Impact of Public Distribution System on BPL Families an Analysis of Punjab

All over the world hunger eradication and poverty alleviation are twin objectives of Public Distribution System (PDS) in the developing countries like India. It is intended to serve as a safety net for the poor by providing essential goods and services, mainly the food items i.e rice, wheat, sugar, kerosene to all sections of population especially the poorest of the poor at reasonable cost. Effectiveness of the Public Distribution System (PDS) depends on a large number of policy decisions regarding operational & organisational aspects of the PDS. To identify the real impact and implications of any policy, functioning of any policy at the micro level is analysed. The present paper intends to analyse the operational aspects of PDS at the grassroots level. It examines the consumers’ responses to various issues in the PDS like quality, price, availability and accessibility of food grains supplied under PDS, behaviour of dealers of FPS with the customers and also the experiences, complaints and grievances of people in the overall functioning and effectiveness of PDS in Sangrur district of Punjab.