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Abstract
Public Distribution System (PDS) in India is an important mechanism for protecting the people from the impact of rising prices of essential commodities and is an anti-inflationary measure in the sense that it ensures supplies regularly at frequent interval at a controlled price. The distribution of food under the PDS constitute significant part of government subsidies in India and plays an inevitable role in ensuring food security for the poor (Jain, 2016)8. PDS is a social welfare and antipoverty programme of the Government of India which supplies essential commodities like rice, wheat, sugar, kerosene etc to people at subsidized prices and has been one of the most important elements in India’s safety net system for almost 50-years and it is the most far reaching system in terms of both coverage and public expenditure on subsidies9. PDS provides prescribed quantities of basic food items (rice, wheat, sugar, edible oils) and other non-food products (kerosene, coal, standard cloth) at below market prices to beneficiaries through a network of fair price shops disseminated all over the country.