Rethinking the Formation of Public Distribution System: A Class-Focused Approach

2021 ◽  
pp. 048661342110349
Author(s):  
Soumik Sarkar ◽  
Anjan Chakrabarti
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Distribution System ◽  
Social Needs ◽  
Surplus Labor ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Distribution System ◽  
System A ◽  
Historical Condition ◽  
Indian State ◽  
The 1960S

Using the methodology of overdetermination, class process of surplus labor as the entry point and socially determined need of food security, we deliver an alternative class-focused rendition of the public distribution system (PDS) in India. We first surmise our theoretical framework to infer that the overdetermined and contradictory relation of class and social needs matter for PDS. Beyond the reasoning of being pro-poor, fair, or wasteful, we deploy this framework to reinterpret the formation of Indian PDS in the 1960s. Its demonstration requires revisiting the historical condition that shaped capital’s passive revolution through the post-independence Indian state and its subsequent crisis arising out of the contradictions and conflicts in the class-need space. We argue that PDS signals a case of success and not failure of capitalism.

Contradictory Policies of Neoliberalizing India

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 85-97
Author(s):  
Waquar Ahmed ◽  
Ipsita Chatterjee
Keyword(s):  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Distribution System ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Distribution System ◽  
Indian State ◽  
Global North ◽  
Governance Institutions ◽  
The One ◽  
Employment Guarantee

This paper examines the tensions and contradictions within the Indian state in its production of socio-economic policies. Pressure of global governance institutions, multinational corporations, and neoliberal states of the global North that back such corporations, have been instrumental in the production of -friendly economic policy in India. Additionally, in representing the interest of the national bourgeois, the Indian state has been receptive to ideas that favor marketization of the economy. However, public pressure, where the poor constitute the majority of the Indian population, has compelled the Indian state to also strengthen welfare. In examining this contradiction of the simultaneous production of neoliberal and welfare policy, we analyze the case of the public distribution system (which is being marketized) on the one hand, and the employment guarantee scheme (that demonstrates strengthening of welfare) on the other.

Modeling the public distribution system: a PO-P approach

OPSEARCH ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 1024-1066
Author(s):  
Ajay Bohtan ◽  
K. Mathiyazhagan ◽  
Prem Vrat
Keyword(s):  
Distribution System ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Distribution System ◽  
System A

scholarly journals Food Security in India: Issues and Suggestion to Improve the Public Distribution System

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 36-40
Author(s):  
T Thangalakshmi ◽  
V Suthacini
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Food Security ◽  
Distribution System ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Public Investment ◽  
Food Distribution ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Distribution System ◽  
Self Sufficiency

Food security in India is unfavourably affected by several biotic and socio-political situations. The current position may get worse in the future if timely and suitable actions are not executed and planned. The discipline of human population and land for cultivation, climate change, government policies of public distribution and marketing of food grains and lack of a participatory approach all are committing to check down the availability of foods. Also, crop fecundity seems to be very much unsustainable. The situation has to be remedied by all possible means and citizens must be assured of food security. This review summarises several strategies for crop production and food distribution through the public distribution system. Finally, results indicate that India has achieved self-sufficiency in grains; it is still lagging at the back in the production of oilseeds and pulses. It is also commented that there has been a meaningful increase in the reproduction of rice, wheat, cereals, fruits, vegetables, and other products. Among the specific charges made to lift the agricultural sector from its present slowdown and stagnation, we comprise decorated increased public investment and a severe review of subsidies provided to farmers. To improve the infrastructure, credit facilities, inputs, land and water management, effective marketing and price policies, the diversification of agriculture, strengthening the improvement strategies for tackling climate change, and the strict regulation of land use and diversion of land for non-agricultural activities.

scholarly journals Effectiveness of the Public Distribution System: A Critical Review

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Alok Kumar Sahoo ◽  
D. K. Krishna ◽  
N. V. Kumbhare
Keyword(s):  
Distribution System ◽  
Fair Price ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Distribution System ◽  
System A ◽  
Food Grains ◽  
Support Price ◽  
Absolute Quantity ◽  
Food And Nutritional Security ◽  
Input Prices

