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Launch of Anna Chakra Transforming India's Public Distribution System

Introduction

Hon’ble Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution, Shri Pralhad Joshi, officially launched Anna Chakra, a groundbreaking supply chain optimization tool for India’s Public Distribution System (PDS). The tool and its logo was unveiled by the Hon’ble Minister in the presence of Ministers of State Ms. Nimuben Jayantibhai Bambhaniya and Mr. B.L. Verma in a grand event on 5th December at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi. The event also witnessed the presence of several state government representatives,  who were felicitated for successfully implementing Anna Chakra in their operations, as well as stakeholder participation such as the Director of IIT Delhi, Dr. Rangan Banerjee, and WFP India Country Director Ms. Elisabeth Faure. This marks a significant milestone in ensuring efficiency and sustainability through partnerships using technology and real time data to impact one of the world’s largest
food safety nets.

Key Highlights of the Event

  • Unveiling of the Tool and Logo: The event featured the unveiling of the Anna Chakra logo ( Logo Unveil ), followed by a video of the tool and its impact on public service delivery and general wellbeing. The video can be viewed here: Anna Chakra Video.
  • Role of Technology Acknowledged: The Ministers emphasized the role of knowledge and technology in transforming the governance landscape of India, further enabling the realisation of sustainable development and its contribution to India’s climate goals under the Paris Agreement. Mr. Joshi also highlighted that the money saved through the implementation tool will ensure more resource allocation towards eradication of povert.
  • Mementos Presented: Mementos were presented as a token of appreciation and commendation to the state governments for their successful implementation and the stakeholders who have been working for years to develop the tool.

Anna Chakra: PDS Supply Chain Optimization Tool

  • Background: India’s Public Distribution System (PDS) is one of the largest food safety nets globally, serving over 80 crore (800 million) beneficiaries annually. This scale of operations brings significant logistical complexities, including inefficiencies in routing, high transportation costs, and carbon emissions. Traditional methods of planning supply routes manually were prone to suboptimality, human error, and delays, necessitating a modern, data-driven solution.

  • Network Size: The PDS supply chain includes thousands of warehouses, fair price shops (FPS), and procurement points spread across the length and breadth of India. Challenges are amplified with the large volume of food grains and the need for their timely delivery.

Innovation: PDS Supply Chain Optimization tool (Anna Chakra), developed jointly by the Public Systems Lab (PSL), IIT Delhi with support from the UN World Food Programme India and strongly followed up for implementation by the Department of Food & Public Distribution (DFPD), is a Operations Research and Data Science based solution designed to optimize supply chain routes by leveraging state-specific models. By integrating data on warehouse and FPS locations, storage capacities, road distances, and procurement points, the tool identifies the most efficient transportation options. This innovation replaces manual planning with automated, data-driven decisions, reducing biases and inefficiencies.

Impact & Outcomes: The implementation of the Anna Chakra tool has demonstrated significant benefits:  

The Anna Chakra exemplifies how impactful partnerships involving academia & government coupled with Operations Research based solutions can address complex challenges and enhance public systems.