Govt likely to pump 42,000 crore in Public Distribution System

Zeebiz Bureau

New Delhi: The cabinet meeting scheduled on Monday is likely to announce a major restructuring in the Public Distribution System (PDS) of the country.

Reportedly, the government will pump in at least 42000 crore to modernise the PDS. The restructuring would mainly include computerization of the system and SMS alerts for people dependent on it. The PDS reform is also set to bring in a hike in sugar rationing.

To bring in further social sector reforms, the government will also be injecting funds to the Integrated Child Development Scheme to build 7 lakh more anganwadis.

The meetings of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) and Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure (CCI), scheduled for Friday, were postponed apparently in view of the rapid political developments in the aftermath of the government's decision to hike diesel prices and operationalise its earlier move to allow Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in multi- brand retail.

With PTI Inputs