Consider the following statements about the Public Distribution System : 1. The Public Distribution System is operated under the joint responsibility of Centre and State/Union Territories. 2. Food Corporation of India has assumed the responsibility for procurement, storage and transportation of food grains to the State Governments. 3. Both Centre and State have the joint responsibility to identify eligible beneficiaries. 4. Some States also distribute additional items of mass consumption through the PDS outlets such as pulses, edible oil, etc. Which of the statements given above are correct ?
- (a)2 and 3 only
- (b)1, 2 and 4
- (c)1 and 2 only
- (d)3 and 4 only
Correct — B, 1, 2 and 4. The Public Distribution System is indeed run jointly by the Centre and the States, and the whole item turns on knowing where the line between them falls. The Centre's share, discharged through the Food Corporation of India, is procurement, storage, transportation and bulk allocation of foodgrains to the State governments — which is statement 2, and it is accurate. The States take delivery from there and run the last mile: allocation within the State, issue of ration cards, and supervision of the fair price shops. Statement 4 is also correct, since several States use their own budgets to add commodities beyond the central grain — pulses, edible oil, iodised salt and the like — through the same fair price shop network. Statement 3 is the one that fails. Identification of eligible households is not a joint responsibility; it is the State or Union Territory government that identifies eligible families within the coverage the National Food Security Act lays down, and the Centre's role there is to fix the coverage, not to name the households.
- (a)2 and 3 only — Keeps the false statement about joint identification of beneficiaries and drops the true opening statement about joint operation of the system as a whole.
- (c)1 and 2 only — Both of these are correct, but the option leaves out statement 4, which is also correct — several States do distribute pulses, edible oil and other extras through fair price shops.
- (d)3 and 4 only — Rests on statement 3, the single false claim in the set. Identifying eligible families is the State's task, not a shared one.
The Public Distribution System delivers subsidised foodgrain through a network of fair price shops. Since the National Food Security Act of 2013 it covers up to 75 per cent of the rural and 50 per cent of the urban population, split into priority households and Antyodaya Anna Yojana households. The Centre fixes coverage and supplies the grain; the States decide who inside that coverage gets a card and run the shops. Understanding that split explains most examination questions on the subject.
Multi-statement questions on centrally sponsored programmes almost always plant one statement that blurs the division of work between the Union and the States, and this is that statement. It is tempting because the opening line of the very same question says the system is operated under joint responsibility, so a reader carries the word 'joint' forward into statement 3. The correction is to remember that joint responsibility for the system is not the same as joint responsibility for every function inside it. The Centre's list is procurement, storage, transport and bulk allocation; the State's list is identification, ration cards, intra-State allocation and shop supervision.
- The Centre, through the Food Corporation of India, procures, stores, transports and allocates foodgrain in bulk to the States.
- State and Union Territory governments identify eligible households, issue ration cards, allocate within the State and supervise fair price shops.
- The National Food Security Act, 2013 sets coverage at up to 75 per cent of the rural and 50 per cent of the urban population.
- Several States run an expanded distribution, adding commodities such as pulses and edible oil or lowering prices, largely from their own funds.
- Under the Act the eldest woman of the household, aged eighteen or above, is treated as the head of the household for issue of the ration card.
- Extending the word 'joint' from the opening statement to every function in the system.
- Believing that only households below the poverty line are covered — the Act works with priority and Antyodaya categories, not the old BPL list.
- Assuming the Centre supplies only cereals everywhere; several States add pulses and oil at their own cost.
As a multi-statement item on how the system is run, or as a question on who bears which responsibility between the Centre and the States.
With reference to the provisions made under the National Food Security Act, 2013, consider the following statements: 1. The families coming under the category of 'below poverty line (BPL)' only are eligible to receive subsidised food grains. 2. The eldest woman in a household, of age 18 years or above, shall be the head of the household for the purpose of issuance of a ration card. 3. Pregnant women and lactating mothers are entitled to a 'take-home ration' of 1600 calories per day during pregnancy and for six months thereafter. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 and 2
- (b) 2 only
- (c) 1 and 3
- (d) 3 only
Answer(b) 2 only
The statute that governs the system this item describes. It tests coverage and entitlements where this one tests the division of work, and together they cover most of what is asked about subsidised foodgrain.
The economic cost of food grains to the Food Corporation of India is Minimum Support Price and bonus (if any) paid to the farmers plus
- (a) transportation cost only
- (b) interest cost only
- (c) procurement incidentals and distribution cost
- (d) procurement incidentals and charges for godowns
Answer(c) procurement incidentals and distribution cost
Follows the same central agency into its accounts. The procurement, storage and transport that statement 2 credits to the Food Corporation are exactly the heads that build up its economic cost.
CDS_GK_2020_II_Q32020Which one of the following statements with regard to the National Food Security Act is not correct?
- (a) The Act was enacted in the year 2013.
- (b) The Act was rolled out in the year 2014.
- (c) The Act legally entitles 67 percent of the population to receive highly subsidised food grains.
- (d) The Act is not being implemented in all the States/Union Territories.
Answer(d) The Act is not being implemented in all the States/Union Territories.
The statutory frame behind the distribution system, asked in an earlier session. Its answer — that the Act now runs in every State and Union Territory — is the reason identification of households is a State task everywhere.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Under the Public Distribution System, which of the following is the responsibility of the State Governments rather than the Centre?
- (a)Procurement of foodgrains at the minimum support price
- (b)Storage of the central pool stocks
- (c)Identification of eligible households and issue of ration cards
- (d)Transportation of grain to the State depots
Answer(c) Identification of eligible households and issue of ration cards — the first, second and fourth are handled centrally through the Food Corporation of India.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Under the National Food Security Act, 2013, who is treated as the head of the household for the purpose of issuing a ration card?
- (a)The eldest male member
- (b)The eldest woman of the household, aged eighteen or above
- (c)The person with the highest income
- (d)Any adult member nominated by the gram panchayat
Answer(b) The eldest woman of the household, aged eighteen or above — a specific provision of the Act.