Lok Sabha Question No. 61 (STARRED), answered on 2026-02-04
Subject: Effectiveness of PMGKAY and PDS
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: Shri Nalin Soren, Dr. Nishikant Dubey

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

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

## LOK SABHA

STARRED QUESTION NO. 61 TO BE ANSWERED ON 4TH FEBRUARY, 2026

## EFFECTIVENESS OF PM(,KAY  AND PDS

## f*61.  SHRI NALIN SOREN: DR. NISHIKANT DUBEY:

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

- (a): the details of the measures taken by the Government to increase the reach and effectiveness of the Pradhan Mantri  Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) and the Public Distribution System  (PDS) in the country including Dumka district ofJharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Jammu-Kashmir,  Telangana, Nabarangpur Lok  Sabha Constituency of  Odisha and Tribal  and Rural  dominated Chhindwara district  of  Madhya Pradesh and Palghat district  in Maharashtra;
- (b): the present status of  digitalisation  of  ration  cards and implementation  of  One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) scheme in  all  States and Union Territories including Dumka district  of  Jharkhand,  Jammu-Kashmir, Telangana, Nabarangpur Lok  Sabha Constituency of Odisha and Chhindwara district  ofMadhya Pradesh;
- (c): the outcomes recorded in terms of  number of  beneficiaries receiving free foodgrains, inter-State and  inter-district  portability  transactions and improvement in  food  security, transparency and beneficiary  satisfaction during  last five  years, State and year-wise especially in  context  of  Nladhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and  Nabarangpur Lok  Sabha Constituency in Odisha;
- (d): whether the Government has undertaken any State-wise assessment of  PMGKAY  and PDS reforms particularly  in Maharashtra and Jalgaon Lok  Sabha constituency;
- (e): if  so, the details of  beneficiaries covered, grievance redressal performance and measures taken to address last-mile delivery challenges in Maharashtra including Jalgaon district; and
- (f): the details of  the funds released during the  last five  years on PMGK AY  and PDS in Palghar district  of  Maharashtra?

## ANSWER

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

(SHRI PRALHAD JOSHI)

(a) to (f): A statement is laid  on the Table of the House

STATEMENT REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  To  (f)  OF  LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 61* (1ST POSITION) FOR ANSWER ON 4T II FEBRUARY, 2026 REGARDING 'EFFECTIVENESS  OF PMGKAY AND PDS'

- (a): Targeted Public Distribution  System (TPDS) governed under National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA) is  operated under the joint  responsibility  of  the  Central and the  State/UT Governments.  The operational responsibilities for allocation offoodgrains  within  the States/UTs, identification of eligible beneficiaries &  families, issuance of ration cards to them, distribution of foodgrains to  eligible  beneficiaries, supervision  and monitoring of  functioning  of  Fair  Price Shops (FPSs) etc. rest with  the concerned State/ UT Governments.

Union Government has laid down a robust mechanism to seamlessly distribute the food grains under PIVIGKAY to  around 80  Crore Pradhan Mantri  Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY)  beneficiaries through Fair Price Shops in all the State/UTs.

As part of the Government's digital initiatives to  enhance reach, effectiveness under PMGKAY and the Public Distribution System (PDS), the ration card/beneficiary database has been 100% djgjtised across all  States and Union Territories, with 99.9% ration cards Aadhaarseeded and 99.2%  beneficiaries aadhaar seeded.

This  has enabled beneficiaries  to access their  full  entitlements at Fair Price  Shops through e-PoS devices using their  Ration Card Number or  Aadhaar Number, with  biometric authentication. Further, initiatives such as One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC), Mera Ration App and Anna  Sahayata have expanded the reach of food  security  benefits, particularly  to migrant and mobile populations, thereby  improving  the effectiveness ofPMGKAY  and PDS.

