Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution
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| File:Government of India logo.svg Branch of Government of India | |
| File:Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.png Ministry of Consumer Affairs | |
| File:Delhi India Government.jpg South Block building, housing the Cabinet Secretariat | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 2 September 1946 |
| Jurisdiction | Government of India |
| Headquarters | Sansad Bhavan, New Delhi |
| Annual budget | ₹205,765 crore (US$25 billion) (2023–24 est.) |
| Ministers responsible | |
| Website | https://consumeraffairs.nic.in/ |
The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution is a government ministry of India. The ministry is headed by a Cabinet rank minister.
Departments
The ministry is divided into two departments, the Department of Food and Public Distribution and the Department of Consumer Affairs.
Department of Food and Public Distribution
The objectives of the department are to ensure:
- remunerative rates for the farmers.
- supply of food grains at reasonable prices through the public distribution system.
Public Distribution System
The Indian Public Distribution System (PDS) is a national food security system that distributes subsidised food to India's poor. Major commodities include wheat, rice, sugar and kerosene. Surpluses of food from increased crop yields (as a result of the Green Revolution and good monsoon seasons) are managed by the Food Corporation of India, established by the Food Corporation Act 1964. The system implements national policy for farm price support, operations, procurement, storage, preservation, inter-state movement and distribution. PDS has a network of about 478,000 Fair Price Shops (FPS), perhaps the largest distribution network of its type in the world, operated by the Union Government and state governments.
Department of Consumer Affairs
The department administers the policies for Consumer Cooperatives, price monitoring, essential commodity availability, consumer movement and control of statutory bodies such as the Bureau of Indian Standards(BIS) and Weights and Measures.[1] The department is responsible for:[1]
- National Test House
- Standards of Weights and Measures
- The Bureau of Indian Standards
- Consumer Cooperatives
- Forward Markets Commission, Mumbai
- Monitoring of Prices and Availability of essential commodities
- The Consumer Protection Act, 2019
- Consumer Welfare Fund
- Internal Trade
- Inter-State Trade: The Spirituous Preparations (Inter-State Trade and Commerce) Control Act, 1955 (39 of 1955).
- Control of Futures Trading: the Forward Contracts (Regulations) Act, 1952 (74 of 1952).
The department regulates the availability and prescribes measures to see that the system works towards the food security of vulnerable people. This intent is to increase dignity, accountability, visibility, positive orientation and changed mind set.
Ministers
Food & Agriculture (1947–71)
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Food & Civil Supplies (1983–91)
| # | Portrait | Name | Term of office | Prime Minister | Party | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | File:Bhagwat Jha Azad.jpg | Bhagwat Jha Azad | 14 February 1983 | 31 December 1984 | 1 year, 321 days | Indira Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi |
Indian National Congress | |
| 12 | File:Birender Singh b1921 2023 stamp of India.jpg | Rao Birendra Singh | 31 December 1984 | 25 September 1985 | 268 days | Rajiv Gandhi | ||
| 13 | Kamakhya Prasad Singh Deo | 25 September 1985 | 27 January 1986 | 124 days | ||||
| 14 | P. Shiv Shankar | 27 January 1986 | 12 May 1986 | 105 days | ||||
| 15 | H. K. L. Bhagat | 12 May 1986 | 14 February 1988 | 1 year, 278 days | ||||
| 16 | Sukh Ram | 14 February 1988 | 2 December 1989 | 1 year, 291 days | ||||
| 17 | Nathuram Mirdha | 8 December 1989 | 10 November 1990 | 337 days | V. P. Singh | Janata Dal | ||
| (12) | File:Birender Singh b1921 2023 stamp of India.jpg | Rao Birendra Singh | 21 November 1990 | 21 June 1991 | 212 days | Chandra Shekhar | Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) | |
Food (1991–96)
| # | Portrait | Name | Term of office | Prime Minister | Party | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kalpnath Rai | 18 January 1993 | 21 December 1994 | 1 year, 337 days | P. V. Narasimha Rao | Indian National Congress | ||
| 2 | File:Visit of Narasimha Rao, Indian Minister for Foreign Affairs, to the CEC (cropped).jpg | P. V. Narasimha Rao | 21 December 1994 | 10 February 1995 | 51 days | |||
| 3 | File:Ajit Singh at press conference.jpg | Ajit Singh | 10 February 1995 | 16 May 1996 | 1 year, 96 days | |||
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Civil Supplies, Consumer Affairs & Public Distribution (1991–96)
| # | Portrait | Name | Term of office | Prime Minister | Party | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | File:Visit of Narasimha Rao, Indian Minister for Foreign Affairs, to the CEC (cropped).jpg | P. V. Narasimha Rao | 21 June 1991 | 18 January 1993 | 1 year, 211 days | P. V. Narasimha Rao | Indian National Congress | |
| 2 | File:AK Antony at Ponnani.jpg | A. K. Antony | 18 January 1993 | 8 February 1995 | 2 years, 21 days | |||
| 3 | File:Buta Singh (headshot).jpg | Buta Singh | 10 February 1995 | 16 May 1996 | 1 year, 96 days | |||
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Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution (1996–present)
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See also
References
Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Dept of Consumer Affairs – Overview". Dept of Consumer Affairs. Archived from the original on 12 December 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
- ↑ "History | About Us | Department of food and distribution, India". dfpd.gov.in.