Vaikom is a town in Kerala, India, that became a symbol of social justice due to the temple entry movement launched in 1924, aiming to end the prohibition imposed on backward communities in using the roads around the Vaikom Mahadeva temple. The Kerala government has organized various cultural events to commemorate the movement and its significance in the state’s history. Tamil Nadu also observes the occasion, as announced by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, recognizing the role of Tamil leaders like Periyar E.V. Ramasamy in the movement’s success.
All you need to know about Vaikom Satyagraha
Objective:
The primary goal was to end the prohibition on backward communities from using the roads surrounding the Vaikom Mahadeva temple, which symbolized the caste-based discrimination prevalent in society.
The movement sought to create a more inclusive society where people from all castes could access public spaces and religious sites without discrimination.
Leaders:
Kerala:K. Madhavan, K.P. Kesava Menon, and George Joseph were prominent leaders from Kerala who initiated and guided the movement.
Tamilnadu: Periyar E.V. Ramasamy, then president of the Tamil Nadu Congress, played a crucial role in sustaining the movement and leading it to success.
Mahatma Gandhi: Mahatma Gandhi advised the movement leaders and helped in negotiating between the government, protesters, and orthodox Hindus.
Significance:
Social equality and justice: The Vaikom Satyagraha was a groundbreaking non-violent protest that fought for social equality and justice, challenging the caste system in India.
Temple entry: The movement’s success paved the way for the temple entry proclamation of Kerala in 1936, which granted lower caste individuals the right to enter temples.
Fight against caste barriers: The Vaikom Satyagraha remains a symbol of the fight against caste barriers in India and the struggle for social justice.
Challenges and Hurdles:
The movement faced repressive action from the government and the administration, with many protesters and leaders arrested during the course of the protest.
Orthodox Hindu traditionalists organized counter rallies marked by violence, aiming to suppress the movement and maintain the status quo.
Outcome and Legacy:
The movement spanned 603 days, witnessing many significant events.
The Travancore princely state government eventually granted access to three of the four streets around the Vaikom temple, signaling the end of the protest.
The Vaikom Satyagraha continues to inspire the fight for equality and justice in India, serving as a reminder of the importance of challenging caste-based discrimination.
Periyar E.V. Ramasamy played a significant role in leading the protest, earning him the title Vaikom Veerar (Hero of Vaikom).
The movement was marked by day-to-day protests, arrests, inquiries, jail terms, and agitations.
People from various communities participated in the movement, including the Akalis from Punjab, who traveled to Vaikom to supply food to the protesters.
Facts for prelims: Vaikom Satyagraha
Aspect
Details
Time Period
March 30, 1924 – November 23, 1925
Objective
End caste-based discrimination; Allow backward communities access to roads around Vaikom Mahadeva temple
Paved the way for temple entry proclamation of Kerala in 1936; Symbol of fight against caste barriers
Challenges and Hurdles
Repressive action from government and administration; Opposition from orthodox Hindu traditionalists
Outcome and Legacy
Access granted to three of the four streets around the Vaikom temple; Inspired continued fight for equality
Commemoration
Cultural events organized by the Kerala government; Observations in Tamil Nadu to recognize Tamil leaders’ role
Conclusion
Vaikom is not just a name of a town but a symbol of social justice and the eradication of caste barriers. It is a significant part of the history of the social justice movement in India and continues to inspire the fight for equality and justice.
OpenAI’s GPT-4, the latest AI model, is creating shock waves around the world. It has incredible capabilities, but also raises ethical questions and concerns about its potential misuse.
Capabilities of GPT-4
Enhanced abilities: GPT-4 is a considerable improvement over its predecessor, GPT-3.5, with enhanced conversational and creative abilities that allow it to understand and produce more meaningful and engaging content.
Accept both text and image input: It can accept both text and image input simultaneously, which enables it to consider multiple inputs while generating responses, such as suggesting recipes based on an image of ingredients.
Diverse potential: GPT-4’s impressive performance in various tests designed for humans, such as simulated bar examinations and advanced courses in multiple subjects, demonstrates its potential applications in diverse fields.
