Depot Darpan portal, Anna Mitra app and Anna Sahayata grievance system launched for PDS
Union Food Minister Pralhad Joshi launched the Depot Darpan portal and the Anna Mitra and Anna Sahayata digital platforms on 20 May 2025 to modernise the Public Distribution System.
Summary
Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Pralhad Joshi launched three digital initiatives for the Public Distribution System on 20 May 2025. Depot Darpan is a self-assessment and monitoring portal for food grain depots that assigns a composite rating, assessing depots on a 60:40 ratio of operational performance and infrastructure. Anna Mitra is a mobile app for PDS field functionaries such as Fair Price Shop dealers, initially in Assam, Uttarakhand, Tripura and Punjab. Anna Sahayata is a grievance redressal system using WhatsApp, IVRS and speech recognition, piloted in Gujarat, Jharkhand, Telangana, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh. The Minister said India has over 5.38 lakh Fair Price Shops serving more than 81 crore NFSA beneficiaries.
Key facts
- Launched
- 20 May 2025, by Pralhad Joshi
- Depot Darpan
- Depot self-assessment portal; 60:40 operational:infrastructure grading
- Anna Mitra
- App for PDS field stakeholders; Assam, Uttarakhand, Tripura, Punjab
- Anna Sahayata
- Grievance redressal via WhatsApp/IVRS/ASR; pilot in 5 States
- Scale
- 5.38 lakh+ Fair Price Shops; 81 crore+ beneficiaries
Practice MCQs 2 questions
'Depot Darpan', launched by the Department of Food and Public Distribution in May 2025, is:
Show answer
Correct answer: C — A self-assessment and monitoring portal for food grain depots
Depot Darpan is a digital self-assessment and monitoring portal for food grain depots; Anna Mitra is the app and Anna Sahayata the grievance system.
Under Depot Darpan, food grain depots are graded on what ratio of operational performance to infrastructure standards?
Show answer
Correct answer: D — 60:40
Depots are assessed on a 60:40 ratio of operational performance and infrastructure standards.