- (b): At  present,  100% ration cards have been digitized across the country. The nationwide portability  of  ration cards popularly  known as One Nation  One Ration Card (ONORC) feature is enabled in  all States and  Union  Territories  recording  approx. 3  Crore  average monthly transactions.  Through this  technology driven reform, around 80 Crore Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY)  beneficiaries are empowered to lift  their entitled foodgrains from any Fair Price Shop (FPS) of their choice, anywhere  in the country, by using their same existing ration card with biometric authentication on an electronic Point of  Sale (ePoS) device. The family  back home can also lift  the part of the PMGKAY  foodgrains in the home State/UT on the same ration card.
- (c): At  present as on  1 st Feb 2026, PMGKAY  has a coverage of  total 79.44 Cr beneficiaries who are receiving free food grains every month.

In the  last 3 years the beneficiaries  receiving  free food grains every month  are as follows:

| State/District    | No of beneficiaries   |
|-------------------|-----------------------|
| Madhya Pradesh    | 5,36,23,49 1          |
| a                 | 4.0 1,94,74 1         |
| Maharashtra       | 68,073,038            |
| Nabrangpur,Odisha | 10,59,870             |

| SNo   |   1 Year | State/District     | No of beneficiaries   |
|-------|----------|--------------------|-----------------------|
|       |     2024 | Madhya Pradesh     | 5,54.18.818           |
| 2     |     2024 | a                  | 4,01 ,93,000          |
| 3     |     2024 | Maharashtra        | 6,84,32, 163          |
|       |     2024 | NabrangDur, Odisha | 11.03,025             |

| SNo   |   1Year | State/District     | No of beneficiaries   |
|-------|---------|--------------------|-----------------------|
|       |    2023 | Madhya Pradesh     | 5,26.52,028           |
|       |    2023 | a                  | 4,04,2 1 ,534         |
|       |    2023 | Maharashtra        | 6,65,7 1 ,685         |
|       |    2023 | Nabrangpur, Odisha | 11,05,617             |

The  ONORC  facility is  automatically available  to  all  eligible  PMGKAY beneficiaries without any additional requirement. It  has been implemented seamlessly to  cover 100% PMGKAY  beneficiaries (including  women and migrant workers). To  date, 201 crore portability transactions  have been recorded under ONORC, covering both inter-State and intra-State. The high number of portability transactions shows wide acceptance of ONORC among PMGKAY beneficiaries.

The  State and year-wise details of  Inter-state and Intra-state portability  transactions  is at Annexure.

- (d): This  Department  engaged Monitoring Institutions  (MIs)  of  repute to  undertake concurrent evaluation of  the  implementation of  National  Food Security Act,  2013 (NFSA)  in  different States/UTs for  Phase-1 (2018-20) and Phase-I1 (2020-23). Reports submitted by the  Mls  are available in public domain at https://nfsa.gov.in/portal/Concurrent Evaluation.
- (e): The  Department has taken several steps to strengthen grievance redressal in  the Public Distribution System. Major initiatives include:
1. Strengthened Grievance Redressal Systems
- 0 Universal  availability of  1967/1800-series toll-free  helplines across all  States/UTs.
- 0 Introduction  of Anna  Sahayata,  an advanced WhatsApp  and IVRS-based grievance redressal system, allowing  beneficiaries  to lodge complaints in their own language.
- 0 Mera Ration Mobile  App, which enables beneficiaries to check their  entitlements, member and demographic details, last month's distribution  status, nearby FPS location, and to lodge grievances directly through the app.

## 2. Enhanced Monitoring  through CPGRAMS

- o States/UTs and all  concerned organisations  have been sensitised to strictly  adhere to the 21day timeline  for grievance disposal prescribed under CPGRAMS.
- o Pendency of grievances is monitored  regularly  through CPGRAIVIS dashboards.
- o Monthly advisories are issued to States to promote uniform and timely grievance resolution.
- o States/UTs with  high pendency levels are specifically  flagged for  corrective  action.

