The supreme court-appointed central vigilance committee has confirmed, once again, what is widely known: the entire PDS system has collapsed. Various corrupt practices like largescale diversion of foodgrain and cooking oil, blackmarketing, bogus card holders etc have completely paralysed this welfare scheme devised to help the poor and the needy. Most of Rs 28,000 crore that the central government gives to the states every year by way of subsidy is going down the drain.

For quite sometime now, the planning commission and other thinktanks have been suggesting that the entire PDS system should be dismantled. Instead, the subsidy amount be given directly to the beneficiaries to buy ration from the open market by way of food coupons or direct transfer of cash to their bank accounts. Isn't it time to switch to this system? There may be certain shortcomings in this system, like inadequate reach of banks for example, but at least we will know the subsidy money has reached the right people!