This paper counters negative advocacy about the
food subsidy, the public distribution system, and farm price supports.
It argues that the public food supply chain for market intervention has a
favourable impact on the cost-benefit ratio, poverty reduction, calorie
consumption by the poor and productivity-led agricultural growth. The
paper proposes reforms for the six pillars of the public food supply
chain. These include: an alternative poverty line concept that is linked
to the minimum "norms" for calorie intake enabling a reduction of the
exclusion and inclusion errors, procurement just for the PDS and buffer
stocks to be purchased at a farm price that is fully cost-based, fair
price shops with fixed and adequate time of operations, "indent" of the
demand, doorstep delivery, and so on.