SMART PDS scheme: A bold initiative in digitisation

Contact Counsellor

Last Updated31/03/2023

The National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA), governs the country’s largest beneficiary-centric programme.
The Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) provides food security to 81.35 crore persons every month.
In order to minimize leakage and wider coverage government introduced modern reform in PDS system while using digital technology.

This scheme aims to transform the entire PDS IT ecosystem by leveraging the usage of Cloud and new-age technology.

Smart Ration Card: SMART-PDS is a system where smart ration cards are issued to beneficiaries of the public distribution system, and ration is given through fair price shops on the production of the smart ration card by any member of the beneficiary family.
Fingerprint Template: The fingerprint template of the beneficiary is recorded in these smart ration cards, which record all transactions.
Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.

The lack of credible and dynamic data on consumption and mobility patterns was always a big challenge for planners to ensure efficient delivery of critical central welfare schemes to the most vulnerable sections of our society.
It was felt that the data generated can be leveraged for the delivery of many other central schemes and welfare programmes.
Convergence and integration with the use of AI can really be a game changer for people as well as governments in bringing accountability across all programmes.
The national leadership deserves credit for pushing through these vital trans-ministerial convergences.

There will be a standardisation of the PDS operation through the use of technology and integrating the same with FCI, CWC, transport supply chain of rail and road, Ministry of Education, Women and Child Development and UIDAI.
Technology-led reforms are expected to overcome the state-level technological limitations of PDS operations concerning IT hardware, software and technical manpower.
This will also institutionalise an integrated central system for all PDS-related operations across all states/UTs.

Introduced to sustain the reforms brought in by the End-to-end Computerisation of TPDS Operations scheme and address the above key challenges.

Implementation of One Nation One Ration Card (nation-wide portability),
Creation of a national-level data repository for de-duplication of beneficiary/ration cards data;
Creation of integrated data infrastructure/systems across ration card management; allocation,
Supply chain of foodgrains and FPS automation among Centre and all states.
Presently, the ONORC plan is seamlessly functional in all 36 States/UTs and is consistently recording over 3.5 crore monthly portable transactions.
This count is steadily improving Since its inception in August 2019 in just four states, ONORC has so far recorded more than 100 crore portability transactions, including both inter-state and intra-state transactions.
The data generated during this process has now become a tool for many other central ministries and state governments.

Some of these spinoffs include benefits for the e-Shram Portal, Ayushman Bharat, and PM-Street Vendors AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM-SVANidhi) Yojana.
The Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare (MoAFW) envisages family-based ONORC/ration card data to map the beneficiaries.
Similarly, with the granting of a unique (Aadhaar) number to the newly born, the possibility of tracking their nutrition from ICDS centres to PM Poshan and then as PDS beneficiaries in a seamless manner will become a reality.
Therefore, The scope of SMART PDS is clearly beyond just ration distribution.