Lok Sabha Question No. 190 (STARRED), answered on 2025-03-12
Subject: Implementation of SMART-PDS
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: Shri Mohite Patil Dhairyasheel Rajsinh, Shri Bhaskar Murlidhar Bhagare

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY  OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION DEPARTMENT OF FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

## LOK SABHA

STARRED QUESTION NO.190

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 12TH MARCH,  2025

## IMPLEMENTATION  OF SMART-PDS

## *190. SHRI MOHITE PATIL DHAIRYASHEEL RAJSINH: SHRI BHASKAR MURLIDHAR BHAGARE:

Will  the Minister of CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION be pleased to state:

- (a) the current status of  the  implementation of  the  Scheme for  Modernization and Reforms through  Technology in  Public  Distribution  System (SMART-PDS)  across States including Maharashtra;
- (b) the name of  States which  have adopted the SMART-PDS system so far including  challenges being faced by these States in the implementation process;
- (c) the primary objectives of  the SMART-PDS scheme in improving the Public Distribution System (PDS) in the country;
- (d) the percentage of the population expected to benefit from the modernization efforts under SMART-PDS ;
- (e) whether the Government has allocated funds for  strengthening  digital  infrastructure and internet connectivity in  remote areas for effective implementation of SMART-PDS and if  so, the details thereof;
- (f) the measures being taken to ensure that beneficiaries in  remote or rural areas with  limited digital access can benefit from SMART-PDS; and
- (g) whether the Government has chalked out training programmes and imparted training to officials  and staff involved  in the SMART-PDS  implementation and if  so, the details thereoP

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS. FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION AND MINISTRY OF NEW AND RENEWABLE ENERGY

(SHRI PRALHAD JOSHI)

(a) t.  (g):

A  statement is laid  on the Table of the House

STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (g) OF THE STARRED QUESTION NO. 190 FOR ANSWER ON 12.03.2025 IN THE LOK SABHA.

- (a): This Department is  implementing the new Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) 'Scheme for  Modernization and Reforms through Technology in  Public Distribution System (SMART-PDS)' for  the  development  and implementation of  advanced integrated supply chain software in States/UTs. At present, the SMART-PDS  is in development phase. The project was started by NIC  from October 2024 and the application is expected to  be launched in phases from April  2025 onwards. This includes Maharashtra State as well.
- (b): This Department has signed MoUs with 35 States/UTs (except Tamil Nadu, which is under process) for the SMART-PDS  scheme. At  present, the development of SMART  PDS is under  progress.
- (c): The SMART-PDS scheme envisages to strengthen the technology infrastructure in Public  Distribution  System (PDS) to lead the technology driven reforms and transformative change in the entire PDS ecosystem covering NFSA  and State schemes. Thus, SMARTPDS is launched to sustain the Information Technology-led  Reforms to be brought in the functioning  of  Public  Distribution  System (PDS) Operations by overcoming the state level technological  limitations  of  PDS  operations in  all  States/UTs in  respect of  IT  Hardware, Software and to institutionalize an integrated Central System covering all  PDS related operations across all States/UTs.
- (d): All  PDS beneficiaries of the country benefit from the modernization  efforts of the SMART  PDS system. At  present, against the total  intended coverage of  81.35 Crore under NFSA,  80.56 Crore persons are receiving food  grains free  of  cost under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY),  which  comes to about 99.03% of  total coverage .
- (e): The scheme is being implemented in  collaboration with  all  States/UTs, with  a total cost of Rs. 349.9 crore for  a period of  3 years from FY  2023-24 to  2025-26. Under this scheme, provisions  have been made to  replace existing  servers/ data centers by  leveraging cloud infrastructure in all areas for  effective implementation of  SMART-PDS.

(f): To  ensure the  availability of  internet/connectivity for  ePoS devices  at  FPSs in remote locations / shadow/no network areas in  some States, the  Department of Telecommunications has been requested to resolve the internet/connectivity  related issues. The beneficiaries are empowered under C)NORC to lift  their entitled foodgrains from any FPS having operational ePoS device without facing any internet/connectivity  related challenges. The ePoS devices have a fbnctionality  to work  in offline  mode with  limited/  no internet connectivity.  The ePOS devices have to come periodically  to network area to sync the offline ePOS data with PDS online system.

(g): The details of the State consultations/ training  programmes and imparted training to officials  is at Annexure.

8$88&

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (g) OF THE STARRED QUESTION NO. 190 FOR ANSWER ON 12.03.2025 IN THE LOK SABHA.

