By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, JULY 25, 2024: A pilot study is being conducted to improve viability of 60 FPS across 4 cities i.e. Hyderabad, Ghaziabad, Jaipur and Ahmedabad. Govt of India under leadership of respective States is providing handholding assistance to these FPS shops by partnering with Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) for provision of working capital and B2B online wholesale aggregators for sale of non-PDS items with focus on nutritional items.

As part of efforts to improve the viability of FPSs, Government of India has taken various initiatives and requested all State/UT Governments to implement additional services at the FPSs, including Common Service Centre (CSC) services, banking services through tie-up with banks/ corporate banking correspondents, banking and citizen-centric services of India Post Payment Bank (IPPB), retail sale of small (5kg) LPG cylinders and sale of other commodities/ general store items etc. Further, to address the skill development challenges, this Department is exploring possibilities of conducting capacity building programs or short term skill development courses through the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) to boost the confidence of FPS owners and equip them with the essential entrepreneurship skills required for venturing into new business avenues.

Under the domain of operational responsibilities, State/UT Governments have been advised to display information boards, preferably made of tin plates with colour painting showing beneficiary's rights and integration of weighing scale with electronic Point of Sales (ePoS) devices at all FPSs and explore the feasibility of installation of CCTV cameras at all FPSs.

The Public Distribution System (PDS) is operated under joint responsibilities of the Central and State/UT Governments, wherein this Department, through Food Corporation of India (FCI), has assumed the responsibility for procurement, storage, transportation and allocation of foodgrains to States/UTs. Whereas, the operational responsibilities such as licensing and monitoring of Fair Price Shops (FPSs) including identification of eligible households/ beneficiaries, issuance of Ration Cards, Aadhaar seeding, FPS-wise allocation and distribution of foodgrains, authentication of beneficiaries, etc. rest with the respective State/UT Government.

As per information received from State Govt. of Andhra Pradesh, a total number of 29,872 FPS have been integrated with e-PoS device with automatic weighing scales.

Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) is being implemented by all scheduled commercial banks including Regional Rural Banks. As per information received from Public Sector Banks (PSBs), as on 24 November, 2023, a total of 1,15,803 loans have been extended to FPS dealers since the inception of PMMY on 08 August, 2015. A Statement indicating state-wise, including Andhra Pradesh, number of PMMY loans extended to FPS dealers by Public Sector Banks is below.

Statement indicating State/UT - wise number of Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) to Fair Price Shop Dealers by Public Sector Banks ( as on 24.11.2023) is as follows:

This information was given by the Union Minister of State for the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Nimuben Jayantibhai Bambhaniya in a written reply yesterday in the Lok Sabha.