These steps collectively strengthen grievance  redressal mechanisms, improve  transparency and help ensure that all  beneficiaries receive their  rightful  foodgrain entitlements in a timely  and transparent manner.

- (f): The detail of funds released to State of Maharashtra (including Palghar) from FY 2020-2 1 to till  date is as below-  (Rs. in Crores)

## Maharashtra

|   2020-21 | 2021-22         | 2022-23   |   2023-24 2024-25 |        |   2025-26 (as on 30.01.2026) |
|-----------|-----------------|-----------|-------------------|--------|------------------------------|
|   2555.74 | 4082.07 2725.75 |           |           3923.29 | 327.74 |                      1458.49 |

| Ma(Ih),a Pradesh State Inter and Intra state Portabili Transactio   | Ma(Ih),a Pradesh State Inter and Intra state Portabili Transactio   | Ma(Ih),a Pradesh State Inter and Intra state Portabili Transactio   |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                     | Intera                                                              | Intra State Transaction                                             |
|                                                                     |                                                                     | 17,65,206                                                           |
| 2021                                                                |                                                                     | 48,65,597                                                           |
| 2022                                                                |                                                                     | 99,45, 128                                                          |
| 2023                                                                | 16, 190                                                             | 1 ,45,64,873                                                        |
| 2024                                                                | 58,836                                                              | 1.68,48.549                                                         |
| 2025                                                                | 58,367                                                              | 1,81 ,85,859                                                        |
| Total                                                               | 133393                                                              | 66175212                                                            |

| Karnataka State Inter and Transaction Intra state Portabil   | Karnataka State Inter and Transaction Intra state Portabil   | Karnataka State Inter and Transaction Intra state Portabil   |
|--------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                              | Inter State Transaction                                      | Intra Sa                                                     |
|                                                              | 0                                                            | 44,55, 146                                                   |
|                                                              | 0                                                            | 79,84,959                                                    |
| 2021                                                         | 0                                                            | 99,89,711                                                    |
| 2022                                                         | 0                                                            | 1,1 7,92,668                                                 |
| 2023                                                         | 4                                                            | 1,25,62,9 16                                                 |
| 2024                                                         | 0                                                            | 1 ,24,65,740                                                 |
| 2025                                                         | 0                                                            | 1,1 7,69,583                                                 |
| Total                                                        | 4                                                            | 7, 1 0,20,723                                                |

| Transaction Maharashtra State Inter and Intra state Portabil   | Transaction Maharashtra State Inter and Intra state Portabil   | Transaction Maharashtra State Inter and Intra state Portabil   |
|----------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                | Inter State Transaction                                        | Intra Ste                                                      |
|                                                                |                                                                | 44,90,543                                                      |
|                                                                |                                                                | 52,84,92 1                                                     |
|                                                                |                                                                | 1,11,71,528                                                    |
| 2023                                                           | 2,34,020                                                       | 1, 1 7,48,227                                                  |
| 2024                                                           | 6,70,750                                                       | 1 ,34,77,593                                                   |
| 2025                                                           | 8,74,642                                                       | 1,46,62,5 10                                                   |
|                                                                | 17,79,4 12                                                     | 6,08,35,322                                                    |

| Nabaran ur District Inter and Intra state Portabili Transaction   | Nabaran ur District Inter and Intra state Portabili Transaction   | Nabaran ur District Inter and Intra state Portabili Transaction   |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                   | Inter State Transaction                                           | Intra State Transactio                                            |
|                                                                   | 0                                                                 | 5                                                                 |
|                                                                   | 0                                                                 | 2,760                                                             |
|                                                                   | 0                                                                 | 9,037                                                             |
|                                                                   | 0                                                                 | 5, 195                                                            |
|                                                                   | 0                                                                 | 5,714                                                             |
|                                                                   | 0                                                                 | 5,287                                                             |
|                                                                   | 0                                                                 | 27,998                                                            |

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