Paper details

Paper authors	C.Sathyamala, Somjita Laha
In panel on	The politics of food and technology in changing global and local crises
Paper presenter(s) will be presenting	In-Person / Online

Abstract

Although in the early post-colonial period, India was a food deficit country, it has now transitioned into a self-sufficient food producing country. In 2023, as per the Global Hunger Index, out of the 125 countries that were assessed, India ranked 111 and was categorized as ‘serious’ level of hunger. As such, the country is experiencing a protracted hunger crisis. This is despite the existence of several food security and social assistance programmes, one of which is the Public Distribution System (PDS). In 2010 digitalisation was introduced to reduce supply leakages and corruption in the food distribution chain, ease access to subsidised grains for the food insecure and minimise grain wastage. By 2016, 100% digitalisation of the PDS was achieved. This paper, part of an ESRC-funded study on digitalising of food assistance, looks at the functioning of PDS in the states of Delhi and Chhattisgarh to examine the government’s claims on digitalisation against ground realties. While Delhi is the power-centre, Chhattisgarh is classified as one of the least developed regions of the country. Data for the study comes from qualitative interviews of recipients of the PDS, ration shop dealers and functionaries of the PDS.

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