Simple definition: ChatGPT is a chatbot built on a large-scale transformer-based language model that is trained on a diverse dataset of text and is capable of generating human-like responses to prompts.
A human like language model: It is based on GPT-3.5, a language model that uses deep learning to produce human-like text.
It is more engaging with details: However, while the older GPT-3 model only took text prompts and tried to continue on that with its own generated text, ChatGPT is more engaging. It’s much better at generating detailed text and can even come up with poems.
Keeps the memory of the conversations: Another unique characteristic is memory. The bot can remember earlier comments in a conversation and recount them to the user.
Human- like resemblance: A conversation with ChatGPT is like talking to a computer, a smart one, which appears to have some semblance of human-like intelligence.
Facts for Prelims: Other AI models
Model Name
Developer
Key Features/Description
BERT
Google
Transformer-based, bidirectional, excels in question-answering, sentiment analysis, and NER
XLNet
Google/CMU
Combines BERT and autoregressive language modeling, improved performance in NLP benchmarks
T5
Google
Transformer-based, multi-task learning framework, strong performance across NLP tasks
RoBERTa
Facebook AI
Optimized version of BERT, improved training strategies, top performance on NLP benchmarks
Megatron
NVIDIA
Designed for large-scale training, used for training GPT-like models with billions of parameters
CLIP
OpenAI
Learns from text and image data, bridges NLP and computer vision, zero-shot image classification
Limitations and Concerns of GPT-4
Factual inaccuracies: GPT-4, like its predecessor, is prone to factual inaccuracies, known as hallucinations, which can result in the generation of misleading or incorrect information.
Not transparent: OpenAI has not been transparent about GPT-4’s inner workings, including its architecture, hardware, and training methods, citing safety and competitive reasons, which prevents critical scrutiny of the model.
Biased data: The model has been trained on biased data from the internet, containing harmful biases and stereotypes, which may lead to harmful outputs that perpetuate these biases.
Potential Misuse
Undermining human skills and knowledge in education: GPT-4’s capabilities pose a threat to examination systems as students may use the AI-generated text to complete their essays and assignments, undermining the assessment of their skills and knowledge.
Potential to be misused as a propaganda and disinformation engine: The powerful language model has the potential to be misused as a propaganda and disinformation engine, spreading false or misleading information that can have far-reaching consequences.
Ethical and Environmental Implications
Ethical use: The development of large language models like GPT-4 raises concerns about the ethical implications of their use, especially with regard to biases and the potential for misuse.
Energy consumption: The environmental costs associated with training these models, such as energy consumption and carbon emissions, contribute to the ongoing debate about the sustainability of AI development.
Conclusion
GPT-4 offers incredible advancements in AI, but it also raises important questions about the ethical implications and potential misuse of such powerful technology. Society must carefully weigh the benefits and drawbacks of building models that test the limits of what is possible and prioritize the development of responsible AI systems.
This Spotlight is a part of our Mission Nikaalo Prelims-2023.
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30th Mar 2023
Introduction
Nanotechnology is science, engineering, and technology conducted at the nanoscale, which is about 1 to 100 nanometers. Nanoscience and nanotechnology are the study and application of extremely small things and can be used across all the other science fields, such as chemistry, biology, physics, materials science, and engineering.
Nanotechnology proposes the construction of new nanoscale devices that possess extraordinary properties as they are lighter, smaller and less expensive, and more precise. Materials reduced to the nanoscale can show properties compared to what they exhibit on a macro-scale, enabling unique applications.
Two main approaches are used in nanotechnology:
Bottom-up approach – materials and devices are built from molecular components that assemble themselves chemically by principles of molecular recognition.
Top-down approach – nano-objects are constructed from larger entities without atomic-level control.
Why do we need it?
(1) Health sector
Nanomedicine: It has healthcare applications such as treatment and diagnostics of various diseases using nanoparticles in medical devices, as well as nanoelectronic biosensors and molecular nanotechnology.
Smart pills: Nano-level electronic devices that are shaped and designed like pharmaceutical pills but perform more advanced functions such as sensing, imaging, and drug delivery.
