The objective of this note is to examine issues that have arisen as a result of the introduction of millets into the public distribution system (PDS) in Karnataka.
These include problems of production, procurement, storage, pricing, the supply–demand gap, and consumer preference.
Institutions for the public distribution of foodgrain were first established in India in 1942, and received further state support with the establishment of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) in 1965. Currently, India runs the world’s largest public food distribution system, and supplies rice and wheat through designated fair price shops (FPS) throughout the country (Sekher et al. 2017). e National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013, seeks to “provide for food and nutritional security ... by ensuring access to adequate quantity of quality food at affordable prices” (GoI 2013). e Act proposes bringing nearly 75 per cent of the rural population and 50 per cent of the urban population of India under the public distribution system (PDS). The NFSA provides for the distribution of millets through the PDS.