The concept of “a ubiquitous magic plastic” that bring out the unique in a living person has caught the fascination of most of us. An unpopular government sees in it the ability of cutting a long red tape short to correctly identify the genuine citizens in need. The agonised cops of India see in it a great ally to apprehend the much-wanted terrorists, whose biometric data could now be verified...

-The Hindu   Rs.49 crore sanctioned, 31 temporary posts for the purpose Rs.150 to each BPL family as project expense Special Cabinet to work out details of 100-day action plan Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has said the State government is working towards providing Unique Identification (uid) number for all in one year. Briefing reporters after the weekly Cabinet meeting here on Wednesday, the Chief Minister said the Cabinet had sanctioned Rs.49 crore and 31 temporary...

The current perception that cash transfers can replace public provision of basic goods and services and become a catch-all solution for poverty reduction is false. Where cash transfers have helped to reduce poverty, they have added to public provision, not replaced it. For crucial items like food, direct provision protects poor consumers from rising prices and is part of a broader strategy to ensure domestic supply. Problems like targeting errors...

-PTI   Delhi may soon become the first city in the country to give cash instead of subsidized kerosene to BPL families, a move aimed at controlling widespread pilferage of the fuel. As per the proposal put forth by chief minister Sheila Dikshit, cash equivalent of the monthly kerosene subsidy will be directly transferred to the bank account of the female head of the family. A BPL family is likely to...

Those responsible for the framing and implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) have once again protested the linking of Aadhaar number (Unique Identification uid) with the job guarantee scheme for the rural masses. In a letter sent to the Union rural development secretary, B K Sinha, they have expressed dissatisfaction over the decision to make uid compulsory for extending NREGA benefits in Mysore saying that the...