Every month millions of poor people in India visit fair price shops to buy wheat, rice, sugar or oil at a reduced price.

A network of more than 400,000 of these shops have provided government subsidized food to more than 600 million citizens.

It is the largest distribution network in the world, yet there are concerns about its efficiency.

Prashant Rajan, an assistant professor at Iowa State University, studies how sales people feel about using debit card-like smartcards to track fair price purchases in India's Chhattisgarh province.

His research could help provide higher quality food at a lower cost.