With original contributions from eminent economists and planners, this volume reviews India’s experience with the PDS and addresses a number of questions about the working of the scheme and the policies associated with it. The success of the PDS in Kerala and Andhra Pradesh as well as its failure in states like Rajasthan are critically examined. The macro issues discussed include fixing support and issue prices, the quantities of foodgrains to be procured and distributed, and the manner in which stocks should be managed. At the micro level are the problems associated with extending the coverage of the PDS, ways of targeting the beneficiaries, the management of fair price shops, and preventing leakages. The contributors make various practical suggestions to help reform the PDS and thus enable it to fulfil its important welfare objectives. With an unusual degree of coherence and thematic unity, this analytical volume discusses a large number of crucial and long neglected issues relating to the question of food security for India’s burgeoning population. It will interest those in the fields of economics, agricultural economics, food security, and sustainable development, as well as planners, bureaucrats and public administrators.
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