INTRODUCTION:The present comparative study of PAP and REAP stain was carried out to assess the quality of staining, duration of staining, cost effectiveness and preservation of staining. MATERIALS AND METHODS:A total of 200 samples were studied over a period of 2 years. The pap smears were obtained from the obstetrics and gynecology out-patient department, fixed in 95% ethyl alcohol and stained simultaneously by both the methods in the department of cytology. RESULTS: Pap stain showed 2 cases (1%) of sub optimal cytoplasmic and nuclear staining whereas REAP stain showed 6 cases (3%) of suboptimal cytoplasmic staining and 4 cases (2%) of suboptimal nuclear staining. A batch of ten slides each was stained by conventional PAP method and REAP method and the time taken was 35 min and 7 min respectively. The cost per slide worked out to be Rs. 40 in case of conventional PAP method and Rs. 10 in case of REAP method. Slides stained by both methods showed excellent preservation for 2 years. CONCLUSIONS: The REAP staining method for study of cervical smears in cancer screening programmes is a simple and technician friendly protocol with minimum use of alcohol, that does not compromise on staining quality and diagnostic standards. It can be easily adapted as a viable alternative to conventional PAP method which is time consuming and expensive for mass screening of cervical cancer in limited resource setting like India. We recommend this procedure for all mass cervical cancer screening programmes.