In this article Milind Murugkar argues against the ban that India and other governments have placed on rice exports calling it a politically expedient way of dealing with the current food crisis. The ban is meant to ease the crisis of India's poorest but it does so at the expense of grain farmers. Murugkar argues that a more productive strategy which would benefit the poor and grain farmers alike is based in increasing the purchasing power of the poor by allocating to them food stamps or smart cards, a kind of debit system, to be used at retail venues and redeemed by shop owners at banks. The Indian government has said it will support smart card initiatives.

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