Cancer detection and treatment: Regular chemotherapy and radiation damages body’s healthy cells during the treatment. New nanomedicine approaches are being used in the treatment of skin cancer, which enables efficient delivery of drugs and other therapeutic treatments to specific tumor sites and target cells with low toxic side-effects.
Nanobots: Nanobots are micro-scale robots, which essentially serve as miniature surgeons. They can be inserted into the body to repair and replace intracellular structures. They can also replicate themselves to correct a deficiency in genetics or even eradicate diseases by replacing DNA molecules. Nanobots can also be used to clear artery blockages by drilling through them.
Nanofibers: Nanofibers are being used in wound dressings and surgical textiles, as well as in implants, tissue engineering, and artificial organ components.
Nanotech-based wearables: Such wearables have embedded nanosensors in the cloth that record medical data such as heartbeat, sweat components, and blood pressure. It helps save lives by alerting the wearer and medical professionals of any adverse changes faced by the body
(2) Food Industry
Nanotechnology provides the potential for safe and better quality food and improved texture and taste of the food.
A contamination sensor, using a flash of light can reveal the presence of E-coli.
Antimicrobial packaging made out of cinnamon or oregano oil or nanoparticles of zinc, calcium, etc., can kill bacteria.
The nano-enhanced barrier can keep oxygen-sensitive food fresh.
Nano-encapsulating can improve the solubility of vitamins, antioxidants, healthy omega, etc.
Nanobarcodes are used to tag individual products and trace outbreaks.
(3) Electronic components
Nanotechnology has greatly improved the capacity of electronic components by:
Reducing the size of the integrated circuits’ transistors
Improving the display screens of the electronic devices
Reducing power consumption, weight, and thickness of the electronic devices.
(4) Energy-efficient
This technology can improve the efficiency of the existing solar panels. It can also make the manufacturing process of solar panels cheaper and efficient.
It can improve the efficiency of fuel production and consumption of petroleum materials.
It is already being made use of in many batteries that are less-flammable, efficient, quicker-charging and are lightweight and higher power density.
(5) Textile industry
Nanotechnology has already made revolutionary changes in the textile industry and is estimated to make a market impact worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
Nanoscience has now produced stain and wrinkle resistant cloths and may further improve upon the existing innovations.
(6) Environment
It has the potential to address the current problem of pollution.
It can provide for affordable, clean drinking water through swift detection of impurities and purification of water.
The nanotechnology can be used to remove industrial water pollutants in the groundwater through chemical reactions at a cheaper rate.
Nanotechnology sensors and solutions also have the potential to detect, identify, filter and neutralise harmful chemical or biological agents in the air and soil.
(7) Transport
Nanotechnology contributes to manufacturing lighter, smarter, efficient and greener automobiles, aircraft and ships.
It also allows various means to improve transportation infrastructures like providing resilience and longevity of the highway and other infrastructure components.
The nanoscale sensors and devices can also provide for cheap and effective structural monitoring of the condition and performance of the bridges, rails, tunnels, etc. They can also enhance transportation infrastructure that makes the drivers avoid collisions and congestions, maintain lane position, etc.
(8) Space
Materials made of carbon nanotubes can reduce the weight of the spaceships while retaining or increasing the structural strength.
They can also be used to make cables that are needed for the space elevator. Space elevators can significantly reduce the cost of sending materials to the orbit.
The nanosensors can be used to monitor the chemicals in the spacecraft to look into the performance of the life support system.
(9) Agriculture
The nanocapsule can enable effective penetration of herbicides, chemical fertilizers, and genes into the targeted part of the plant. This ensures a slow and constant release of the necessary substance to the plants with minimized environmental pollution.
The nanosensors and delivery systems can allow for precision farming through the efficient use of natural resources like water, nutrients, chemicals etc.
The nanosensors can also detect the plant viruses and soil nutrient levels.
Nano-barcodes and nano-processing could also be used to monitor the quality of agriculture produce.
Carbon Nanotubes
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are cylindrical molecules that consist of rolled-up sheets of single-layer carbon atoms (graphene).
