Question : Evaluation of PDS

(a) whether the Government has evaluated/reviewed the performance of the Public Distribution System (PDS)/ Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY), if so, the details and the outcome thereof indicating the shortcomings detected therein and the corrective steps taken thereon;
(b) whether the Government has directed the States to review the list of beneficiaries and the Ration Cards issued in order to detect ineligible beneficiaries and weed out fake cards;
(c) if so, the details thereof and the response of the States thereto along with the reasons for non-compliance, if any, State/UT-wise;
(d) the rules regarding the renewal of the BPL and the APL lists at present; and
(e) whether the Government proposes to introduce smart cards to check fake cards, if so, the details thereof and the response of the States thereto?

MINISTER OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
(SHRI RAM VILAS PASWAN)
(a) to (c): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.
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STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) to (e) OF THE STARRED QUESTION NUMBER *78 DUE FOR ANSWER ON 01.03.2016 IN THE LOK SABHA.
(a): This Department has been getting the functioning of Targeted Public Distribution (TPDS) evaluated by different agencies from time to time. Recently, an evaluation study of the functioning of TPDS has been got conducted through National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) in respect of 6 States namely Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. The evaluation study has revealed certain shortcomings/deficiencies in the functioning of TPDS such as inclusion/exclusion errors and leakages/ diversion of foodgrains, details of which are at Annex-I & II. The report received has been sent to the States concerned for taking necessary remedial measures to remove the deficiencies noticed in the functioning of TPDS.
(b) & (c): In terms of the Public Distribution System (Control) Order, 2001, State/UT Governments are to review the lists of BPL and AAY families every year for the purpose of deletion of ineligible families and inclusion of eligible families. Similarly as per Clause 4 of the TPDS (Control) Order, 2015 State/UT Government shall make all endeavours to eliminate bogus or ineligible ration cards as a continuous exercise. The exercise of deletion of bogus/ineligible cards and inclusion of eligible families is a continuous process and State Governments are to periodically carry out the same. The Statement showing the number of bogus/ineligible ration cards deleted by State/UT Government with effect from July, 2006 onwards is at Annex-III.
(d): There is a provision in the National Food Security Act,2013 as well as PDS(Control) Order,2015 that the State Governments shall update the list of eligible households, within the number of persons determined, in accordance with the guidelines framed and place the list of the identified households in the Public domain and display it prominently.
(e): Under the NFSA, States/UTs are being encouraged to set up AADHAR based authentication of beneficiaries for distribution of food grains through point of sale devices or direct cash transfer into beneficiary’s accounts, in order to ensure proper targeting of eligible persons.
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