Public distribution system

Stricken with corruption, this is the last system anybody could have dreamt of that might still be working. Kerosene is the primary cooking fuel for most of the rural population, and a large part of the urban population as well. Although there have been cases of diverting kerosene to adulterate diesel, but the fact is that the distribution system has reaches far into the Indian population. 95% of the rural population claim that they buy subsidised kerosene from the PDS, and 89% of the urban population claims the same as well. What lessons can be learnt from this, that might be applicable to other systems as well? Retail of medicines? Subsidised hands and clothes washing soaps? Books? ...

There is a downside as well, that kerosene is environmentally not friendly, and the subsidies are very expensive for the government. But can alternative fuels like LPG be distributed through the same PDS as well? Can dual pricing help in alleviating losses of the government? I think the answer to both questions lies in the supply-demand dynamics. Kerosene was priced low because the supply was sufficient to meet the demands, but it is not so with LPG. And whether dual pricing will work, or lead to more corruption of the system is anybody's guess.