The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the continuation of the SARTHAK-PDS scheme for five years till March 2031 with a financial outlay of ₹25,530 crore, aiming to modernise the country’s public distribution system (PDS) through technology-led reforms. 

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also approved revised norms for Central assistance to states and union territories for intra-state movement and handling of foodgrains, along with enhanced margins for fair price shop (FPS) dealers, while retaining the existing funding pattern. 

SARTHAK-PDS has been structured as an umbrella scheme by merging two existing programmes — Assistance to State Agencies for Intra-State Movement of Foodgrains and FPS Dealers’ Margin under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), and the Scheme for Modernization and Reforms through Technology in Public Distribution System (SMART PDS). 

National Food Security Act

The government said the merger is aimed at strengthening implementation of the National Food Security Act, 2013, by bringing financial assistance and technology modernisation under a single administrative framework. 

Addressing reporters after the Cabinet meeting, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the scheme would cover the entire PDS value chain. 

“Right from selection of beneficiaries to movement of foodgrains, to getting proactive feedback from citizens, to reducing transportation distance — all those activities have been approved with an outlay of ₹25,530 crore for five years,” he said. 

Vaishnaw said state governments had been facing difficulties in bearing transportation costs for moving foodgrains to PDS outlets, and the scheme would support such expenses while also increasing remuneration for FPS dealers. 

He clarified that SARTHAK-PDS is not intended to replace the existing PDS framework but to introduce structural reforms in foodgrain delivery, logistics, transportation, material handling and grievance redressal systems. 

The scheme has a dual objective — ensuring financial support for intra-state movement and handling of foodgrains and FPS dealer margins, while also creating a unified, interoperable and citizen-centric PDS architecture to improve last-mile delivery and minimise leakages. 

Modernise PDS operations

On the technology front, the scheme proposes deployment of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Natural Language Processing (NLP), and blockchain technologies to modernise PDS operations. 

Key initiatives include unified databases for real-time monitoring, AI-driven grievance redressal systems, analytics-based oversight mechanisms and State Command Control Centres for data-driven management. ISO-certified process frameworks will also be introduced to improve transparency, security and operational sustainability. 

The government said the scheme is aligned with its legal and social commitment under the NFSA, which currently covers 81.35 crore beneficiaries. 

“The government has a commitment to the people of the nation — a dignified life by ensuring access to food and nutritional security through the availability of adequate quantities of quality foodgrains,” it said in a statement. 

SARTHAK-PDS builds on more than a decade of reforms in the PDS ecosystem, including end-to-end computerisation of the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), Integrated Management of PDS (IM-PDS), SMART PDS and citizen-facing platforms such as Mera Ration, Anna Mitra, the Rightful Targeting Dashboard and Anna Sahayata. 

Since April 1, 2023, the SMART PDS scheme has enabled digitisation of ration cards, Aadhaar seeding, automation of fair price shops through electronic Point of Sale (e-PoS) devices, online allocation and computerised supply-chain management across all 36 states and union territories.