Of late the concept of Universal Basic Income (UBI) has gained significant traction amongst the economists and policy planners worldwide including some of the developed European nations, India is no exception. Is it an idea whose time has come? Probably not but it certainly deserves a closer look in light of the gap between the haves and have-nots widening and the Ginni coefficients not looking any better. A Universal Basic Income is a form of social security in which all citizens or residents of a country regularly receive an unconditional sum of money, either from a government or some other public institution, in addition to any income received from elsewhere. Current social security and poverty alleviation schemes have been observed to have little impact in countries across the development spectrum with benefits not reaching those who require it the most. Developing countries like India provide largely in-kind benefits through the Public Distribution System (PDS). Besi