Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution

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

Departments 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

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

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 and sugar. 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

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.

The department is responsible for:

National Test House Standards of Weights and Measures The Bureau of Indian Standards 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.

Institutes National Sugar Institute, Kanpur

Related Agencies Central Consumer Protection Authority

Cabinet Ministers

Food and Agriculture (19471971)

PortraitMinisterTerm of officePolitical party MinistryPrime Minister From To Period Minister of Food and Agriculture Rajendra Prasad 15 August 1947 14 January 1948 Indian National Congress Nehru I Jawaharlal Nehru Jairamdas Daulatram 19 January 1948 13 May 1950 Kanaiyalal Maneklal Munshi 13 May 1950 13 May 1952 Rafi Ahmed Kidwai 13 May 1952 24 October 1954 Nehru II Panjabrao Deshmukh(Minister without cabinet rank) 29 October 1954 25 November 1954 Ajit Prasad Jain 25 November 1954 24 August 1959 Nehru III S. K. Patil 24 August 1959 1 September 1963 Nehru IV Swaran Singh 1 September 1963 9 June 1964 Nanda I Gulzarilal Nanda Chidambaram Subramaniam 9 June 1964 24 January 1966 Shastri Lal Bahadur Shastri Nanda II Gulzarilal Nanda Minister of Food, Agriculture, Community Development and Cooperation Chidambaram Subramaniam 24 January 1966 13 March 1967 Indian National Congress Indira I Indira Gandhi Jagjivan Ram 13 March 1967 27 June 1970 Indira II Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed 27 June 1970 2 May 1971 Indian National Congress (R) Indira III

Civil Supplies (19741983)

PortraitMinisterTerm of officePolitical party MinistryPrime Minister From To Period Minister of Industry and Civil Supplies T. A. Pai 10 October 1974 9 August 1976 Indian National Congress (R) Indira III Indira Gandhi Minister of Civil Supplies and Cooperation Syed Mir Qasim 9 August 1976 24 March 1977 Indian National Congress (R) Indira III Indira Gandhi Minister of Commerce and Civil Supplies Mohan Dharia 24 March 1977 28 July 1979 Janata Party Desai Morarji Desai Hitendra Kanaiyalal Desai 30 July 1979 14 January 1980 Janata Party (Secular) Charan Charan Singh Minister of Civil Supplies Pranab Mukherjee 14 January 1980 8 June 1980 Indian National Congress Indira IV Indira Gandhi Vidya Charan Shukla 8 June 1980 19 March 1981 Rao Birender Singh 19 March 1981 2 September 1982 Minister of Civil Supplies and Cooperation Bhagwat Jha Azad(Minister of State, I/C) 2 September 1982 29 January 1983 Indian National Congress Indira IV Indira Gandhi Bhishma Narain Singh 29 January 1983 14 February 1983

Food and Civil Supplies (19831991)

PortraitMinisterTerm of officePolitical party MinistryPrime Minister From To Period Bhagwat Jha Azad(Minister of State, I/C) 14 February 1983 31 October 1984 Indian National Congress Indira IV Indira Gandhi 4 November 1984 31 December 1984 Rajiv I Rajiv Gandhi Rao Birender Singh 31 December 1984 25 September 1985 Rajiv II Kamakhya Prasad Singh Deo (Minister of State, I/C) 25 September 1985 27 January 1986 P. Shiv Shankar 27 January 1986 12 May 1986 H. K. L. Bhagat 12 May 1986 14 February 1988 Sukh Ram(Minister of State, I/C) 14 February 1988 2 December 1989 Vishwanath Pratap Singh(Prime Minister) 2 December 1989 8 December 1989 Janata Dal Vishwanath Vishwanath Pratap Singh Nathuram Mirdha 8 December 1989 10 November 1990 Chandra Shekhar(Prime Minister) 10 November 1990 21 November 1990 Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) Chandra Shekhar Chandra Shekhar Rao Birender Singh 21 November 1990 26 June 1991

Food (19911997)

PortraitMinisterTerm of officePolitical party MinistryPrime Minister From To Period Tarun Gogoi(Minister of State, I/C) 21 June 1991 17 January 1993 Indian National Congress Rao P. V. Narasimha Rao Kalpnath Rai(Minister of State, I/C) 17 January 1993 21 December 1994 P. V. Narasimha Rao(Prime Minister) 21 December 1994 10 February 1995 Ajit Singh 10 February 1995 16 May 1996 Atal Bihari Vajpayee(Prime Minister) 16 May 1996 1 June 1996 Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee I Atal Bihari Vajpayee Devendra Prasad Yadav 1 June 1996 21 April 1997 Janata Dal Deve Gowda H. D. Deve Gowda Inder Kumar Gujral(Prime Minister) 21 April 1997 23 April 1997 Gujral Inder Kumar Gujral Chaturanan Mishra 23 April 1997 9 June 1997 Communist Party of India

Civil Supplies, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution (19911997)

PortraitMinisterTerm of officePolitical party MinistryPrime Minister From To Period P. V. Narasimha Rao(Prime Minister) 21 June 1991 18 January 1993 Indian National Congress Rao P. V. Narasimha Rao A. K. Antony 18 January 1993 8 February 1995 Buta Singh 10 February 1995 20 February 1996 P. V. Narasimha Rao(Prime Minister) 20 February 1996 16 May 1996 Atal Bihari Vajpayee(Prime Minister) 16 May 1996 1 June 1996 Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee I Atal Bihari Vajpayee Devendra Prasad Yadav 1 June 1996 21 April 1997 Janata Dal Deve Gowda H. D. Deve Gowda Inder Kumar Gujral(Prime Minister) 21 April 1997 23 April 1997 Gujral Inder Kumar Gujral Chaturanan Mishra 23 April 1997 9 June 1997 Communist Party of India

Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution (1997present)

PortraitMinisterTerm of officePolitical partyMinistryPrime Minister From To Period Minister of Food and Consumer Affairs Raghuvansh Prasad Singh(Minister of State, I/C) 9 June 1997 10 January 1998 Rashtriya Janata DalGujral Inder Kumar Gujral Balwant Singh Ramoowalia 10 January 1998 19 March 1998 Independent Surjit Singh Barnala 19 March 1998 13 October 1999 Shiromani Akali DalVajpayee II Atal Bihari Vajpayee Minister of Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Shanta Kumar 13 October 1999 17 July 2000 Bharatiya Janata PartyVajpayee III Atal Bihari Vajpayee Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Shanta Kumar 17 July 2000 1 July 2002 Bharatiya Janata PartyVajpayee III Atal Bihari Vajpayee Sharad Yadav 1 July 2002 22 May 2004 Janata Dal (United) Sharad Pawar 23 May 2004 19 January 2011 Nationalist Congress PartyManmohan I Manmohan SinghManmohan II K. V. Thomas(Minister of State, I/C) 19 January 2011 26 May 2014 Indian National CongressRam Vilas Paswan27 May 20148 October 2020Lok Janshakti PartyModi I Narendra ModiModi II Piyush Goyal 9 October 2020 9 June 2024 Bharatiya Janata PartyPralhad Joshi10 June 2024IncumbentModi III

Ministers of State

PortraitMinisterTerm of officePolitical party MinistryPrime Minister From To Period Minister of State for Food and Agriculture Panjabrao Deshmukh 17 April 1957 10 April 1962 Indian National Congress Nehru III Jawaharlal Nehru Ram Subhag Singh 8 May 1962 27 May 1964 Nehru IV Alungal Mathai Thomas 21 November 1963 Ram Subhag Singh 27 May 1964 9 June 1964 Nanda I Gulzarilal Nanda Alungal Mathai Thomas 9 June 1964 13 June 1964 Shastri Lal Bahadur Shastri Minister of State for Food, Agriculture, Community Development and Cooperation Panampilly Govinda Menon 24 January 1966 13 March 1967 Indian National Congress Indira I Indira Gandhi Annasaheb Shinde 13 March 1967 18 March 1971 Indira II M. S. Gurupadaswamy 5 June 1967 17 October 1969 Annasaheb Shinde 18 March 1971 2 May 1971 Indira III Minister of State for Industry and Civil Supplies Anant Sharma 10 October 1974 9 August 1976 Indian National Congress (R) Indira III Indira Gandhi Buddha Priya Maurya A. C. George Minister of State for Civil Supplies and Cooperation A. C. George 9 August 1976 24 March 1977 Indian National Congress (R) Indira III Indira Gandhi Arif Beg 14 August 1977 28 July 1979 Janata Party Desai Morarji Desai Krishna Kumar Goyal Minister of State for Commerce and Civil Supplies Henry Austin 30 July 1979 14 January 1980 Indian National Congress (U) Charan Charan Singh Minister of State for Food and Civil Supplies Ajit Kumar Panja 19 February 1986 22 October 1986 Indian National Congress Rajiv II Rajiv Gandhi Ghulam Nabi Azad 22 October 1986 7 September 1987 Ram Pujan Patel 23 April 1990 10 November 1990 Janata Dal Vishwanath Vishwanath Pratap Singh Sarwar Hussain 21 November 1990 20 February 1991 Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) Chandra Shekhar Chandra Shekhar Minister of State for Civil Supplies, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Kamaluddin Ahmed 21 June 1991 29 September 1994 Indian National Congress Rao P. V. Narasimha Rao Krishna Sahi 15 September 1995 16 May 1996 Venod Sharma Minister of State for Food and Consumer Affairs Satyapal Singh Yadav 19 March 1998 13 October 1999 Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee II Atal Bihari Vajpayee Minister of State for Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution V. Sreenivasa Prasad 13 October 1999 17 July 2000 Samata Party Vajpayee III Atal Bihari Vajpayee Sriram Chauhan 22 November 1999 Bharatiya Janata Party Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution V. Sreenivasa Prasad 17 July 2000 6 March 2004 Janata Dal (United) Vajpayee III Atal Bihari Vajpayee Sriram Chauhan 1 September 2001 Bharatiya Janata Party Ashok Kumar Pradhan 1 September 2001 1 July 2002 U. V. Krishnam Raju 1 July 2002 29 January 2003 Subhash Maharia 29 January 2003 22 May 2004 Kantilal Bhuria 23 May 2004 22 May 2009 Indian National Congress Manmohan I Manmohan Singh Akhilesh Prasad Singh Rashtriya Janata Dal Mohammed Taslimuddin 25 May 2004 K. V. Thomas 29 May 2009 19 January 2011 Indian National Congress Manmohan II Raosaheb Danve 27 May 2014 6 March 2015 Bharatiya Janata Party Modi I Narendra Modi C. R. Chaudhary 5 July 2016 30 May 2019 Raosaheb Danve 31 May 2019 7 July 2021 Modi II Ashwini Kumar Choubey 7 July 2021 9 June 2024 Niranjan Jyoti B. L. Verma 10 June 2024 Incumbent Modi III Nimuben Bambhaniya

See also

Department of Co-operation, Food and Consumer Protection (Tamil Nadu) Ministry of Co-operation

References Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution