Ministry of Food launches ‘Anna Chakra’ to optimize PDS supply chain and save Rs 250 cr per year

NEW DELHI: The ministry of food launched Thursday the ‘Anna Chakra‘, a tool to optimize the supply chain of foodgrains under the PDS across states, which is expected to save around Rs 250 crore per year on the annual cost of free transportation of wheat and rice for 80 crore poor people. Citing implementation of the pilot project in 30 states and UTs, the government claimed that optimizing routes from FCI sites to ration shops reduced the distance by 15-50 per cent.
Developed in partnership with the World Food Program and IIT-Delhi, the system leverages advanced algorithms to optimize the movement of food grains across the country’s logistics network.
Launching the tool, Union Minister for Food and Consumer Affairs Pralhad Joshi said it is a new step in using technology to plug leaks and save costs. public finances, while highlighting the government’s success in direct transfer of benefits by opening more bank accounts (JAM).
Union Food Secretary Sajneev Chopra said that with the initiative, a “radical” change had been made to “an age-old practice that continued without any review”. He has repeatedly said that due to inertia or indifference, some things continue without examination or revision. “This has changed today with regard to the supply routes taken by trucks and vehicles transporting food grains from FCI centers to state centers and Fair Price Stores (FPS),” he added.
The initiative covers nearly 4.4 lakh FPS and 6,700 warehouses, targeting the most important sectors in the country. food safety program. Chopra said that in the second phase, supply chain optimization will happen from mandis to FCI warehouses, state warehouses and FPS.
Besides improved efficiency and cost savings through streamlined delivery routes reducing fuel consumption, time and logistics costs, it also provides environmental benefits of a lower carbon footprint through reduced emissions. transportation.
Joshi also launched the SCAN Portal, a one-stop system for states to submit and process food subsidy applications, promising streamlined workflow automation. This is expected to facilitate timely settlement processes and the portal will ensure end-to-end workflow automation of all food subsidy release and settlement processes using rule-based processing.