-The Indian Express Social policy is in danger of getting lost in electoral histrionics. As the country inches towards parliamentary elections, a deep confusion pervades the realm of social policy. When the Narendra Modi government came to power five years ago, there were high expectations of a rollback in welfare schemes. The previous government, so went the story, had gone overboard with social spending, and Modi would set this right. In...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Casting the Net: India's Public Distribution System after the Food Security Act -Jean Dreze, Prankur Gupta, Reetika Khera and Isabel Pimenta
-Economic and Political Weekly A broad-brush assessment of the public distribution system is presented in six of India’s poorest states—Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and West Bengal—soon after the National Food Security Act, 2013 came into force. Important gains have been made, including broader coverage, lower targeting errors, accelerated PDS reforms, and a greater political commitment to food security. In four of the six reference states, the PDS seems to...
More »Thomas Piketty & Angus Deaton help frame Rahul Gandhi's minimum income promise -DK Singh
-ThePrint.in British economist Angus Deaton, a 2015 Nobel Prize winner, and French economist Thomas Piketty are helping Congress shape its minimum income scheme. New Delhi: Angus Deaton, the British economist who won the Nobel Prize in 2015, and French economist Thomas Piketty are advising the Congress on its ambitious poll promise of minimum income guarantee (MIG) to the poor, party leaders have told ThePrint. Congress president Rahul Gandhi declared Monday that the party...
More »Jean Dreze, the Belgian-Indian economist, interviewed by Ujjawal Krishnam (National Herald)
-National Herald Well-known Belgian-Indian economist Jean Drèze, reflects on the times we live in this animated conversation with Ujjawal Krishnam Jean Drèze, the Belgian-Indian economist, true to his reputation, laces humour and an acerbic wit to reflect on the times we live in. Self deprecating, he brushes aside the question how he juggles between his roles as economist, activist and teacher. He wonders at the multi-tasking ability of Indian women instead. Nor...
More »Invisible people: Aadhaar versus particularly vulnerable tribal groups -Jean Dreze
-The Telegraph Many families depend on two entitlements for survival: social security pensions and rations from the public distribution system Particularly vulnerable tribal groups, earlier known as primitive tribal groups, are the sort of people you may never meet unless you take the trouble to look for them. In Jharkhand, they live in small hamlets scattered over the nooks and crannies of the state’s undulating forests. Without a purpose and some local...
More »