They can be single-walled (SWCNT) (dia<1nm) or multi-walled (MWCNT) (dia>100nm), consisting of several concentrically interlinked nanotubes. Their length can reach several micrometers or even millimeters.
Like their building block graphene, CNTs are chemically bonded with sp2 bonds, an extremely strong form of molecular interaction
Applications:
Used in electric wires to reduce losses
It can replace silicon made transistors as they are small and emit less heat and it can revolutionise electronics
Can be used in solar cell
Graphene
Graphene is a one-atom-thick sheet of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb-like pattern. Graphene is considered to be the world’s thinnest, strongest and most conductive material – of both electricity and heat.
All of these properties are exciting researchers and businesses around the world – as graphene has the potential to revolutionize entire industries – in the fields of electricity, conductivity, energy generation, batteries, sensors and more.
Issues in Nanotechnology
The nanotechnology may pose a potential risk to the environment, health and other safety issues.
Since this field is still at its nascent stage, the likely risks are contentious. As for whether or not this technology requires special government regulation, the issue is still debated.
The regulatory authorities like the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Health and Consumer Protection Directorate of the European Commission have started assessing the potential risks posed by the nanoparticles.
The organic food sector is the first to be regulated so that the engineered nanoparticles are excluded from the organic produce. It has been implemented in Australia, UK and Canada as well as all the food certified under the Demeter International Standards.
Nanotoxicology is the study of potential health risks of nanomaterials. The human body can easily take up the nanomaterials as they are small in size.
However, there is a need for detailed research on how it would behave inside an organism. The behaviour of nanoparticles based on their size, shape and surface reactivity must be thoroughly analysed before launching them into the market.
Nanopollution is the generic term that is used to describe the waste generated by the nanodevices or nanomaterials during the manufacturing process.
Nanowastes may be of risk due to their size and different properties and interactions. Since the man-made nanoparticles are not naturally made, living organisms may not have the appropriate means to deal with them.
The risk of nanotechnology on health, environment, society, economy, security, and trade is not yet fully assessed. This in itself is a threat.
Government Measures
Nanotechnology regulatory board to regulate industrial nano products
Nano technology institutes like Indian Institute of Nano sciences at Bangalore,Mumbai,kolkata
Nano technology initiatives program by Department of Information technology and for nano electronic products
Nano mission:1000 crore allotted for 5 years for development of nano technology
Department of Science and Tech-Nanomission (nano-biotechnology activities) through DBT, ICMR, and CoE in Nanoelectronics by MeitY support nanoscience, nanotechnology, nanobiotechnology, and nanoelectronics activities.
Eighteen sophisticated analytical instruments facilities (SAIFs) established by DST across India play a major role in the advanced characterization and synthesis of nanomaterials for various applications.
The Center of Excellence in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology established by DSTNanomission helps research and PG students in various thrust areas.
Thematic Units of Excellence (TUEs) for various areas of nanoscience and nanotechnology play a major role in product-based research to support nanotechnology.
Visveswaraya Ph.D. fellowships offered by MeitY supports various nanotechnology activities in the country.
INSPIRE scheme supports research fellows to work in interdisciplinary nanotechnology, nanoscience, and nano-biotechnology areas.
DST-Nanomission supports more than 20 PG teaching programs to create a baseline for nanoscience and nanotechnology in India, out of about 70 PG programs currently running in India.
Mission on Nano Science and Technology (Nano Mission)
Launched in 2007.
It is as an “umbrella capacity-building programme”.
The Mission’s programmes will target all scientists, institutions and industry in the country.
It will also strengthen activities in nano science and technology by promoting basic research, human resource development, research infrastructure development, international collaborations, among others.
It will be anchored in the Department of Science and Technology and steered by a Nano Mission Council chaired by an eminent scientist.
Outcomes and significance of the mission
As a result of the efforts led by the Nano Mission, today, India is amongst the top five nations in the world in terms of scientific publications in nano science and technology (moving from 4th to the 3rd position).
The Nano Mission itself has resulted in about 5000 research papers and about 900 Ph.Ds and also some useful products like nano hydrogel based eye drops, pesticide removal technology for drinking water, water filters for arsenic and fluoride removal, nanosilver based antimicrobial textile coating, etc.
