(THE GIST OF PIB) Anna Chakra

(JANUARY-2026)

Anna Chakra

Recently, the Department of Food and Public Distribution (DFPD) has achieved a remarkable milestone by being named as finalist for the 2026 Franz Edelman Award for its Anna Chakra initiative.

About Anna Chakra:

It is a supply chain optimization tool under the Public Distribution System (PDS).
It is an operations research–based decision support system designed to optimise state-specific food grain logistics under India’s Public Distribution System (PDS).
The initiative was developed through a Government–UN–Academia partnership, involving:
The Department of Food and Public Distribution,
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in India, and
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi.
It leverages advanced algorithms to identify optimal routes and ensure seamless movement of food grains across supply chain nodes.
It is integrated with the PM Gati Shakti platform and FOIS (Freight Operations Information System) portal of the Railways through Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP).

What is Franz Edelman Award?

It recognizes the world’s most impactful, high-value applications of advanced analytics.
It is widely regarded as the “Nobel Prize of Operations Research and Analytics”.
It recognizes and reward outstanding examples of operations research, management science, and advanced analytics practice in the world.
Award: Winner gets a $10,000 prize.