-India Today Concerned over the poor response, the Finance Ministry has asked all state-run banks to extend the date of government contribution till March 31, 2016. The Centre's flagship pension plan, launched with much fanfare last year, is struggling to stay afloat. It has been able to bring only about 10 per cent of the targeted two crore under its ambit. The Atal Pension Yojana (APY), aimed at ensuring pension for those...

-Livemint.com Haryana’s sex ratio at birth is at 903, a first in a decade, but the scheme has made no impact in certain parts Rohtak (Haryana): On 22 January last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (save the daughter, educate the daughter) campaign to improve India’s child sex ratio and promote gender equality. Appropriately enough, he flagged off the campaign in Panipat, Haryana, which had the worst...

-The Times of India JAIPUR: Moved by the sight of some students coming to school barefoot in the chilly December weather, Jalore collector Jitendra Kumar Soni, a young IAS officer, started an innovative scheme aimed at providing free shoes to downtrodden and deprived children. Christened as 'Charan Paduka Yojna', the scheme aims at distributing shoes to nearly 25,000 school kids before the Republic Day this year. Soni, who hails from Dhanasar village near...

-The Indian Express New crop insurance scheme is welcome. Its litmus test: Whether crop-damage assessment can be done within two weeks of the extreme weather event and compensation paid a week after that The Narendra Modi-led government needs to be complimented for taking the first major step to revamp the crop insurance system to address the increasing distress in Indian farming. With back-to-back droughts, and unseasonal rain and hail in certain...

-The Hindu Several instances of in-kind transfers being successfully implemented. Social sector groups want Finance Minister to review the implementation of alternative subsidy systems before going ahead with Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). “There have been several instances of in-kind transfers being successfully implemented in various parts of the country. Our appeal to the Finance Minister was to look at all the successful examples of alternative schemes before the government pushes ahead with the...