Poverty and hunger is a multi-dimensional concept. Every third poor person in the world is an Indian. The British government implemented a rationing system in India during the Second World War. Public Distribution System (PDS) is a system of distributing food grains and other essential items to poor segment of society at subsidized prices. The central and state governments are responsible for the operation of public distribution system. The central government purchases stocks while state government lift the food grains and distribute it to the retail PDS outlets. The study has been carried at four districts of Himachal Pradesh. Multistage random sampling has been used and responses obtained from the targeted BPL families. This paper traces the awareness level and satisfaction level of beneficiaries regarding public distribution system.

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Keywords: Public Distribution System, Food Grains, Stocks, Awareness, Satisfaction.