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Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Pralhad Joshi on Tuesday underscored India’s extensive Public Distribution System (PDS) infrastructure, pointing out that

with over 5.38 lakh Fair Price Shops, the country has a distribution network larger than the population of some nations. Joshi, who launched three major digital initiatives — the Depot

Darpan Portal, and digital platforms Anna Mitra, and Anna Sahayata— aimed at transforming India’s PDS, said despite global inflationary pressures, India has maintained low inflation levels

while strengthening nutritional security through measures such as the distribution of fortified rice. Advertisement The launch event, held here on Tuesday, marked a significant step towards

enhancing transparency, improving infrastructure, and empowering both beneficiaries and frontline workers involved in the delivery of subsidized food grains to more than 81 crore people

under the National Food Security Act. Advertisement In his address, Joshi reaffirmed the government’s commitment to reaching out to the most vulnerable segments of society, saying, “Our aim

is to take the government’s welfare schemes to the last man standing. The weakest in society must benefit from our programmes,” he recalled the extensive food support provided during the

COVID-19 pandemic. Over 80 crore individuals receive free food grains under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana.” Referring to the recently released Household Consumption Expenditure

Survey, the Union minister highlighted that household spending on food had declined by 50 per cent, which he attributed to increased affordability and improved access to essential food

items such as milk, eggs, pulses, and fish. He also stressed the impact of the One Nation One Ration Card scheme, which has enabled beneficiaries to access subsidized food grains from any

part of the country, thus enhancing portability and transparency. Joshi highlighted the exercise of evaluation in Depot Darpan and said it has a potential of Savings approximately Rs 275

crore in FCI-owned Depots through process efficiencies and Income augmentation of around Rs 140 crore in CWC-operated foodgrain warehouses through the optimised space utilisation. In

parallel with the process improvements, the evaluation has revealed critical infrastructural gaps in both FCI and CWC warehousing facilities that hinder operational efficiency and service

quality. To address these gaps and to ensure that all warehouses are upgraded to an “Excellent” grading, a significant capital expenditure has been planned, a budget of Rs 280 crore

allocated for CWC and Rs 1000 crore allocated for FCI, he said. Depot Darpan is a digital self-assessment and monitoring portal aimed at empowering depot officials to systematically evaluate

and enhance their operations. Designed to help food grain depots achieve the highest standards of warehousing excellence, the platform assigns a Composite Rating based on both

infrastructural parameters—such as safety standards, environmental sustainability, and statutory compliance—and operational parameters like occupancy levels, profitability, and storage

efficiency. Leveraging advanced technologies, Depot Darpan integrates IoT sensors for real-time monitoring of environmental and inventory conditions, CCTV surveillance for improved security,

and live video feeds with analytics to support informed, data-driven decision-making and continuous improvement. Further, the Union minister for consumer affairs, food & public

distribution along with Minister of State Nimuben Jayantibhai Bambhaniya and B L Verma, also launched the ‘Anna Mitra’, a mobile app to empower key field-level stakeholders of the Public

Distribution System (PDS) with secure, real-time access to essential operational data along with ‘Anna Sahayata’ an Advanced Grievance Redressal System aiming at enhancing accessibility,

responsiveness, and transparency in PMGKAY beneficiaries. Anna Mitra is designed to meet the specific operational needs of key stakeholders in the public distribution system. For FPS

Dealers, it provides functionalities to view stock receipts, access monthly sales reports, and receive timely alerts from authorities. DFSO Officers benefit from features that enable them to

monitor FPS performance, track and manage grievances, and access detailed beneficiary data. Food Inspectors can utilize the app to conduct geo-tagged inspections, verify the accuracy of

stock distribution, and review FPS ratings, ensuring greater accountability and transparency across the supply chain. Anna Sahayata, a citizen-first grievance redressal platform designed to

serve over 81 crore beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) is built on the pillars of accessibility, accountability, and efficiency which leverages modern

tools like WhatsApp, IVRS, and Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) to make grievance lodging as easy as sending a message or making a call. In its current rollout, Anna Mitra covers four

states—Assam, Uttarakhand, Tripura, and Punjab—and is available in two languages, Hindi and English whereas Anna Sahayata covers five states in pilot phase—Gujarat, Jharkhand, Telangana,

Tripura, and Uttar Pradesh—and is available in five languages, Hindi, Gujarati, Telugu, Bangla and English Eventually both the systems will be deployed pan India across all States/UTs as

state systems will be integrated. Both the platforms are aligned with the vision of Digital India, driving transparency, speed, and efficiency in welfare delivery. With such initiatives, the

Department aims to harness technology for good governance – making the process of grievance redressal and basic operations more accessible, citizen-friendly and effective, in line with the

Prime Minister’s vision. With the launch of these tools, the government of India reinforces its vision of a digitally empowered, citizen-centric, and transparent Public Distribution System

that ensures food security for every Indian. Advertisement