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Rural Poverty and the Public Distribution System
This article presents estimates of the impact of the public distribution system on rural poverty, using National Sample Survey data for 2009-10 and official poverty lines. At the all-India level, the PDS is estimated to reduce the poverty-gap index of rural poverty by 18% to 22%. The corresponding figures are much larger for states with a well-functioning PDS, e g, 61% to 83% in Tamil Nadu and 39% to 57% in Chhattisgarh.
We are grateful to Aashish Gupta and Dimple Kukreja for research assistance, and to Angus Deaton and Himanshu for helpful discussions