Enhancing efficiency and nutrition through reforms in India’s public distribution system

• Jul 29, 2025
• 2 min

The Department of Food and Public Distribution (DFPD) under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution has been working to strengthen the Public Distribution System (PDS) through digital reforms, efficiency improvements, and nutrition-focused initiatives. Since 2014, MSC has provided technical assistance to support these goals. The support included modernizing the PDS architecture, piloting direct benefit transfers, and aligning food distribution with broader nutritional security objectives.

MSC supported end-to-end computerization pilots in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, and Jharkhand by digitizing the beneficiary database and supply chain, and automating fair price shops (FPSs). These efforts helped the government identify and remove 50 million fake or duplicate ration cards. We also supported pilots for transitioning PDS benefits from in-kind to cash in Chandigarh, Puducherry, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Jharkhand, and Karnataka. It intends to improve efficiency and enable better dietary outcomes. MSC contributed to the design and evaluation of the One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) scheme to ensure portability of food grain entitlements, especially for migrant workers. During the pandemic, we supported the design, implementation, and monitoring of the PMGKAY relief program. In 2020, MSC helped establish a Technical Support Unit (TSU) at DFPD to shift focus toward nutritional security and food system transformation.

MSC’s support has contributed to system-wide improvements that saved the government approximately USD 22 billion by March 2023 through the identification and removal of 50 million fake or duplicate beneficiaries. The interventions also laid the groundwork for a shift from food security to nutrition security. Current work supports rice fortification, FPS transformation for financial viability, millet integration into PDS, and the repositioning of FPSs as local nutrition hubs.

The Gates Foundation commissioned the project.