-The Indian Express Can wages paid to NREGA workers from scheduled castes be counted as money spent on SCs’ welfare? The Rural Development Ministry believes it can, but Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Kumari Selja doesn’t buy the argument. She has shot off a letter to the Planning Commission, questioning the rationale of including Rs 10,000 crore of NREGA funds in the SC sub-plan, under which a mandated 16.2% — the percentage...

The total expenditure on central schemes for the poor and on the major subsidies exceeds the states' share of central taxes. These schemes are chronic bad performers due to a culture of immunity in public administration and weakened local governments. Arguing that the poor should be trusted to use these resources better than the state, a radical redirection with substantial direct transfers to individuals and complementary decentralisation to local governments...

-The Times of India UPA-II's flagship direct cash transfer scheme has run into rough weather following warnings of a potential scam in the making, and evoking concerns of serious delays. Government functionaries have raised the red flag about how cash would be finally disbursed to beneficiaries and whether the National Population Register (NPR) would come into play in some states instead of the Unique Identification (UID) number to identify the end-users. Senior...

-Outlook Koraput (Odisha): Inquiry conducted by the administration has shown serious irregularities in implementing MGNREGA at Lamtapur block in Odisha's Koraput district, officials said today. Projects worth several lakhs of rupees have been started at various panchayats of the block under the MGNREGA without any work order being issued. "It was found during inquiry that without any work order and funds several works have been executed at the block under the MGNREGA. Work...

-The Indian Express Two weeks before the direct cash transfer is unveiled in 43 districts, a partial list available with The Indian Express reveals generation of Aadhaar numbers has been erratic till November 30. Faced with low registration in some states, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has reportedly asked the state governments to focus on enrolling only those who will benefit from the 34 schemes covered under the direct...