Recent data from India’s 2024 Household Consumption Survey and the World Bank’s 2025 report reveal contrasting pictures of poverty. While extreme poverty appears to have declined sharply, food deprivation remains challenge. This has prompted a re-examination of poverty measurement and the role of the Public Distribution System (PDS) in ensuring food security.
Reassessing Poverty Through Food Consumption
Traditional poverty measures focus on calorie intake and income thresholds. However, food consumption is more than calories; it involves nourishment and satisfaction. Using the thali meal — a balanced combination of carbohydrates, protein, and vitamins — as a metric offers a practical way to assess food adequacy. Estimates show that in 2023-24, up to 50% of rural and 20% of urban populations could not afford two thalis daily based on actual food expenditure, indicating widespread food deprivation beyond official poverty rates.
Limitations of Income-Based Poverty Estimates
Many poverty estimates assume all household income is available for food, which is unrealistic. Households must also spend on rent, transport, health, and education. Food expenditure is often the leftover amount. This residual spending approach reveals higher levels of food insecurity than income-based measures suggest. It marks the importance of examining actual consumption patterns to understand deprivation accurately.
Effectiveness and Challenges of the Public Distribution System
The PDS provides subsidised cereals and food grains to millions. Adjusting consumption figures to include PDS supplies lowers food deprivation estimates but does not eliminate it, especially in rural areas. Notably, wealthier households also receive PDS subsidies, indicating inefficiencies and misallocation. In rural India, subsidies to the richest groups are nearly as high as those to the poorest, reflecting a need for better targeting.
Restructuring Food Subsidies for Greater Impact
Current PDS cereal distribution has equalised rice and wheat consumption across income groups, suggesting saturation at the staple food level. However, cereals form only about 10% of household expenditure and do not fully address nutritional needs. Expanding the PDS to include pulses, a vital protein source often unaffordable to the poor, could improve nutrition and food security. Reducing cereal subsidies for wealthier groups and focusing on pulses for the needy would optimise resource use and reduce costs.
Policy Implications and Future Directions
Reforming the PDS to concentrate subsidies on essential, under-consumed foods like pulses can raise the nutritional status of the poorest to match the highest observed levels. Such restructuring would reduce wastage, lower government stocking costs, and make the system more efficient. A compact and targeted PDS could become a globally model for food security and poverty alleviation.
Questions for UPSC:
- Discuss the limitations of income-based poverty measurement and the advantages of using food consumption metrics in poverty assessment.
- Critically examine the role of the Public Distribution System in India’s food security and suggest measures for its effective reform.
- Explain the nutritional challenges faced by low-income populations in India and discuss how expanding subsidies on pulses can address these challenges.
- With suitable examples, discuss how targeted welfare policies can optimise resource allocation and reduce economic inefficiencies in public subsidy programmes.
