This study provides a profile of deprivation with respect to consumer expenditure, cereal consumption and energy intake across demographic and agro-climatic regions as defined by the National Sample Survey Organisation of India. It examines this evidence at the disaggregated level to verify whether a public distribution system (PDS) targeted with reference to estimates of poverty would end up penalizing the non-poor but food insecure. The empirical profiles have also useful policy relevance with respect to decentralized formulation and implementation of the PDS