People living below the poverty line will receive cash as subsidies and the process will start by March 2012, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in his general budget speech on Monday. "The government will move towards direct cash transfer to people living below poverty line in a phased manner," Mukherjee said in his budget presented to the Lok Sabha. A committee under Unique Identification Authority of India chairman Nandan Nilekani will be...

Budget 2011-12 marks a sharp retreat of the government from the social and economic sectors. It has cut back expenditures in sectors that matter to common people, especially the poor. On the other hand, it has given huge concessions to the corporate sector in the form of tax cuts and exemptions. Let us take the overall fiscal stance of the budget. The underlying strategy is to reduce its fiscal deficit to...

Poor allocation of funds to key social sectors shows the government’s lacklustre approach to inclusive growth. We are reaching the end of a remarkable fiscal year,” said the finance minister as he rose to present the Union Budget 2011-12. Agreeing with the government that the year gone by presented us with several opportunities and challenges to address critical concerns pertaining to the social sector, the overall sense is that this Budget,...

There is no provision for the proposed National Food Security Bill in the budget proposals for 2011-12. The Bill will necessarily enhance the food subsidy as wheat and rice are to be made available at Rs.2 and Rs.3 a kg to the beneficiaries, but the budget does not reflect this. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee did make an announcement about bringing to Parliament the Bill “during the course of this year” but did...

“To ensure greater cost efficiency, better delivery” Seeking to address the issue of subsidies not reaching the targeted groups, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday proposed to provide a direct cash subsidy on fuel and fertilizers to the poor from March, 2012. “To ensure greater cost efficiency and better delivery of kerosene and fertilizers, the government will move toward direct transfer of cash subsidy for people below poverty line (BPL) in a...