-Economic and Political Weekly An overwhelming proportion of the poor live in low-income states in India. These states are home to over two-thirds of the children in the 0–14 age group. Therefore, provision of comparable levels of basic social services and physical infrastructure is important to ensure balance and stability in the Indian federation. This underlines the importance of intergovernmental transfers. Conceptually, general purpose transfers are given to enable the states...
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Are farm loan waivers a political gimmick? -Vikas Dhoot
-The Hindu Several interventions are needed on the demand and supply side to alleviate farm distress Loan waivers remain the preferred solution for governments to tackle farm distress. S. Mahendra Dev and M. Govinda Rao talk about the inability of governments to think of long-term solutions to tackle farm distress, in a discussion moderated by Vikas Dhoot. Edited excerpts: * Despite farm productivity rising, severe distress in the sector is a concern. How...
More »Mandate and allocations -M Govinda Rao
-The Hindu The terms of reference of the 15th Finance Commission raise questions about constitutional propriety It is not without reason that the presidential terms of reference (ToR) of the Fifteenth Finance Commission have raised questions, and the recent conclave of Finance Ministers of the southern States to discuss contentious issues in the ToR is only the beginning. In the months ahead more debate on this is likely. But the line by...
More »Economy all-clear but riders remain -Jayanta Roy Chowdhury and R Suryamurthy
-The Telegraph New Delhi: India's economy rebounded from a three-year low to grow at 6.3 per cent in the three months ended September 30. "The impact of the demonetisation and the GST is well behind us," finance minister Arun Jaitley said on Thursday after the numbers were announced. The economy had slowed dramatically in the first quarter to record a dismal 5.7 per cent growth. Opponents had then accused the Modi regime of...
More »Avoid the adventurous path -M Govinda Rao and C Rangarajan
-The Hindu Any aggressive attempt to widen the fiscal deficit will land India’s economy in problems The sharp deceleration in the growth of the economy as revealed by the first quarter estimate of GDP released a month ago has been widely commented upon. The policy prescriptions needed to reverse the trend depend on our understanding of the factors responsible for the slowdown. Among other things, one factor that stands out is the...
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