The details of  the State consultations/ training programmes and imparted training to officials.

| Date       | State Govt/NIC/Other Stakeholder                             | Activity                                                          |
|------------|--------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 30-Sep-24  | FCI                                                          | Demonstration of Depot Online System                              |
| 07-Oct-24  | Cloud service provider                                       | Technical Discussion with Cloud service )rovider team on solution |
| 08-Oct-24  | NIC Hyderabad                                                | Demo of ePOSsystem                                                |
| 09-Oct-24  | NIC Hyderabad                                                | Demo of ePOSDortal from admin jogjn                               |
| 10-Oct-24  | a                                                            | Demonstration or                                                  |
| 11-Oct-24  | Gujarat                                                      | Demonstration of Gujarat PDS                                      |
| 11-Oct-24  | Cloud service provider                                       | Technical discussion with Cloud service )rovider Team on Database |
| 14-Oct-24  | Chhattjsgarh                                                 | a                                                                 |
| 15-Oct-24  | a                                                            | Demonstration of Uttar Pradesh PDS                                |
| 16-Oct-24  | MadhyaPradesh                                                | Demonstration ofMadhya Pradesh PDS                                |
| 17-Oct-24  | mt                                                           | Demonstration ofPuducherry PDS                                    |
| 17-Oct-24  | r                                                            | e                                                                 |
| 18-Oct-24  | Kerala                                                       | Demonstration of Kerala PDS                                       |
| 19-Oct-24  | Haryana                                                      | Demonstration ofHaryana PDS                                       |
| 21 -Oct-24 | Punjab                                                       | Demonstration ofPuni ab PDS                                       |
| 22-Oct-24  | Karnataka                                                    | Demonstration of Karl                                             |
| 22-Oct-24  | Delhi                                                        | Demonstration of Delhi PDS                                        |
| 23-Oct-24  | Jharkhand                                                    | Demonstration ofJharkhand PDS                                     |
| 23-Oct-24  | Bihar                                                        | Demonstration of Bihar PDS                                        |
| 23-Oct-24  | NIC Bangalore                                                | Discussion on the blockchain                                      |
| 24-Oct-24  | Telangana                                                    | Demonstration ofTelangana PDS                                     |
| 24-Oct-24  | r                                                            | e                                                                 |
| 25-Oct-24  | West Bengal                                                  | Demonstration of West Bengal PDS                                  |
| 26-Oct-24  | Rajasthan                                                    | Demonstration ofRaiasthan m                                       |
| 28-Oct-24  | a isha                                                       | Demonstration ofOdisha PDS                                        |
| 28-Oct-24  | Assam,Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim | Discussionson PDS with North East States                          |
| 29-Oct-24  | Himachal Pradesh                                             | Demonstration ofHimachal PDS                                      |
| 13 -Nov-24 | FCI                                                          | Meeting with FCI on Depot Online System documentation             |

| 06-Dec-24   | Andhra Pradesh (Hyderabad location)   | In person meeting with State NIC, Development team and other officials   |
|-------------|---------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 07-Dec-24   | l Karnataka (Bangalore location)      | In person meeting with State NIC and other officials                     |
| 09-Dec-24   | Karnataka (Bangalore location)        | In Person study of PDS system                                            |
| 09-Dec-24   | Uttar Pradesh (Kanpur)                | Discussion onRCMS functioning at the District level with NIC team        |
| 27-Jan-25   | Chandigarh                            | Demonstrated the process maps of DBT flow with NIC team                  |
| 28-Jan-25   | Delhi                                 | Discussion onDBT flow with NIC team                                      |
| 29-Jan-25   | Uttar Pradesh                         | Demonstration of Procurement module by NIC team                          |
| 29-Jan-25   | West Bengal                           | Demonstration of RCMS, FPS and Procurement module by NIC team            |
| 30-Jan-25   | Uttar Pradesh                         | Meeting for discussion on Procurement module and clarifications          |
| 30-Jan-25   | Kerala                                | e grievancemodule                                                        |
| 30-Jan-25   | Chandigarh                            | Discussion onDBT flow                                                    |
| 20-Feb-25   | Sikkim                                | Demonstration of newly developedRCMS and FPS modules                     |
| 20-Feb-25   | Andaman & Nicobar Islands             | Demonstration of newly developedRCMS and FPS modules                     |
| 20-Feb-25   | Andhra Pradesh                        | Demonstration of newly developedRCMS and FPS modules                     |
| 24-Feb-25   | Arunachal Pradesh                     | Demonstration of newly developedRCMS and FPS modules                     |
| 03 -Mar-25  | Assam                                 | Demonstration of newly developed RCMS and FPS modules                    |
| 03 -Mar-25  | Manipur                               | Demonstration of newly developedRCMS and FPS modules                     |
| 03 -Mar-25  | Meghalaya                             | Demonstration of newly developedRCMS and FPS modules                     |
| 04-Mar-25   | Mizoram                               | Der( and FPS modules                                                     |
| 04-Mar-25   | Nagaland                              | Demonstration of newly developedRCMS and FPS modules                     |
| 04-N<tar-25 | Goa                                   | Demonstration of newly dev) a and FPS modules                            |
| 04-Mar-25   | Arunachal Pradesh                     | UAT by State team of developedRCMS and FPS modules                       |
| 05 -Mar-25  | Andaman & Nicobar Islands             | UAT by State team of developed RCMm FPS modules                          |