ABSTRACT
India, the fastest growing economy in the world in 2018, has had universal nutritional access as one of its prime concerns since its independence. Despite being a fertile land where agriculture forms the backbone of the economy, food sufficiency for its teeming millions has been and continues to pose a challenge before successive Indian governments. Being a welfare state, India addresses the concern for food justice through multiple targeted assistance schemes that brings nutrition to the lesser-privileged sections of the society. The Public Distribution System, bringing rationed quantities of essential commodities at affordable prices, is the single largest government-run effort in this direction. This chapter presents an overview of the Public Distribution System (PDS) in India, which is quite unique in this world in terms of its scope and impact, as well as the sheer mass of the population to which it caters. The PDS has undergone dramatic changes lately, with the computerization of databases, weeding out the bogus ration cards and proposals of direct cash transfers. The discussion focuses on the many changes that the system has undergone over the years and forwards possible interventions for the improvement of the system – particularly in terms of the involvement of end stakeholders.
