While the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council's proposal on enhanced food security hinges on higher procurement and increased reliance on the public distribution system, there is a strong view in the government that overworking a creaking system is a bad idea. In a paper circulated within the government, chief economic adviser to the finance ministry Kaushik Basu has argued that what is needed for food security to work is a reduced...

The number of Internet users worldwide has doubled in the past five years and will surpass the 2 billion mark in 2010, with the majority of the 226 million new users this year coming from developing countries, the United Nations telecommunication agency reported today. The number of people with Internet access at home has increased from 1.4 billion in 2009 to almost 1.6 billion in 2010, with 65 per cent of...

The UID project has both ‘security' and ‘developmental' dimensions. The former leads to an invasive state; the latter leaves us with a retreating state. Is identity the “missing link” in India's efforts to rise as an “inclusive” economic superpower? Can an identity-linked and technology-based solution change the face of governance in India? Given the euphoria around the Unique Identification (UID) project, one is tempted to believe so. However, a careful look...

SKS Microfinance, India's largest microfinance player, arrived with a bang with its hugely successful IPO in August. However, the recent sacking of its MD and CEO Suresh Gurumani  has opened up a pandora's box that is now threatening to expose the ugly underbelly of the sector which, many allege, is teeming with players who are no better than moneylenders but have so far been able to operate under the pious...

To avoid graft in the implementation of the Nat-ional Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), e-muster olls will be launched for job seekers in the state from November 1. The implementation of NREGS has been facing a lot of criticism of graft ever since it was introduced a few years ago. In order to arrest such graft, the NREGS implementing agency, the district water management agency, is creating a database of...