Poverty Targeting in Asia: Country Experience of India

Abstract

Given India’s immense poverty, where more than 800 million people exist on less than USD 2 a day, it is important to ask whether poverty targeting is an important objective. Targeting is most useful if there is a well-defined target within the whole, but less so when the target is almost as large as the whole. This issue has been most vocally addressed in India in the context of food security through subsidizing food using the Public Distribution System (PDS). The PDS was provided universally until 1992 but has since then sought to more narrowly target the poorest among the poor, with relatively poor results in the sense of excluding large numbers of people that are nutritionally at risk. In assessing the effectiveness of poverty targeting programs in India, this broader context is worth keeping in mind. At the same time, the immense poverty also reinforces the need to directly assist the poorest among the many poor.