Lok Sabha Question No. 5354 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-04-05
Subject: Improving Financial Viability of FPSs
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: Parbatbhai Savabhai Patel

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

## DEPARTMENT OF FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.5354 TO BE ANSWERED ON 5TH APRIL, 2023

## IMPROVING FINANCIAL VIABILITY OF FPSS

+5354. SHRI PARBATBHAI SAVABHAI PATEL:

Will the Minister of CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND

PUBLIC

- revenue sources to improve the financial viability of the Fair Price Shops (FPSs); if so, the
- (a) whether the States/UTs need to explore additional details thereof;
- (b) the work being done by the Government to check the malnutrition at district Ievel across the country including Gujarat;
- (c) whether the Government is likely to achieve the target to distribute fortified rice in all Government programmes by 2023-24; and
- (d)
- if so, the details thereof?

## A NSWE R

MINISTER OF STATE FOR MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SADHVI NIRANJAN JYOTI)

(a): Government of India has undertaken various technology-based interventions in the Public Distribution System (PDS) to improve transparency in operations, prevention of leakages, and diversion of food grains: Simultaneously; it has also been the endeavour of the Government to improve the financial viability of Fair Price Shops (FPSs) by providing additional business avenues to FPS dealers and enhancing beneficiary experience through the provision of value-added services at FPS. To improve the financial viability of FPSs, Government of India has requested all StatelUt Governments to take up initiatives through FPSs such as providing Common Service Centre (CSC) services, Banking services through tie-up with banksl corporate Banking Correspondents, Banking and citizencentric services of India Post Payment Bank (IPPB), Retail selling of small (Skg) LPG cylinders, Sale of other commoditiesl general store items etc:

(b) to (d): In order to achieve uniform nutritional impact of fortified rice amongst the targeted population, the Government has approved the supply of fortified rice throughout the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and in Other Welfare Schemes (OWS) of Government of India in all States and Union Territories (UTs) including all districts of Gujarat by the   year 2024 in a phased manner. The complete implementation of the initiative throughout the country in a phased manner is as under:

Phase-I: Covering Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) and PMPOSHAN in all over India by March, 2022

Phase-II: Phase above plus TPDS and OWS in all Aspirational and High Burden Districts on stunting (total 291 districts) by March 2023

Phase-III: Phase above plus the remaining districts of the country by March, 2024.

At present, fortified rice is distributed through TPDS in 27 StatesiUTs namely Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Ladakh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu,  Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal: 14 AspirationallHigh Burden Districts of Gujarat namely Narmada, Anand, Banaskantha, Valsad, Bhavnagar, Vadodara, Kheda, Kachchh, Dohad, Dangs, Surendranagar, Sabarkantha, Patan and Naysari are distributing fortified rice through TPDS under phase-II: Under Phase-II of the Initiative, as on 19.03.2023, approximately 6.17 Lakh Metric Ton (LMT) of fortified rice has been distributed through TPDS in Gujarat whereas approximately 101.64 Lakh Metric Ton (LMT) of fortified rice has been distributed through TPDS across the country:

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