the country. The data pertaining to number of cases detected by
the Vigilance Committees at various levels in different States is not
maintained by the Government.
(c) Bogus units in ration cards, bogus ration cards, low profit margins
for Fair Price Shops (FPS) owners, floating population, non availability/
irregular supply and under weighment are cited as some of the reasons for
black marketing at the FPS level.
(d) State Governments have been requested to closely monitor PDS at the
Fair Price Shops (FPSs) and other levels and to make arrangement for
distribution of PDS commodities in a transparent and accountable manner by
involvement of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) in implementation of PDS.
They have also been asked to eliminate bogus ration cards and initiate
action against erring FPS owners under Section 3 of Essential Commodities
Act, 1955. The Government of India have set up Public Grievances`
Redressal Cell in the Department of Public Distribution to attend to the
complaints relating to any aspect of the Department`s functioning including
the Public Distribution System. The Department has also designated the
senior officers of the Department as members of flying squad for conducting
immediate and prompt enquiry whenever the need for it is felt.