It is well recognized that the availability of food grains is not a sufficient condition to ensure food security to the poor. It is also necessary that the poor have sufficient means to purchase food. Public Distribution system (PDS) is the mechanism of supplying food grains at subsidized prices.
The public distribution system (PDS) ensures the distribution of essential items such as selected cereals, sugar and kerosene at subsidized prices to holders of ration cards through a network of outlets or fair price shops (FPS). The PDS also helps to modulate open – market prices for commodities that are distributed through the system. The main items distributed through the PDS are cereals, such as rice and wheat, and essential items such as sugar (only for below poverty line) and kerosene.