Public Distribution System and Other Sources of Household Consumption, 2011-12
New official data show that the proportion of Indian households using the Public Distribution System has nearly doubled over seven years. These households are relying more on the PDS and less on open market sources than before. The National Sample Survey Organisation’s report on the ‘Public Distribution System and Other Sources of Household Consumption’ was released and looks at findings from a nationally representative survey on the use of the PDS conducted in 2011-12. The report finds that the proportion of households which reported consuming grain purchased through the PDS was up to 46 per cent of all households in the case of rice and 34 per cent in the case of wheat for rural India, which is a near doubling since 2004-05, and an increase over 2009-10.