Pandemic Forces Revamp of World’s Biggest Food Stamps Program
- Poor will be able to get entitlements outside their hometowns
- Modi’s program still faces challenges of supply and technology
This article is for subscribers only.
The coronavirus outbreak is accelerating a push to digitize India’s food-rationing system, allowing citizens to receive entitlements anywhere in the country -- boosting labor mobility and the country’s economic recovery.
The “One Nation One Ration Card” system will include about 800 million people under the world’s biggest food-security program. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration is betting that nationwide portability of rations can help bring migrants back to cities after the world’s largest lockdown -- imposed in March with just a few hours’ notice -- left many without food or money.