Food subsidy in cash or kind? The wrong debate

The need for the public distribution system varies widely across states and districts. In some districts, the poor draw more than 80% of their grain from the PDS, but in other districts this share is less than 10%. A wide diversity of relationships with the PDS exist, suggesting a need for alternative modes of provisioning. A variable geometry of food provisioning might emerge, with cash working better for the needs of some districts and grain supply continuing to work better in other districts. Only a well-designed empirical test of the alternative modes will help ascertain the preferred shape of the PDS for a particular state or district.

Duke Scholars

Author Anirudh Krishna Sanford School of Public Policy