While official data shows near elimination of extreme poverty, thali affordability metrics reveal persisting food deprivation, highlighting the need to restructure the Public Distribution System (PDS) for nutritional security.

Poverty Estimates

• National Sample Survey (NSS) Household Consumption Survey (2024): It enabled updated poverty estimates after a decade.
• World Bank (2025): Extreme poverty (<$2.15/day) fell from 16.2% (2011-12) to 2.3% (2022-23), suggesting near elimination of extreme poverty.

Thali as a Poverty Metric

• Thali-Based Metric: Using the cost of a home-cooked thali (₹30), it has been found that 50% of rural households and 20% of urban households could not afford two thalis per day from their food expenditure.
• Adjusted for PDS: When accounting for subsidised food received from the PDS, food deprivation reduces to 40% in rural India and 10% in urban India, but these levels remain unacceptably high.

Reason for the Difference 

• Residual Spending on Food: Households must allocate money for rent, transport, healthcare, telecommunication, and education, so food often becomes the residual expenditure, leaving less available for adequate nutrition.
• Calorie vs. Thali Approach: Traditional poverty estimates focus only on calories consumed, but this ignores nutrition and satisfaction, whereas the thali metric captures a more holistic and realistic measure of food adequacy.

Role of the PDS

• Subsidy Distribution in Rural India: In rural areas, even wealthier households in the 90%-95% expenditure bracket receive subsidies that are nearly 88% of what the poorest 5% receive, despite not needing support.
• Subsidy Distribution in Urban India: In urban India, the subsidy is more progressive, but still around 80% of households benefit from subsidised or free food, even though many can easily afford more than two thalis a day.
• Cereal Consumption Saturation: Data show that both the poorest and the richest consume similar levels of rice and wheat, meaning cereals are no longer the right metric for measuring food deprivation, though this also reflects a success of the PDS in equalising cereal access.

Key Findings on Food Basket

• Cereals: The consumption of cereals has already saturated across income classes and cereals account for only 10% of average household expenditure, limiting their usefulness in addressing nutrition gaps.
• Pulses: In contrast, the poorest 5% consume only half the pulses consumed by the richest 5%, even though pulses are the main source of protein for many Indians and are relatively costly.

Way Forward

• Restructured Public Distribution System (PDS): Move towards a compact and targeted PDS by trimming excessive cereal entitlements and reallocating resources.
• Focus on Pulses: Expand the distribution of pulses, the main source of protein for the poor, to correct nutritional inequity.
• Progressive Subsidy Design: Ensure higher subsidies for the bottom fractiles and eliminate benefits for upper-income groups who already meet minimum food norms.
• Efficient Resource Utilisation: Rationalise stocking requirements of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and redirect fiscal savings towards nutrition-focused programmes.
• Balanced Food Security Approach: Move beyond calorie sufficiency to nutrition adequacy, ensuring that the poor can afford two thalis per day with balanced nutrients.

Conclusion

• India’s poverty reduction is notable, yet food deprivation undermines progress. A restructured PDS focused on pulses, the vulnerable, and reducing leakages can ensure nutrition equity, achieving a globally significant milestone in inclusive growth and human development.

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