What are the major challenges of Public Distribution System (PDS) in India? How can it be made effective and transparent?

Theme

T142 PDS & buffer stocks

What UPSC asks in this theme

UPSC asks PDS challenges and how to make it effective, and buffer stocks' role and storage challenges.

What to cover

• TPDS reforms: ONORC, Aadhaar seeding, digitisation
• Leakages and exclusion
• Buffer stock norms and FCI storage
• Open Market Sale Scheme

Writing the answer

• Problems → reforms

These notes are for the whole theme, built from all 2 of its PYQs. UPSC does not publish model answers.