The targeted public distribution system, intended to provide subsidised food to poor households, is the largest welfare programme in India, with a budget corresponding to about 1% of the net national product. Several studies have found the system to be inefficient and costly in assisting the poor. This paper analyses the case for, and against, replacing a reformed version of this system with a targeted and differentiated cash transfer scheme.

In its latest report on food insecurity, the FAO asserted that 915 million people were undernourished in 2008, and the figure is estimated to rise to 1.02 billion in 2009. The alarming numbers raise the twin questions of how the estimates are derived and how reliable they are.

This article analyses the comparability of the estimates of child malnutrition emanating from the National Family Health Surveys and the National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau. The issue has been highlighted by Deaton and Dr