WEAKENING WELFARE 85 identified by Swaminathan (for example, incentive and information distortions, social stigma and cohesion, loss of quality etc.) do not appear too convincing, and in any case she does not make any attempt to compare these costs with the possible benefits of targeting (in terms of release of resources). There is a second and more important point to be noted here. While a strategy of providing food security through the PDS is perfectly justifiable in the short run, the medium and long run emphasis must be on employment and income generation. The obvious advantage of employment generation programme (for example, food for work programme) over distribution of food via PDS is that the former simultaneously creates assets for the society. While the latter remains an unproductive consumption expenditure. Swaminathan argues that the PDS and employment generation schemes should be complementary rather than substitutes. But if the ultimate objective is to enable to poor to meet the basic necessities of life (including food), then an employment generation policy in the long run seems to be more effective as well as more productive. This argument of course becomes more cogent when the government is facing severe resource crunch; but even otherwise, there is no reason why a more productive instrument should not be used to achieve a certain goal in the place of a less productive-one; the resources thus released can always be put to some other uses (for example, in public education and health). Needless to say, any such employment and income generating scheme has to be backed up by a concomitant policy of price regulation for the essential commodities. While one can debate and discuss over the alternative viable long run strategies to provide food security to the people, there can be no doubt about the fact that the government must play an important role in this process. Even an employment generation scheme would involve substantial amount of fiscal expenditure. Moreover, in the short run (i.e. till such employment generation programmes starts operating effectively), the PDS remains a crucial instrument in alleviating starvation and hunger. The structural adjustment policy suggested by the IMF/World Bank would obviously act as a hindrance to any such programme. The essential problem with IMF recommended adjustment process is that the governments in their attempts to cut back fiscal deficits typically target those public expenditure programmes which cater to the poorest section of the polity. It might seem amazing as to how in a country like India, with the majority of the population still living below the poverty line, such an obviously anti-poor policy prescription can even be