Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution

Summary

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution is a government ministry of India. The ministry is headed by a Cabinet rank minister.

Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution
Branch of Government of India
Ministry of Consumer Affairs

South Block building, housing the Cabinet Secretariat
Agency overview
Formed2 September 1946
JurisdictionGovernment of India
HeadquartersSansad Bhavan, New Delhi
Annual budget205,765 crore (US$26 billion) (2023–24 est.)
Ministers responsible
Websitehttps://consumeraffairs.nic.in/

Departments edit

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 edit

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 edit

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 edit

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 edit

Food & Agriculture (1947–71) edit

# Portrait Name Term of office Prime Minister Party
1   Rajendra Prasad 15 August 1947 14 January 1948 152 days Jawaharlal Nehru Indian National Congress
2   Jairamdas Daulatram 19 January 1948 13 May 1950 2 years, 114 days
3   K M Munshi 13 May 1950 13 May 1952 2 years, 0 days
4   Rafi Ahmed Kidwai 13 May 1952 24 October 1954 2 years, 164 days
5 Ajit Prasad Jain 25 November 1954 24 August 1959 4 years, 303 days
6   S. K. Patil 24 August 1959 1 September 1963 4 years, 8 days
7   Swaran Singh 1 September 1963 9 June 1964 282 days
8   Chidambaram Subramaniam 9 June 1964 12 March 1967 2 years, 276 days Lal Bahadur Shastri
Indira Gandhi
9   Jagjivan Ram 13 March 1967 27 June 1970 3 years, 106 days Indira Gandhi
10   Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed 27 June 1970 2 May 1971 309 days
Ministry of Food was renamed as Ministry of Agriculture with four departments, including the Department of Food[2]

Food & Civil Supplies (1983–91) edit

# Portrait Name Term of office Prime Minister Party
11   Bhagwat Jha Azad 14 February 1983 31 December 1984 1 year, 321 days Indira Gandhi
Rajiv Gandhi
Indian National Congress
12   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)   Rao Birendra Singh 21 November 1990 21 June 1991 212 days Chandra Shekhar Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya)

Food (1991–96) edit

# 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   P. V. Narasimha Rao 21 December 1994 10 February 1995 51 days
3   Ajit Singh 10 February 1995 16 May 1996 1 year, 96 days

Civil Supplies, Consumer Affairs & Public Distribution (1991–96) edit

# Portrait Name Term of office Prime Minister Party
1   P. V. Narasimha Rao 21 June 1991 18 January 1993 1 year, 211 days P. V. Narasimha Rao Indian National Congress
2   A. K. Antony 18 January 1993 8 February 1995 2 years, 21 days
3   Buta Singh 10 February 1995 16 May 1996 1 year, 96 days

Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution (1996–present) edit

# Portrait Name Term of office Prime Minister Party
1   Atal Bihari Vajpayee 16 May 1996 1 June 1996 16 days Atal Bihari Vajpayee Bharatiya Janata Party
2 Devendra Prasad Yadav 1 June 1996 21 April 1997 324 days Deve Gowda Janata Dal
3   Inder Kumar Gujral 21 April 1997 24 April 1997 3 days I.K. Gujral
4 Chaturanan Mishra 24 April 1997 10 January 1998 261 days Communist Party of India
5   Balwant Singh Ramoowalia 10 January 1998 19 March 1998 68 days Independent
6   Surjit Singh Barnala 19 March 1998 13 October 1999 1 year, 208 days Atal Bihari Vajpayee Shiromani Akali Dal
7   Shanta Kumar 13 October 1999 1 July 2002 2 years, 261 days Bharatiya Janata Party
8   Sharad Yadav 1 July 2002 22 May 2004 1 year, 326 days Janata Dal (United)
9   Sharad Pawar 22 May 2004 19 January 2011 6 years, 242 days Manmohan Singh Nationalist Congress Party
10   K. V. Thomas 19 January 2011 26 May 2014 3 years, 127 days Indian National Congress
11   Ram Vilas Paswan 26 May 2014 8 October 2020 6 years, 135 days Narendra Modi Lok Janshakti Party
12   Piyush Goyal 8 October 2020 Incumbent 3 years, 173 days Bharatiya Janata Party

Department of Food (State Ministers) edit

See also edit

References edit

Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution

  1. ^ a b "Dept of Consumer Affairs – Overview". Dept of Consumer Affairs. Archived from the original on 12 December 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  2. ^ "History | About Us | Department of food and distribution, India". dfpd.gov.in.