Parliament Question: Quality of Foodgrains in PDS

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION DEPARTMENT OF FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3957 TO BE ANSWERED ON 12TH AUGUST, 2026 QUALITY OF FOODGRAINS IN PDS 3957 SHRI CHINTAMANI MAHARAJ: Will the Minister of CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government has taken any special steps to strengthen the monitoring mechanism for ensuring the quality of foodgrains distributed under the Public Distribution System (PDS) particularly in tribal and remote areas including Surguja in Chhattisgarh; (b) if so, the details of the measures taken regarding quality testing, storage, transportation and regular inspection offoodgrains in Surguj a district; and (c) the further steps being taken by the Government through these efforts to ensure the supply of quality foodgrains to eligible beneficiaries and to make the Public Distribution System more transparent and effective in the Surguja region? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SHRIMATI NIMUBEN JAYANTIBHAI BAMBHANIYA) (a): The Department has formulated and issued a Quality Control Manual to uniformly maintain the quality standards of foodgrains from procurement, storage and its distribution to the eligible beneficiaries through various social security programmes of Government of India. (b): The details on the measures taken regarding quality testing, storage, transportation and regular inspection offoodgrains (including Surguja district in Chhattisgarh) are as under: Quality testing and regular inspection: Regular surveillance, monitoring, inspection and random sampling of various food products including foodgrains under the Public Distribution System are being carried out by the Food Safety Departments of the respective States/UTs to check compliance with the quality and safety parameters laid down under Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 and Regulations made there under.Storage: • Smart Warehouse Project: Smart warehouse ensures real-time visibility, timely intervention, data driven decision making & standardized operations across all depots contributing to ensure safe, secure and efficient foodgrain storage and distribution. • Depot Darpan Portal: Depot Darpan Portal is a digital platform launched by the Department to enhance the monitoring, transparency and efficiency of foodgrain storage depots & warehouses under PDS. • Silos: Silo storage represents a highly mechanized and modern method of bulk foodgrains storage, ensuring superior preservation and enhanced shelf life. Transport: A GPS enabled live tracking solution va Vehicle Location Tracking System (VLTS) has been developed by the Department. This project aims to introduce a vehicle tracking system for continuous monitoring of vehicles used to transport foodgrains in order to preventing the pilferage/theft of PDS foodgrains during movement. (c): The Quality Management System (QMS) has been developed by the Department to monitor laboratory activities on real time basis. This system aims to enhance operational planning, improve quality control of foodgrains, ensure greater reliability and accuracy throughout the procurement, preservation, and end-to-end supply chain processes offoodgrains. Further, the following steps are being taken by the Government to make the Public Distribution System more transparent and effective in the country (including Surguja region in Chhattisgarh): i. . Digitisation & Aadhaar seeding: Ration cards/beneficiary database 100% digitised in all States/UTs; 99.7% of ration cards Aadhaar-seeded, eliminating ineligible/duplicate cards. ii. Transparency & grievance redressal: Transparency portals and online grievance redressal/toll- free helplines operational in all States/UTs. iii. Online allocation & supply chain computerisation: Online allocation implemented in a]1 States/UTs; supply chain computerised in 31 States/UTs (except Chandigarh, Puducherry and urban Dadra & Nagar Haven, which have adopted DBT Cash Transfer). iv. ePoS-based Aadhaar authentication at FPS level: 5.50 lakh (99.8%) of 5.51 lakh Fair Price Shops automated with ePoS devices, ensuring biometric authentication of beneficiaries at the poirllt of distribution and curbing diversion.v. One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC): Nationwide portability implemented across all 36 States/UTs, covering all PMGKAY beneficiaries; over 221 crore portability transactions recorded to date, reducing exclusion and duplicate entitlement claims. vi. Rightful Targeting (RT): A dedicated de-duplication and beneficiary-verification exercise using Aadhaar/PDS data analytics has led to identification and deletion of ineligible/duplicate beneficiaries, with 5.95 Cr flagged beneficiaries (excluding landholding cases) and 2.35 Cr deleted beneficiaries. vii. SMART-PDS reform initiative: Being implemented with modules for Ration Card Management, Distribution, Supply Chain and Grievance Redressal to further standardise and digitally integrate State-level TPDS operations. viii. NIRMAL & SAKSHAM: New initiatives under the SARTHAK PDS Umbrella Scheme (2026–3 1) aimed at strengthening data architecture/analytics (NIRMAL) and real-time data integration (including VLTS) from Procurement of food grains to Distribution to the beneficiaries (Saksham) are under implementation. 8888+