Covid-19 crisis and India's ration story: Mounting stocks and hungry mouths

At the all-India level, applying the 67% ratio to a projected population of 1,372 million for 2020, PDS coverage today would be 922 million, instead of around 800 million

Ramneek Lal, a wage-earner in Bamrauli Katara, a village near Agra, has a six-member family to feed.

After the coronavirus lockdown, the nearest ration shop is his only source of sustenance because he lost employment at a construction site in Agra city last month.

With a clutch of papers in his hands, Ramneek Lal says free ration is only for those whose names are there on the ration card, provided under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).

“I have six members in my family, including children and elders, but the names of only three are there on the card.”

“I have