Lok Sabha Question No. 3131 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-11
Subject: PDS, NFSA, ONORC in UT of Lakshadweep
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: Shri Muhammed Hamdullah Sayeed

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3131 TO BE ANSWERED ON IITII  MARCH, 2026

## PDS, NFSA, ONORC IN UT OF LAKSIIADWEEP

## 3131.  SHRI NIUHAh'IMED }IAMDULLAH SAYEED:

U'ill  the Minister of  CONSUNIIIR AFFAIRS. FOOD AND  PUBLIC' DIS'l'RIBUTION be pleased to state:

- (a-): the details of  the Central schemes relating to  Vlinistr}'  being implemented in  the  Union Ferritor)' of I.akshad\\'cep  and the extent of their coverage:
- ( b) : the  status of  implementation  of  schemes such as Public  Distribution System (PDS) National Food Securit\' Act (NFS A). One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) and C'onsulnel Protection  initiatives  in [,akshadweep:
- (c): the challenges faced in  inrplententation due to  geographical isolation. transportation and storage constraints: and
- (d): the  steps taken by the  Government to  ensure timely  availability of  essential commodities. price stabilit)'  and effective  consumer grievance  redress,II in I.akshadwccp?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR MINISTRY  OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

(SHRIMATI NIMUBEN JAYANTIBHAI BAMBHANIYA)

(a) &  (b): The Central Government is implementing the Pradhan Mantri  Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PN4GKAY), which provides for  coverage of  upto 75% of the rural population and upto 50% of the urban population, which  at Census 2011 comes to 81.35 crore persons.

The PMGKAY is being successfully implemented in all  the States/UTs including Union Territory of  Lakshadweep. The  UT  Administration of  Lakshadweep has identified 20,095 beneficiaries against the  intended coverage of  21,868 beneficiaries for  receiving  free  of  cost foodgrains under the PMGKAY.

The One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) plan is  successfully implemented by  all States/UTs including  Union  Territory  of  Lakshadweep.

- (c): The implementation of  PDS in Lakshadweep  is ensured  meeting all  geographical, storage  & transportation challenges.

(d): The Essential Commodities  Act (EC Act),  1955 and the Prevention of  Black marketing and Maintenance of  Supplies of  Essential Commodities Act(PBMMSEC Act),  1980 provide the legislative and administrative foundations to the Government to regulate  prices, production, supply, distribution  etc. of  essential commodities for  maintaining or  increasing their  supplies and for securing the equitable distribution  and availability  at fair  prices, and to prevent hoarding/blackmarketing of foodstuffs.

The National Consumer Helpline (NCH) administered by the Department of Consumer Affairs  has emerged as a single point  of  access for  consumers across the country including the Union Territory of Lakshadweep for the redressal of their grievances at the pre-litigation stage. Consumers can register their grievances in  17 languages  including  Hindi,  English and Malayalam through the toll-free  number 1915. These grievances can be registered on Integrated Grievance Redressal Mechanism (INGRAM), an omni-channel IT  enabled central portal, through various channels-  WhatsApp (8800001915), SMS (8800001915), email (nch-ca@gov.in), the NCH app, the web portal (consumerhelpline.gov.in) and the Umang app, as per their convenience.

Further, for price  stability, the Department of  Consumer Affairs  monitors the daily prices of' 40 essential food commodities  submitted by the 578 price monitoring  centres across the country.  As per the data, prices of food commodities are stable and under control.

Government keeps a close watch on the production and availability of essential commodities through regular reviews by the Inter-Ministerial  Committee (IMC).  The Committee reviews, on  regular basis, the  scenario and the indicative trends in  prices of  essential agrihorticultural commodities and  suggests  measures  to enhance  availability through increased domestic production and rationalisation in export-import  policies.

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