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News: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the continuation of the “Scheme for Assistance in Ration Transport and Handling-Income with Automation in PDS” (SARTHAK PDS) as an umbrella scheme, in the 16th Finance Commission cycle award period, with an outlay of Rs. 25,530 crore as Central share.
About SARTHAK PDS Scheme
- Full name: SARTHAK PDS stands for – “Scheme for Assistance in Ration Transport and Handling-Income with Automation in PDS”.
- The SARTHAK-PDS Scheme is an umbrella scheme approved by the Union Cabinet to modernize and digitize India’s Public Distribution System (PDS).
- Aim: The Scheme aims to provide –
- Assured financial support for intra-State movement, handling and FPS dealer’s margin, and
- A unified, citizen-centric, intelligent and interoperable PDS architecture that ensures last-mile service delivery, minimizes leakages and strengthens the nation’s commitment to food security under NFSA.
- Objectives: SARTHAK-PDS Scheme seeks to modernize, integrate and intelligently optimize PDS operations through advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Blockchain, by creating standardized architectures and unified databases for real-time monitoring, AI-driven grievance and analytics systems.
- Funding and timeline: The Centre will spend ₹25,530 crore over the next five years as its share for the implementation of the scheme during the 16th Finance Commission cycle, with the programme set to continue until March 31, 2031.
- Integration: The SARTHAK-PDS scheme integrates two existing initiatives with the objective of strengthening implementation of the National Food Security Act –
- “Assistance to State Agencies for intra-State movement of foodgrains and FPS dealers’ margin under NFSA” and the “Scheme for Modernization and Reforms through Technology in Public Distribution System (SMART PDS)” –
- Revised norms: The Scheme will have revised norms of Central assistance for meeting expenditure incurred by States/UTs intra-state movement & handling of foodgrains and FPS dealers’ margin and continuation of the existing funding pattern of Central Assistance.
- Earlier initiatives in PDS governance: Government has implemented multiple digitization initiatives such as End-to-End Computerization of TPDS, Integrated Management of PDS (IM-PDS) and SMART PDS, along with citizen-facing applications like Mera Ration, Anna Mitra, Rightful Targeting Dashboard and Anna Sahayata.
