Food security is emerging as a global threat, effecting every continent and part of the world, with India having a humongous population, with huge amount of food being wasted or getting rotten due to lack of cold storage infrastructure, Public Distribution system is the only hope for the people to receive a minimal food on a daily basis. PDS provides food grain at a minimum cost to the people every month especially the poor people, people living below poverty line, tribes and other vulnerable sector of the society. Since 1960 it has been serving the people. During the COVID 19 pandemic the PDS was used as a platform to reach out to people and provide them food grains, in fact free food grains was available and the people who didn't had a ration card, to option for a e coupon from the websites along with that lakhs of new ration card was formed. The Public Distribution system however have certain issues attach with it, the problem of fake ration card, lack of transparency which has resulted in the stolen of food grains from the ration shop and taken to the open market, moreover the PDS doesn't provide protein and nutrition foods which the body requires the most like Millets and pulses which needs to be added and women should be educated on nutrition literacy for focus more on the nutrition based crop along with other farmers. Dr. Sumanta Bhattacharya | Dr. Heera Lal | Bhavneet Kaur Sachdev "Public Distribution System - An Important Component for the Poor and Backward Classes to Have Access to Food" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-5 | Issue-6 , October 2021, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd46465.pdf Paper URL : https://www.ijtsrd.com/other-scientific-research-area/other/46465/public-distribution-system--an-important-component-for-the-poor-and-backward-classes-to-have-access-to-food/dr-sumanta-bhattacharya
International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (IJTSRD)
Volume 5 Issue 6, September-October 2021 Available Online: www.ijtsrd.com e-ISSN: 2456 – 6470
@ IJTSRD | Unique Paper ID – IJTSRD46465 | Volume – 5 | Issue – 6 | Sep-Oct 2021
Page 594
Public Distribution System - An Important Component for the
Poor and Backward Classes to Have Access to Food
Dr. Sumanta Bhattacharya
1
, Dr. Heera Lal
2
, Bhavneet Kaur Sachdev
3
1Research Scholar at MAKAUT, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
2IAS, Additional Mission Director at National Health Mission, Uttar Pradesh, India
3Political Science Hons, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
ABSTRACT
Food security is emerging as a global threat, effecting every continent
and part of the world, with India having a humongous population,
with huge amount of food being wasted or getting rotten due to lack
of cold storage infrastructure, Public Distribution system is the only
hope for the people to receive a minimal food on a daily basis. PDS
provides food grain at a minimum cost to the people every month
especially the poor people, people living below poverty line, tribes
and other vulnerable sector of the society. Since 1960 it has been
serving the people. During the COVID -19 pandemic the PDS was
used as a platform to reach out to people and provide them food
grains, in fact free food grains was available and the people who
didn’t had a ration card, to option for a e-coupon from the websites
along with that lakhs of new ration card was formed. The Public
Distribution system however have certain issues attach with it, the
problem of fake ration card, lack of transparency which has resulted
in the stolen of food grains from the ration shop and taken to the open
market, moreover the PDS doesn’t provide protein and nutrition
foods which the body requires the most like Millets and pulses which
needs to be added and women should be educated on nutrition
literacy for focus more on the nutrition based crop along