New Delhi: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved the continuation of the “Scheme for Assistance in Ration Transport and Handling-Income with Automation in PDS” (SARTHAK PDS) during the 16th Finance Commission award period with a central outlay of Rs 25,530 crore.
The decision includes revision of norms for central assistance to states and Union Territories for expenditure related to intra-state transportation and handling of foodgrains as well as Fair Price Shop (FPS) dealers’ margins. The existing funding pattern for central assistance will continue under the scheme, according to an official statement.
The government said SARTHAK PDS has been designed as an umbrella scheme by integrating two existing programmes – assistance to state agencies for intra-state movement of foodgrains and FPS dealers’ margin under the National Food Security Act, and the SMART PDS scheme focused on technology-driven reforms in the public distribution system.
According to the government, the scheme aims to ensure assured financial support for intra-state movement, handling and FPS dealer margins while creating a unified, citizen-centric and interoperable public distribution system architecture to strengthen food security delivery under the NFSA.
The merged scheme will remain operational till March 31, 2031.
The government also said SARTHAK PDS seeks to modernise and optimise PDS operations through technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, and Blockchain.
As part of the initiative, the Centre plans to create standardised digital architecture and unified databases for real-time monitoring, AI-based grievance redressal and analytics systems, State Command Control Centres and ISO-certified operational frameworks aimed at improving transparency, security and efficiency in the PDS network.
The Centre said the scheme would support the government’s commitment to ensuring food and nutritional security for nearly 81.35 crore beneficiaries covered under the National Food Security Act.
Highlighting previous reforms, the government noted that several digitisation initiatives have already been implemented over the past decade, including End-to-End Computerisation of TPDS, Integrated Management of PDS (IM-PDS), and SMART PDS.
Citizen-focused platforms such as Mera Ration, Anna Mitra, Rightful Targeting Dashboard and Anna Sahayata have also been introduced to improve service delivery and transparency.
