SAGE Publications Los Angeles/London/New Delhi/Singapore/Washington DC DOI: 10.1177/097380101100500404 Universal to Targeted Public Distribution System: The Experience of the Kerala Model

For several decades, the public distribution system in Kerala was considered an effective measure of food security, a model for most other states. However, the salient features of Kerala’s model that received widespread recognition and appreciation, namely, universal coverage, high levels of utilisation, progressive utilisation, etc., are no longer true of the present times. The introduction of a targeted public distribution system (TPDS), resulting in the massive withdrawal of people from the system, does not seem to have contributed to any additional benefi t in Kerala. Not only have the offtakes greatly declined but also the attendant benefi ts of progressive distribution to the poorer regions have not materialised. Though the genuinely needy continue to be dependent on the system, the highly arbitrary identifi cation of benefi ciaries has gone on to deprive sizeable eligible households from the benefi t of the food security cover