Government launches SCAN Portal to streamline PDS system
Portal
5 min read
The Ministry Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, government of India has launched SCAN (Subsidy Claim Application for NFSA) Portal and ‘Anna Chakra” to modernise the Public Distribution System in the country. The SCAN Portal and the Anna Chakra tool is expected to increase the efficiency of the world’s largest public distribution system.
The Public Distribution System is part of the Food Security system of the country where the targeted poor and vulnerable section of the population are provided food grains at a highly subsidised price or even free.
Who launched the SCAN Portal and Anna Chakra
The SCAN portal and the Anna Chakra was launched by Pralhad Joshi ,Union Minister for Consumer Affairs,, Food and Public Distribution & Renewable Energy, in New Delhi on 5 December 2024.
About the SCAN Portal
The SCAN (Subsidy Claim Application for NFSA) Portal is a single window system for settlement of claims of subsidy under the Public Distribution System.
Under the Public Distribution System apart from the Food Corporation of India the state government also procure foodgrains from the farmers and hand it over to the FCI which maintains the buffer stock. From this buffer stock foodgrains are provided to the states to distribute to the beneficiaries of various central government schemes covered under National Food Security Act (NFSA) and Other Welfare Schemes..
The difference between the cost of procurement of foodgrains by the state government and the Central Issue Price is reimbursed to the state government as a food subsidy.
The subsidy amount to the state government is processed and paid by the Department of Food and Public Distribution (DFPD) of the Union Ministry for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution,
The state can file their food subsidy claim on the SCAN Portal, which will be processed by the DFPD and funds will be released to the state government.
It will make the whole process transparent and lead to faster settlement of subsidy claims.
About Anna Chakra
The Anna Chakra is ” PDS Supply Chain optimization tool of the DFPD. It has been developed by the Ministry in collaboration with the World Food Programme and IIT Delhi’s Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer..
The Anna Chakra is an online system developed to improve the efficiency in the logistics of the food grains supply across the country .
It will track the movement of foodgrains from the farmers to the Godowns and to the ration shops. It will identify the best supply route using advanced algorithms.
This will increase the efficiency in the movement of food grains across the supply chain and reduce fuel consumption, time, and logistics costs .
