New Delhi, Feb. 4 -- Subsidies continue to serve critical national needs, and cannot be withdrawn abruptly, expenditure secretary V. Vualnam said in an interview, as he outlined a gradual course correction in India's subsidy and spending framework.

The government aims to achieve this rationalization of subsidy by maintaining constant engagement with the ministry of agriculture, the department of food and public distribution, the department of fertilizers, and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), he said.

Food subsidies, he said, were essential to ensure food security for poorer sections of the population across different regions, even as declining poverty levels were acknowledged. Similarly, fertilizer subsidies reflected...