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General Studies 2022 GS Paper III 10 marks 150 words Compulsory What

GS Paper III — Q3

What are the major challenges of Public Distribution System (PDS) in India? How can it be made effective and transparent? (Answer…

What are the major challenges of Public Distribution System (PDS) in India? How can it be made effective and transparent? (Answer in 150 words) 10 marks

हिंदी में प्रश्न पढ़ें

भारत में सार्वजनिक वितरण प्रणाली (पी.डी.एस.) की प्रमुख चुनौतियाँ क्या हैं? इसे किस प्रकार प्रभावी तथा पारदर्शी बनाया जा सकता है? (150 शब्दों में उत्तर दीजिए)

Q3 of the 2022 UPSC Mains General Studies GS Paper III, as printed
The question as printed in the 2022 General Studies paper
Evaluate your answer to this question → See all 2022 General Studies questions

Model answer

Written by UPSC Answer Check against this question's marking rubric, to the 150-word length. UPSC does not publish answers for Mains — this is one way to score well, not an official key.

PDS, strengthened by NFSA 2013, remains India’s food-security backbone, but its effectiveness is undermined by supply-side leakages—diversion, ghost beneficiaries and quantity fraud, once estimated at over 40% pre-reform—plus storage inadequacy, FCI inefficiency, inter-state portability barriers and weak grievance redressal. Demand-side problems include Aadhaar authentication failures causing exclusion errors, intra-household inequity and preference for cash over grain.

To make PDS effective and transparent, end-to-end computerization, Aadhaar seeding, One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) 2019 and DBT in kind/cash pilots in Chandigarh and Puducherry must be expanded. GPS-enabled vehicles, e-PoS at Fair Price Shops, real-time ANNAPURNA portal monitoring, public disclosure of stocks, SMS/portal grievance tracking, social audits and vigilance committees will curb diversion. Technology must be treated as an enabler, with offline authentication to prevent digital exclusion, converting PDS into a rights-based, accountable welfare system and ensuring NFSA entitlements reach intended households without exclusion or leakage through regular stock verification and follow-up.

What "What" is asking you to do

What is an interrogative rather than a command word. It opens a multi-part stem — what the thing is, then its causes, risks or remedies — and the definitional clause is the gate rather than the answer, with the marks spread across the clauses that follow it.

Structure that answers it

What it is, in two or three lines → the second clause of the stem, at length → the third clause, at length → a closing line only if room remains

Where marks are lost

Spending half the answer establishing the object and leaving the later clauses, which carry most of the marks, thinly answered.

All UPSC directive words, compared →

How this answer will be evaluated

Approach

Framework: Situation > Analysis > Measures: legal, institutional, developmental > Assessment. challenges: 3-4 challenges > solutions mapped to them > conclusion Full marks: Precise challenges with mapped, implementable solutions for both effectiveness and transparency.

Key points expected

  • 3-4 specific PDS challenges (leakage, exclusion, infrastructure)
  • Solutions mapped directly to the challenges
  • Measures for effectiveness (supply chain, storage)
  • Measures for transparency (digitization, grievance redressal)

Evaluation rubric

Each sub-part is marked on its own, against the marks and word limit printed on the paper.

  1. The answer Identify 3-4 PDS challenges and map implementable solutions for effectiveness/transparency.  · 150 words

    challenges— 3-4 challenges → solutions mapped to them → conclusion

    Must cover

    • 3-4 specific PDS challenges (leakage, exclusion, infrastructure)
    • Solutions mapped directly to the challenges
    • Measures for effectiveness (supply chain, storage)
    • Measures for transparency (digitization, grievance redressal)

    Loses marks

    • Aspirational solutions without implementation details
    • Ignoring the 'transparency' aspect of the question
    • Vague generalities without specific PDS context

    Earns more

    • Mention of NFSA 2013 or specific state schemes
    • Reference to Aadhaar seeding or e-NAM
    • Distinction between FCI and state agencies
    • Mention of 'One Nation One Ration Card'

    Extra mark

    • Specific statistic on PDS leakage or coverage
    • Reference to a specific Supreme Court judgment on food rights

Practice this exact question

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