Public Distribution System (PDS) started from 1997 for providing essential commodities like rice, wheat, sugar etc. to a large number of people through a network of 5.35 lakh Fair Price Shops (FPS) on a recurring basis at a subsidized price to boost food and nutritional security in India. Whether the PDS is effective to reach targeted people is under serious concern. The problem arises as supply exceeds demand at Minimum Support Price (MSP) of food grains. Over the last 7 years, the average procurement of food grains (rice and wheat) has been around 25 per cent of production. The rising MSP of foodgrains during the last 7 years which enhances the chance of increased subsidy amount given by government resulting increased quantity of food grains procurement and inflation in input prices at constant Central Issue Prices (CIP). Gulati and Saini [1] evaluated under various studies- since 1999-2000 to 2011-12 which narrates about rising leakages of food grains from 9 per cent in 1999-2000 to 36 per cent in 2011-12. In terms of absolute quantity of grains pilfered, of the total quantity of 25.91 MMT pilfered, UP stands at the top with almost 4 MMT (15.3%) pilfered from PDS in 2011-12. There are 39.6 per cent poor having ration cards and 60.4 per cent poor having no cards. There are 26.3 per cent non-poor having ration cards causing inclusion error. The exclusion error is severe as a Type-II error causing 70.5 per cent total in India. There are many loopholes in PDS, leading to ineffectiveness and inefficiency in achieving its objectives. It needs reforms like the transparent selection of beneficiaries, universalization, end to end computerization, more commodities to be included, an effective grievance redressal agency, ADHAAR based PDS, the inclusion of innovative schemes like food coupon, smart card etc. More or less, the innovative mechanism in PDS has to be assessed before implementation to enhance effectiveness and check further error.

Delivering Food Subsidy

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashok Kotwal ◽  
Bharat Ramaswami
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Distribution System ◽  
Cash Transfers ◽  
Food Distribution ◽  
Assistance Programs ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Distribution System ◽  
Retail Outlets ◽  
Food Subsidies ◽  
The Government

This article begins by tracing the development of the Indian model of food distribution. Food subsidies in India are delivered through the public distribution system, consisting of a network of retail outlets through which the government sells grain. The discussions then turn to the outcomes and the performance of the distribution system, food security legislation, the rights approach to food security, debates over food security legislation, lessons from social assistance programs across the world, and political opposition to cash transfers.

scholarly journals Impact of the Pandemic on Livelihood and Food Security: An Empirical Analysis of the PDS in Delhi

2021 ◽  
pp. 001955612110457
Author(s):  
O. Grace Ngullie ◽  
Arib Ahmad Ansari
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Distribution System ◽  
Empirical Examination ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Distribution System ◽  
The Government ◽  
Access To Food ◽  
The Impact

The sheer extent of the Covid-19 pandemic and its crippling effect on the entire economy gave cold creeps. Suddenly the fragile, one-of-a-kind arrangement through which the daily wagers and the migrant workers were surviving broke down with the imposition of the lockdown, and we had a novel disaster on our hands. In such a hanging-by-thread situation, the adversely affected poor had to rely on the government machinery for sustenance. We attempt to undertake a first-hand evidence-based study of the implementation of the Public Distribution System in Delhi while examining the impact of the pandemic on livelihood and food security. Some policy gaps that we have identified include inconsistency with the quantity and quality of rations received and promised, exclusion and ultimately access to food. Based on the empirical examination of the specific problems faced by the poor on the ground, we recommend policy solutions corresponding to those specific problems which include utilising modern and emerging technologies, creating new cadre for monitoring and upwardly revising the allocation.

scholarly journals The Public Distribution System and Food Security in India

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (17) ◽  
pp. 3221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neetu Abey George ◽  
Fiona H. McKay
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Distribution System ◽  
Large Population ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
Childhood Mortality ◽  
Policy Reforms ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Distribution System ◽  
Environmental Footprints

The Public Distribution System (PDS) of India plays a crucial role in reducing food insecurity by acting as a safety net by distributing essentials at a subsidised rate. While the PDS forms a cornerstone of government food and nutrition policy, India continues to be home to a large population of hungry and malnourished people. This review seeks to explore the functioning and efficiency of the PDS in achieving food and nutritional security in India. A comprehensive and systematic search using the key terms “food insecurity” OR “food security” AND “Public Distribution System” OR “PDS” OR “TPDS” AND “India” identified 23 articles which met the inclusion criteria. This review draws attention to the lack of published literature in areas of PDS and food security in India. The findings of the review emphasise the role of PDS in tackling hunger and malnutrition while highlighting its limited role in improving food security and childhood mortality due to operational inefficiencies. The PDS has the potential to act as a solution to food insecurity in India if the operational inefficiencies and environmental footprints are addressed by adequate policy reforms.

Food Security and the Public Distribution System

2019 ◽  
pp. 175-203
Author(s):  
Jean Drèze
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Distribution System ◽  
National Sample ◽  
North India ◽  
Sample Survey ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Substantial Impact ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Distribution System ◽  
System P

This chapter discusses India's National Food Security Act (NFSA), with a special focus on the public distribution system (PDS). The PDS had a very poor record until recently, but is now improving significantly in many states. In north India, Chhattisgarh took the lead by initiating a series of PDS reforms in the mid‐2000s, with impressive results. Similar reforms were initiated later on in many other states. Even the reformed PDS is far from perfect, but it does protect millions of rural households from hunger and food insecurity. Recent evidence from the National Sample Survey also suggests that the PDS has a substantial impact on poverty. The NFSA is an opportunity to extend PDS reforms across the country and put the PDS on a new footing.

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