The Nano Mission has thus helped establish a good eco-system in the country to pursue front-ranking basic research and also to seed and nurture application-oriented R&D, focused on useful technologies and products.
Conclusion
Nanotechnology provides a bright future for humankind. However, much is yet to be known about its impacts and risks. The government, before indulging in the promotion and launch of this new technology, must invest more in basic research to understand this field.
Central idea: 22.7 lakh adults from 10 states and union territories in India became qualified as literate adults in 2022-23 by passing an assessment test conducted under New India Literacy Program (NLIP).
What is New India Literacy Program (NLIP)?
The NLIP/ Nav Bharat Saksharta Abhiyan is aimed at providing literacy to non-literates in the age group of 15 years and above.
The scheme is implemented for a period of five years from FYs 2022-23 to 2026-27.
The scheme has five main components, which are as follows:
Foundational Literacy and Numeracy,
Critical Life Skills,
Vocational Skills Development,
Basic Education, and
Continuing Education
Beneficiaries of the scheme
The beneficiaries under the scheme are identified through a door-to-door survey on a mobile app by surveyors in the States/UTs.
Non-literates can also avail the benefits of the scheme through direct registration from any place through a mobile app.
The scheme is mainly based on volunteerism for teaching and learning.
Volunteers can also register through a mobile app for this purpose.
Implementation of the scheme
The scheme is based on technology and implemented predominantly through an online mode.
The teaching-learning material and resources have been made available on the DIKSHA platform of NCERT and can be accessed through mobile apps.
Furthermore, other modes like TV, Radio, Samajik Chetna Kendra, etc. are also to be used for the dissemination of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy.
Conclusion
The New India Literacy Programme (NILP) is a crucial step towards making India a literate country.
The scheme’s implementation through technology and the use of volunteers for teaching and learning will make it easier for non-literates to access education.
Quality Control Orders (QCO) have been issued for fibres like cotton, polyester, and viscose to control the import of sub-quality and cheaper items and to ensure that customers get quality products.
The QCOs are made mandatory for some and yet to be finalized for others.
What is the move?
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) will issue certificate to manufacturers of viscose staple fibre (VSF) who comply with its standards (IS17266: 2019).
The hallmark is made mandatory.
Why are fibres covered under QCOs?
The Indian textile and clothing industry consumes both indigenous and imported fibres and filaments.
The imports are for different reasons, such as cost competitiveness, non-availability in the domestic market, or to meet a specified demand of the overseas buyer.
The main aim of the QCO is to control the import of sub-quality and cheaper items and to ensure that customers get quality products.
Reasons behind
India’s move to introduce a draft of Quality Control Orders (QCO) aims to curb a Chinese import surge and boost exports to western markets.
What challenges does the new mandate bring?
Supply chain disruption: India imports annually 50,000 – 60,000 tonnes of viscose fibre and its variants such as Modal and Tencel LF from nearly 20 countries. In the case of polyester, almost 90,000 tonnes of polyester fibre and 1.25 lakh tonnes of POY (Polyester Partially Oriented Yarn) are imported annually.
Unease of doing business: Getting the certificate from the BIS involves a cost and hence not all are interested in getting the certificate.
Value chain disruption: The Indian textile manufacturers who are dependent on these suppliers for the raw material will have to either look at other suppliers or lose orders.
Material shortage: Some varieties of fibres have special functional properties and separate HS (Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding System) code when imported. The textile industry imports just small quantities of such fibres, and restricting their availability will deny Indian consumers of niche products.
Prospected price rise: Several textile units use lower-grade fibres that are generated from rejects and wastes and these are not covered under the QCO.
Textile industry’s expectation
The industry is of the view that the import of speciality fibres that are used as blends with other fibres should be made available without restriction.
Any overseas applicant for the BIS certificate should get it without delay after inspection.
Way forward
Polyester-spun yarn mills in the MSME sector need capital support to set up labs to test products.
The QCO should be implemented only after the ambiguities are cleared and the anomalies set right, says the industry.
