-The Economic Times Cash transfer in various forms has been used in many countries to target support to the poor and achieve social objectives. In India, its introduction has generated more passion than rational debate. The scheme is not a magic bullet, but if properly implemented and targeted, cash transfer is a very sensible instrument of social assistance. In India, the rationale for introducing the scheme seems to be to check...

-Live Mint Food minister K.V. Thomas is holding day-long discussions with state food ministers and officials in the national Capital in a bid to overcome their objections and push forward the government’s ambitious food security legislation.   The government will present the revised food security Bill in the Budget session of Parliament beginning 21 February, he said in his opening remarks. “We intend to present the revised Bill in Parliament in the forthcoming Budget...

-Business Today What does the proposed food security law mean for the government's finances? Most days, around half a dozen middleaged men in Tamil Nadu's Nemam village head for a slushy pond. They are farm labourers who have had little work for the past few months because of a drought in their Tiruvarur district. As an alternative they catch fish, but the income from it is not enough to survive on. "But...

-Live Mint Proposal aimed at beefing up security, besides making sure development reaches neglected parts of India A day after the government pledged the partial decontrol of sugar in the next fortnight, the Union cabinet on Thursday approved a set of significant measures aimed at tackling Maoist insurgency and asserting its strategic hold over an area claimed by neighbouring China.   The measures approved involve upgrading rural road connectivity with special emphasis on...

-Live Mint The food security Bill could be taken up by Parliament in the first part of the budget session, which is set to start next month The politically sensitive food security Bill could be taken up by Parliament in the first part of the budget session, set to start next month, after the food ministry took a remarkably brief one week to consider and accept almost all the recommendations on the...