What does public distribution system ensure?

Answer 1

Historically, the objectives of the PDS have been:

• maintaining price stability,

• increasing the welfare facilities for the poor (by providing access

to basic foods at reasonable prices to the vulnerable population),

• rationing during situations of scarcity, and

• keeping a check on private trade.

Answer 2

The following are the advantages of the public distribution system:

1. It has helped in stabilising food prices and making food available to consumers at affordable prices.

2. It has helped in avoiding hunger and famine by by supplying food from surplus regions of the country to deficient regions.

3. The system of minimum support price and procurement has contributed to increase in foodgrain production.

The following are the disadvantages of the public distribution system;

1. Instances of hunger occur despite granaries being full. This points to certain lacunae or inefficiency in the system.

2. High level of buffer stocks often leads to wastage of foodgrains and deterioration in quality.

3. The storage of foodgrains inculcates high carrying costs on the government.

4. The provision of minimum support price has encouraged farmers to divert land from production of coarse grains that are consumed by poor, to rice and wheat.

Answer 3

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Answer 4

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