Food Insecurity in India: Evaluating the Case for Direct Benefit Transfer

Authored by: Nikhil Varghese Mathew

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The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, reflected in rising unemployment rates and starvation deaths across the country, was met by calls to universalise the Public Distribution System. Recognising that the pandemic served to exacerbate already existing food insecurity in the country, this paper seeks to explore the public discourse surrounding policy responses to the same. In particular, this paper attempts to analyse the case for an increasing role for Direct Benefit Transfers in India’s food security policy.