HYDERABAD: Telangana has recorded the lowest leakage percentage of grains of 0.3 per cent from the Public Distribution System (PDS), while Gujarat stood in the third place in the country with 43 per cent, revealed a study titled ‘Rationalising Public Distribution System In India’ conducted by Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) released recently.
North-Eastern states Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland followed by Gujarat are the top three in terms of PDS leakage of grains. On the other hand, in Uttar Pradesh, PDS leakage stood at 33 per cent, with the state topping the list in terms of the absolute quantity of grains leaked.
Other states including Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Maharashtra experienced high rates of siphoning, which often involves grains being diverted back to the open market, the report read.
The research body conducted a comprehensive study based on reports that the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) of 2022-23 showed that almost 28 percent of the grains, which amounts to a financial loss of about Rs 69,108 crore (equivalent to roughly 20 million metric tons (MMT) of rice and wheat) supplied by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and respective state governments never reach the intended beneficiaries.
