• For all India, ____ percent of peoples’ total consumption of rice and
  ____ percent of peoples’ total consumption of wheat are purchased from the ration
  shops. This shows that people have to buy most of their foodgrain requirements from
  ____. However, there are several well-performing states like____and ____. And some
  states like ____, ____ ,____ where PDS hardly seems to be fulfilling peoples’ needs
  for foodgrains.

The stock of foodgrains mainly wheat and rice procured and maintained by the
government through Food Corporation of India (FCI) is called buffer stock. The FCI
purchases wheat and rice from the farmers in states where there is surplus
production. The farmers are paid a pre-announced price for their crops. This price
is called Minimum Support Price (MSP). The MSP is declared by a government agency
every year.

The state and Central Governments procure nearly one-third of foodgrains from
farmers. These foodgrains are distributed to people through various mechanisms. In
recent times, the government agencies are procuring more foodgrains than what is
required to meet the public distribution system. If government stocks keep increasing
year after year, less is available (see year 2011 in Table on foodgrain
availability). The government has been often criticised that it does not properly
distribute these foodgrains to the needy people. Sometimes, governments also exports
these foodgrains to other countries. Do you think it is good idea to export
foodgrains and earn a small income when a large section of people within the country
are not able to access foodgrains?