Food Bandits Face Smartcard Check on Theft From India Poor: Tech

Mohanlal Kapoor, a street vendor in north India, holds a card entitling him to subsidized food for his wife and four children. To get supplies, the Kapoors must battle an estimated 15 million families in their state toting similar pieces of paper that they’re not entitled to.

“When I go to the ration store, I only receive enough to feed half my family,” Kapoor said, frying samosas and bright-orange sweets in a wok-shaped karhai pan to earn about $3 a day in Vrindavan, a city about halfway between New Delhi and the Taj Mahal. “They tell me I came too late and all the food is gone, but everyone around here knows it’s being sold in markets for profit.”