-The Hindu Any political benefit the Congress hopes to reap in 2014 will come at the cost of reducing the effectiveness of social welfare schemes In getting its ministers to endorse the shift to cash transfers from the AICC office in New Delhi, the Congress has highlighted the political nature of the move. The party clearly expects cash transfers to play the same role for it in 2014 that the National Rural...

-Rediff.com In a move that shows the urgency and seriousness with which the UPA 2 is planning the execution of first phase of direct cash transfer scheme before the January 1, 2013, deadline it has set for itself, the Union government has notified formation of two core committees -- called Mission Mode Committees -- tasked with rollout of the scheme. One can imagine the urgency and importance accorded to the direct...

-The Hindu Cleansing political parties and elections of illegal money is the first step towards tackling the evil of graft Corruption is nothing but a reflection of the distribution of power within societies. The country is where it is because the political system is self-perpetrating and no party is accountable to anyone except a coterie of people that dominates all decisions. Unless the political system is accountable, going after individual cases of...

-The Times of India The Congress moved with alacrity on Tuesday to put the stamp of its "hand" on 'direct cash transfers', calling it an election promise fulfilled and lining up Rahul Gandhi to lead the celebrations in the build-up to the launch of what it sees as a "game-changing" scheme. Finance minister P Chidambaram and rural development minister Jairam Ramesh chose the Congress party platform to announce the launch of the...

-The Telegraph The Union cabinet today approved a controversial drug pricing policy that had been opposed by the health ministry, the finance ministry and public health policy experts who fear it will legitimise high prices of medicines. A government source said the cabinet has cleared the drug pricing policy that health experts suspect will determine caps on prices of 348 drugs through a formula based on market prices of drugs rather than...