Central idea: Scientists have recently discovered evidence of the piezoelectric effect in liquids for the first time. This effect has only been observed in solids for the past 143 years. This new finding challenges the theory that describes this effect and opens doors to previously unanticipated applications in electronic and mechanical systems.
What is Piezoelectric Effect?
The piezoelectric effect occurs when a body develops an electric current when it is squeezed.
It has been observed in quartz crystals (SiO2), which are used in wristwatches, clocks, and various instruments that convert mechanical stress to a current.
Recent observation
The piezoelectric effect was found in pure 1-butyl-3-methyl imidazolium bis(trifluoromethyl-sulfonyl)imide and 1-hexyl-3-methyl imidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide.
Both of these liquids are ionic liquids, which means that they are made of ions instead of molecules, and were found at room temperature.
Why is the effect in liquids surprising?
Liquids do not have an organized structure like solids, which is why the piezoelectric effect has only been expected in solids until now.
However, the scientists found the effect in pure ionic liquids at room temperature, challenging the current understanding of the effect.
The magnitude of the piezoelectric effect in the first liquid was 16 millivolt per newton (mV/N) and in the second, 17 mV/N, in both cases within a margin of 1 mV/N.
What is the strength of the effect?
In the experiment, the scientists found that the strength of the piezoelectric effect in the two ionic liquids they tested was lower than that of quartz by a factor of 10.
However, this is still a significant discovery since it opens the door to new applications.
Possible applications
The discovery of the piezoelectric effect in liquids opens the door to previously inaccessible applications that have fewer environmental issues than many currently used piezoelectric materials.
Additionally, these liquids displayed the inverse piezoelectric effect, which could be used to control how the liquids bend light passing through them by passing different currents through them, creating lenses with dynamic focusing abilities.
Central idea: The Centre has exempted all drugs and food for special medical purposes, imported for personal use, for the treatment of rare diseases listed under the National Policy for Rare Diseases 2021 from basic customs duty.
What are Rare Diseases?
Rare diseases are those medical conditions that affect a small percentage of the population.
In India, a disease is considered rare if it affects less than 1 in 2,000 people.
These diseases are often genetic and are chronic, degenerative, and life-threatening.
There are over 7,000 known rare diseases, and it is estimated that about 70 million people in India are affected by them.
Many of these diseases do not have a cure, and the treatment can be expensive and difficult to access.
Need for duty exemption
This decision has been taken to help reduce the burden of the cost of treatment for patients and families.
The drugs and food required for the treatment of these rare diseases are often expensive and need to be imported.
This exemption will result in substantial cost savings and provide much-needed relief to patients with rare diseases.
Key medicines under this exemption
The central government has fully exempted Pembrolizumab (Keytruda), a drug used in the treatment of various types of cancer, from basic customs duty.
Previously, the GST rate for Keytruda was cut to 5 per cent from 12 per cent in a meeting held in September 2021 by the GST Council.
Life-saving drugs Zolgensma and Viltepso used in the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy were exempted from GST when imported for personal use.
How the new duty exemption works?
The exemption has been granted by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) by substituting “Drugs, Medicines or Food for Special Medical Purposes (FSMP)” instead of “drugs or medicines”.
To avail of this exemption, the individual importer has to produce a certificate from the central or state director health services or district medical officer/civil surgeon of the district.
How are life-saving medicines taxed?
Drugs/medicines generally attract basic customs duty of 10 per cent, while some categories of lifesaving drugs/vaccines attract a concessional rate of 5 per cent or nil.
In its meeting in September 2021, the GST Council had reduced tax rates for several life-saving drugs.
India’s National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA) governs the largest beneficiary-centric program, the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), providing food security to 81.35 crore persons every month. The government is now implementing the Scheme for Modernisation and Reforms through Technology in Public Distribution System (SMART-PDS). This initiative generates vast amounts of data, which can be leveraged to improve the delivery of other central schemes and welfare programs.
