Public Distribution System in India: Reassessed

In this research work, while tracing the origin, course and progress of PDS, an attempt has been made to provide a quantitative assessment of the benefits from PDS to the people. The aspect of income transfer/redistribution through PDS has remained almost unattended in the available literature on the subject. The price advantage provided to the beneficiaries of PDS and the consumers in general through the system has also not been analysed in detail by other studies undertaken in the past. This study attempts to fill up this knowledge gap by estimating the benefits reaching the rural areas and the poorer sections in particular, both in physical and financial terms. The extent to which the PDS has contributed towards the improvement in the nutritional intake of the poor is also dealt with. This book brings out an economic analysis of the data on the subject and gives a systematic account of the efficiency or otherwise of PDS in various parts of the country. As the subject of food security and the role of public distribution system is being debated prominently in the context of the ongoing economic reforms, it is expected that this book will be of immense interest to the planners, policy makers, administrators, researchers and all others interested in the subject.