Despite progress in reducing extreme poverty, India faces a nutritional security challenge. The PDS must evolve from calorie provision to balanced diets, addressing hidden hunger, improving public health, and ensuring every citizen enjoys not just food, but the dignity of nutrition.
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PICTURE COURTESY: PIB
India presents a paradox in its development story. On one hand, recent data from the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) 2022-23 suggests extreme poverty declined to 2.3%. On the other hand, a study by CRISIL using a 'Thali Index' reveals that up to 50% of rural and 20% of urban Indians are not able to afford two balanced meals a day.
Unlike traditional poverty lines that focus on calorie intake or overall consumption expenditure, the Thali Index measures a household's ability to afford a basic, nutritionally balanced meal.
What it Measures?
The index calculates the cost of a standard 'thali' comprising roti, rice, dal (pulses), vegetables, curd, and salad.
What it Reveals?
It captures the impact of food price inflation on household budgets in real-time. The index shows that even if a family is not "poor" by official income standards, they may still be forced to compromise on essential nutrients like proteins and vitamins due to high costs. This is termed "hidden hunger."
The PDS, under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013, is India's primary tool for ensuring food security. The government extended the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), providing free foodgrains to 81.35 crore beneficiaries till December 2028.
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Read all about: Public Distribution System (PDS) |
Focus on Calories, Not Nutrition
Success: The PDS has successfully ensured calorie sufficiency by distributing rice and wheat, thereby preventing widespread starvation.
Limitation: It primarily provides cereals, which are carbohydrate-rich but lack essential proteins, vitamins, and minerals. This leads to a diet that fills the stomach but doesn't nourish the body.
The Protein Gap
Pulses are the main source of protein for a majority of the Indian population. However, they are not universally supplied under the PDS.
The HCES 2022-23 data highlights that the wealthiest 5% of the population consume nearly double the amount of pulses compared to the poorest 5%, because of affordability barriers.
Subsidy Misdirection and Inclusion Errors
Studies indicate that subsidies are not sharply targeted. In rural areas, many households in the highest consumption brackets receive PDS benefits, diluting the support meant for the most vulnerable.
This "leakage" to non-poor households means that the system is less efficient and equitable than it should be.
Heavy Fiscal Burden
The food subsidy is one of the largest items in the central government's budget. The Union Budget 2025-26 allocated over Rs 2 lakh crore for it.
Providing free cereals to over 80 crore people, many of whom can afford them, puts a strain on public finances and diverts resources that could be used to diversify the food basket.
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Committee |
Year |
Key Feature/Methodology |
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Y.K. Alagh Committee |
1979 |
Defined the poverty line based on calorie requirements (2400 kcal rural, 2100 kcal urban). |
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Lakdawala Committee |
1993 |
Used the Alagh calorie norms but created state-specific poverty lines to account for price variations. |
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Tendulkar Committee |
2009 |
Shifted from a calorie-based model to a broader consumption basket including health and education. Used a uniform basket for rural and urban areas. |
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Rangarajan Committee |
2014 |
Reverted to separate consumption baskets for rural and urban areas, including food and non-food items. Set a higher poverty line. (This report was not officially adopted). |
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NITI Aayog's MPI |
Present |
India has now shifted to a Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), which measures poverty based on health, education, and standard of living indicators, moving beyond just consumption. |
Accurate Targeting: Identifying the truly needy without excluding deserving families (exclusion errors) or including ineligible ones (inclusion errors) is a major administrative challenge.
Political Sensitivity: Reducing cereal entitlements for better-off households who currently benefit from the PDS can face strong political opposition.
Logistical Hurdles: Procuring and distributing perishable or diverse items like pulses and millets is far more complex than handling rice and wheat. It requires robust supply chains and storage facilities.
Financial Viability: Adding nutritious items like pulses, millets, and edible oils to the PDS basket without rationalizing existing subsidies would significantly increase the fiscal deficit.
Market Distortion: Large-scale procurement of pulses or other new items by the government could distort market prices and affect farmers.
Define a Nutrition-Based Food Basket
The government should define a "minimum balanced diet" standard (like the "thali") that is region-specific and includes cereals, pulses, millets, and oils.
Improve Targeting with Technology
Diversify the PDS Basket
Rationalize Cereal Subsidies
Gradually reduce the quantity of subsidized cereals for households that are not nutritionally deprived. The savings can be used to fund the diversification of the PDS basket.
Scheme Convergence
Align the PDS with other nutrition-focused programs like POSHAN 2.0, PM POSHAN (Mid-Day Meal Scheme), and the Integrated Child Development Service (ICDS) to create a comprehensive nutritional safety net.
Promote Nutrition Literacy
Launch awareness campaigns to educate beneficiaries on the importance of a balanced diet and how to best utilize the food items provided.
India must reform its PDS from a calorie-focused system to a nutrition-sensitive one that tackles hidden hunger and upholds the dignity of a balanced meal for all.
SOURCE: PIB
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PRACTICE QUESTION Q. India has achieved food grain self-sufficiency but continues to grapple with widespread nutritional inequality. 150 words |
The PDS is a government program that provides subsidized food and non-food items to India's poor. It is managed jointly by the Central and State governments. The central government is responsible for procurement, storage, and transportation, while the state governments handle distribution through a network of Fair Price Shops (FPS), also known as ration shops.
The NFSA transformed the PDS from a welfare program into a legal entitlement. It provides a legal right to subsidized food grains for up to 75% of the rural population and 50% of the urban population. It ensures a minimum nutritional standard by specifying the quantity of food grains per person per month.
The FCI is the central government's main agency for the PDS. It is responsible for:
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