Answer:
The Public Distribution System (PDS) evolved as a system of management of scarcity through distribution of food grains at affordable prices. Under the PDS, presently the commodities namely wheat, rice, sugar etc. are being allocated to the States/UTs for distribution. Some States/UTs also distribute additional items of mass consumption through the PDS outlets such as pulses, edible oils, iodized salt, spices, etc.
However, the focus of PDS has been mainly on wheat and rice. This has led to various issues such as protein and micronutrient deficiencies in diets, impact on cropping patterns and the environmental impacts of water intensive crops.
In this context, diversifying the food basket under the PDS system will lead to following social, economic and environmental benefits:

• Social benefits: The 2022 Global Hunger Index (GHI) report says there is high malnutrition in India due to rice-wheat biased policies.
  • Nutritional deficiencies could be offset to some extent by focus on promotion of nutrient dense food items like millets. This would also enhance human resource potential in terms of their cognitive and physical abilities.
  • Diversified food baskets will also help remove the mismatch between grains provided centrally and local food preferences.
  • Further, diversification is also a pathway to increase farmer’s income through incentivising crop diversification out of the paddy-wheat cycle.
• Economic benefits: Most of rice and wheat for supply through PDS is procured from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana and distributed through the country. This leads to issues like high storage and transportation costs and leakages during transportation.
  • Diversified food basket will lead to local procurement and distribution operations that will reduce transport and other logistic costs as well as provide better prices to the producers.
  • Prices of pulses and oils have been volatile partly due to import dependence. Procuring them at assured prices for PDS could contribute to increasing production and moving towards self-sufficiency.
• Environmental benefits: Rice and wheat cultivation practices being climate-unfriendly have contributed to lowering of water tables and soil infertility, particularly in Punjab and Haryana. Besides, centralised procurement and distribution are accompanied by higher carbon emissions during transportation.
  • Introduction of more nutritious food in PDS that is also climate resilient such as millets, pulses, and oilseeds would fit very well in achieving these twin objectives of nutrition and environment protection.
  • Encouraging the cultivation of a diverse set of crops would reduce monoculture-based farming systems and support agro-ecological approaches, such as crop rotation and intercropping, which improve soil health and enhance ecosystem services.