Some Experiments with Food Stamps

M H Suryanarayana The Indian government is considering food stamp programme as an alternative to the public distribution system in order to reduce the budget deficit with least social cost. This article recounts the experiences of such a programme in the US, Sri Lanka, Zambia and Jamaica and concludes that given the lack of proper socio-economic data on the Indian populace, it would be wise to confine the programme to urban locales.