Public Distribution System -

Chhattisgarh Case Study

BPR & Technology in PDS

A.K.Somasekhar

Technical Director, NIC

PDS in Chhattisgarh

40 Lakh poor families receive 35Kg rice

and other essential commodities through

10,900 Fair Price Shops at highly

subsidized rate of Rs 2/- and Rs 1/-

Problem Areas Addressed

Delay in monthly allocation

Delay in lifting and transportation

Diversion/leakages

Fake ration cards

Lack of accountability at all levels

Lack of community participation

Lack of transparency

Solution

Technology along with necessary

Business Process Re-engineering (BPR)

used to address the problem areas with

the main objective of reducing diversion

and improving the efficiency of delivery

mechanism.

BPR & Other Reforms

De-privatization of FPS

Door step delivery

Improving economic viability of FPS

Out reach of FPS is increased

PDS Infrastructure strengthened

Can Technology Stop Corruption?

(Discussion)

7

Process Reforms

Main features

Unified ration card database

Automated Allotment

Submission of FPS sales details through

statutory declaration

FPS Inspection

Web-based application at distribution

centers

Truck dispatch information through SMS

Truck Photograph to replace gate pass

8

Process Reforms (Contd…)

(1) Unified ration card database

Cancellation of old ration cards

New Custom made ration card for

each family, with details by

decentralized data entry but

centralized printing

New ration cards with hologram

and Bar code

Distributed in public/gram sabha

Ration card database now

maintained through web-based

module

9

Process Reforms (Contd…)

(2) Automated Allotment

An FPS database with attached ration card details has

enabled automated allotment by entering per card

parameters every month

Eliminated grafts involved (to get excess allotment) in

manual allocation

Eliminated delay in communication of allotment details

to the FPS

Communication of manual allotment to FPS took 14

days, while online allocation takes only one hour (NISG)

10

Process Reforms (Contd…)

Submission of declaration by FPS made compulsory. Capturing the details of sales, helps issuing PDS commodities considering the closing balance of FPS

Eliminates building surplus stocks at FPS. Surplus stock was mostly diverted

Physical verification of stocks of 10% FPS on the basis of submitted declaration every month

(3) Submission of FPS sales through declaration

11

Process Reforms (Contd…)

33% of FPS selected randomly by the computer are to

be inspected by FI every month and inspection details

are to be entered in the system.

Out of that 33%, a certain no. of FPS shall be selected

randomly by computer for District Food officer’s

inspection.

Out of the FPSs inspected by District Food Officer.

Certain number of FPS shall be selected randomly by

computer for inspection by state level officers.

Any difference found in the inspection reports of the

same shop shall be viewed seriously.

(4) Inspection of Fair Price Shops

12

Process Reforms (Contd…)

All operations through a web

based application developed

in-house, with the help of NIC

200 VSAT network on lease

Broadband/USB based

connectivity as backup

Up to date lifting information

Real time inventory management

Computerised receipt

Automated reconciliation between

warehouses

(5) Web-based application at distribution centers.

13

Process Reforms (Contd…)

SMS messages automatically sent whenever truck challans are printed for FPS at the distribution centre

Sample SMS

“Shop 442003100/Baktara, Truck CG 09 B0791, Rice: 198.1 qtl. Sugar 7.12 qtl. Salt: 10.96 qtl. Date 20 APR 10 15:49.”

Any citizen can register his mobile number on citizen interface web site and get SMS free (cg.nic.in/citizen)

No. of SMSs dispatched so far – 1,13,270

Panchnama at FPS during unloading of PDS commodities

(6) Truck dispatch information through SMS

14

Process Reforms (Contd…)

SMS to both the DM’s, Civil

Supplies Corporation

SMS to all the 3 GMs of

CSC if the truck not

received within 3 days of

dispatch

Truck photograph with

latitude and longitude, on

pilot basis

(7) Inter district movement

15

Transparency & Community Participation

All trucks coloured yellow

Call centre

Citizen portal

Chawal utsav (Rice Festival)

16

Transparency & Community Participation (Contd…)

(1) Yellow truck carrying PDS commodities

17

Transparency & Community Participation (Contd…)

(2) Call centre & Complaint Monitoring System

A call centre to lodge complaints or for any inquiry, with toll free number – 1800-233-3663. Operational between 8 AM and 10 PM on all working days, since 21st January, 2008

Call centre number displayed at every FPS

Complaints lodged are entered in a web-based application and monitored in real time at all levels

Grievance redressal status is available online in public domain

18

Transparency & Community Participation (Contd…)

(3) Citizen Portal : cg.nic.in/citizen

19

Transparency & Community Participation (Contd…)

(4) Chawal Utsav (Rice Festival)

Chawal Utsav celebrated at each

FPS on 7th of the month

PDS commodities distributed in

presence of vigilance committee

members and Nodal officer

appointed by the Collector

40 % sales of the month during

Chawal Utsav

3 Point Strategy to use technology to reduce

leakages in PDS

Create transparency so that every one knows what is

supposed to happen and what is happening.

Provide most convenient system to lodge

complaint, in case some discrepancy is found.

Build confidence that all the complaints lodged

through the system shall be investigated at the earliest.

Thank you

A.K.Somasekhar

som@nic.in

94252 02643