-The Business Standard The state govt is set to redefine public distribution system by linking it with insurance Smart Cards Several experiments are taking place across the country to make the public distribution system (PDS) free of leakages. Chhattisgarh that has led these is set to mark a new precedent with its PDS going smart in the next three months. The state government has reached an agreement with the labour ministry to...
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UID: Are your biometric I-cards stacked against you?-M Rajshekhar
-The Economic Times Imagine a rural family of five. Mom. Dad. Two kids. And Grandma. Assume too that they are below the poverty line. The day is coming when this family will have to give its biometrics out to myriad agencies. You know that Nandan Nilekani's Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) or the Registrar General's National Population Register (NPR) has been collecting biometrics for a while now. But a set of other...
More »Ration cards set for a smart makeover in Gurgaon
-The Hindu The traditional ration cards will soon be replaced by smarts cards in Gurgaon as part of a pilot project by the Union Government in Haryana and Chandigarh to streamline the Public Distribution System. Announcing this at Gymkhana Club here, Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary (Food & Supplies Department) Shakuntala Jakhu said that the task of preparing Smart Cards will be first taken up in the Pataudi block of Gurgaon. Besides...
More »Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia defends Rs 35L spent on toilets-Abheek Barman
While the government wants India to tighten its belt, the Planning Commission can afford to, well, flush with cash. On Wednesday, Commission chief Montek Singh Ahluwalia said that Rs 35 lakh spent on two toilets in his office was not public money down the drain. Ahluwalia explained that these were not toilets, but "toilet complexes." Each of these complexes can accommodate 10 people at a time. He did not specify whether taxpayers would...
More »Planning Commission toilets renovated at Rs 35 lakh
-PTI Planning Commission, which is mired in a controversy over what constitutes the poverty line, has spent a whopping Rs 35 lakh for renovation of two toilets in New Delhi, an RTI reply has revealed. The Commission, which came up with a controversial poverty line figure of Rs 28 per day for an individual, has spent Rs 30 lakh for the renovation of the toilets on the lines of Indira Gandhi International...
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