Existing challenges for TPDS
Leakage and diversion of food grains: One of the most pressing issues in the TPDS is the leakage and diversion of food grains meant for beneficiaries, leading to corruption and losses in the system. This problem is primarily due to poor monitoring, lack of transparency, and weak enforcement mechanisms.
Inaccurate targeting of beneficiaries: The TPDS often suffers from errors in identifying eligible beneficiaries, resulting in the exclusion of deserving households and the inclusion of ineligible ones. This misidentification can be attributed to outdated data, lack of verification mechanisms, and manipulation of records.
Inefficient supply chain management: TPDS faces logistical challenges in transporting, storing, and distributing food grains across the vast country. Inadequate storage facilities, poor transportation infrastructure, and delays in procurement and distribution contribute to wastage and inefficiencies in the system.
Limited portability of benefits: Until recently, the TPDS lacked portability, which meant that beneficiaries could only access their food grains from designated Fair Price Shops (FPS) in their home states. This restriction made it difficult for migrant workers and their families to access their entitled benefits.
Lack of transparency and accountability: Corruption, fraud, and manipulation of records are pervasive issues in the TPDS, partly due to the lack of transparency and accountability in the system. The absence of real-time monitoring and the reliance on manual record-keeping exacerbate these problems.
Technological constraints: Many states and union territories in India face technological constraints in implementing IT-based solutions for TPDS operations. Limited access to IT hardware, software, and technical manpower can hinder the adoption of technology-driven reforms, such as electronic Point of Sale (ePoS) devices and biometric authentication systems
SMART-PDS (Scheme for Modernisation and Reforms through Technology in Public Distribution System) is an initiative by the Indian government aimed at improving the efficiency, transparency, and accountability of the country’s Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS).
The key objectives of the SMART-PDS initiative
Preventing leakage of food grains: By leveraging technology, SMART-PDS aims to reduce diversion and pilferage of food grains, ensuring that the intended beneficiaries receive their due share of food subsidies.
Enhancing efficiency in the distribution chain: The initiative focuses on streamlining the supply chain from procurement to distribution by incorporating technology-driven solutions, such as electronic Point of Sale (ePoS) devices, real-time monitoring, and tracking systems.
Data-driven decision-making: Data Analytics on the TPDS ecosystem generates critical information about beneficiaries, food security needs, and migration patterns, addressing the long-standing challenge of credible and dynamic data for efficient delivery of central welfare schemes to vulnerable sections of society.
Convergence and integration with AI: The national leadership’s push for trans-ministerial convergence and AI integration can be a game-changer for both people and governments, bringing accountability across all programs.
Technology-led PDS reforms: The Centre plans to use data analytics, BI platforms, and ICT tools to standardize PDS operations through technology integration with FCI, CWC, transport supply chain, Ministry of Education, Women and Child Development, and UIDAI. This is expected to overcome state-level technological limitations in PDS operations and institutionalize an integrated central system for all PDS-related operations across states/UTs.
Aadhaar authentication and ePoS devices: With 100% digitization of ration cards and the installation of ePoS devices, nearly 93% of the total monthly allocated foodgrains are distributed through Aadhaar authentication mode.
Integrated Management of Public Distribution System (IM-PDS)
The government has launched the IM-PDS to implement One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC), create a national-level data repository, and integrate data infrastructure/systems across ration card management, foodgrain supply chain, and FPS automation.
The ONORC plan has recorded over 100 crore portability transactions since its inception in 2019.
SMART-PDS benefits beyond ration distribution
The data generated by SMART-PDS has become a tool for central ministries and state governments, benefiting initiatives like e-Shram Portal, Ayushman Bharat, and PM-SVANidhi Yojana.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare (MoAFW) plans to use ONORC/ration card data to map beneficiaries, and seamless tracking of nutrition from ICDS centers to PM Poshan will become a reality with Aadhaar numbers for the newly born.
Conclusion
The transformative potential of SMART-PDS goes beyond food security, enabling data-driven decision-making, convergence, and integration with AI for improved delivery of central schemes and welfare programs across India.
Mains Question
Q. Despite several efforts taken by the government the Targeted Public Distribution System still faces various challenges. In this backdrop discuss the new initiative of SMART-PDS and its key features
