India's Targeted Public Distribution System (tpds) gives subsidised essential commodities to economically weaker households. Till 1997, the system had supplied subsidised commodities to all

Households under tpds are classed as Below Poverty Line (bpl) and Above Poverty Line (apl) groups based on income. bpl is further divided into bpl and Antyodaya scheme which targets economically weakest people

Other food assistance programmes are Food for Work, Annapurna Anna Yojana (aay), Integrated Child Development Scheme and Mid-day Meal.


Estimates show households with more than 0.4 hectares (ha) benefit more from the schemes

Subsidies for apl families were eliminated in 2000. Under tpds, about 50 per cent subsidy (against government's procurement cost) is given to bpl families. Antyodaya gives even higher rate of subsidies

Trends Under tpds, 81 per cent of rural and 67 per cent of urban households have ration cards. Over 26 per cent households in rural areas and 10.5 per cent in urban areas have bpl cards

Households with less than 0.01 ha do not have ration cards. In Andhra Pradesh, 28 per cent of the rural households does not have ration cards. This is 29 per cent in Chhattisgarh, 23.2 per cent in Jharkhand and 33 per cent in Orissa