It was the untiring efforts of think-tanks such as the Adam Smith Institute and the Heritage Foundation (of course, liberally supported by corporate funding) which overturned the liberal consensus in favour of Keynesian policies and led to the libertarian revolution which rolled back the frontiers of the state all over the world. In India, the intellectual climate has changed to such an extent that nobody now questions the need for slimming the state.

Union minister for consumer affairs and public distribution Shanta Kumar has said that the Centre is planning a total revamp of the public distribution system and a review of procurement policy and import duty structures. Buffer stocks are currently more than 8.8 million tonnes above the required quantity, a crying shame in a country affected by severe malnutrition. Of course, the question of buffer stocks is inextricably linked to high procurement prices. But the least that can be done is to stop the robbery that goes on under the PDS.

The minister says that 36 per cent of foodgrains and 31 per cent of sugar supplied under PDS was being sold in the open market. Instead of trying to reform a policy which is too easily open to abuse, it is high time the Government abandoned the system totally, relying instead on a combination of food-for-work programmes and food stamps.