Rice Mafia: diversion of PDS foodgrains

I am in the middle of my third visit to the field, with specific reference to the research project on computerization of the PDS that constitutes the core of my PhD research. As I spend most of my time focusing on PDS recipients, and on the ways in which computerization of anti-poverty schemes mediates their process of image formation on the state, I am sometimes concerned about missing the “big picture”, i.e. the macro-dynamics of the system of foodgrain distribution that I am looking at, and the ways in which these macro-dynamics, superimposed over the functioning of the system as a whole, condition its final outcomes in terms of actual delivery to citizens. This is why, in the (few) moments of break from field-based data collection, I have a go on reflecting on these dynamics, and try to position them in the specific context of Kerala, whose (well-deserved?) reputation as a minimizer of corruption is renowned inside and outside India.