-The Hindu Direct Benefits Transfer is potentially a game-changer, but with certain pre-requisites: Mihir Shah Planning Commission member, Mihir Shah, speaks to The Hindu about a wide range of issues, including the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and his contribution to the 12 Five-Year Plan. Excerpts: * The MGNREGA has come under criticism from many quarters, including the CAG. Do you feel this criticism is warranted? How do you...
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Will court ruling on Aadhaar impact Karanata DBT schemes? -Deepa Kurup
-The Hindu Aadhaar is mandatory for 28 welfare schemes in three districts The Supreme Court decree that ruled out making an Aadhaar number mandatory for delivery of government services, puts a spoke in the wheel of several ambitious plans announced by several departments of the State government to link crucial services to Aadhaar. These plans range from Direct Benefit Transfer scheme for kerosene and LPG subsidies to using the number to weed out...
More »Aadhaar should not be mandatory, Cong says
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Congress said Aadhaar should not be mandatory till its penetration reaches a satisfactory level, aligning itself with the Supreme Court which on Monday said unique identification number could not be the pre-requisite for providing government services. It said Aadhaar was facing teething problems in many states and its issuance had not reached a stage where it could be used as testimonial for identity. "Congress will go by...
More »UPA’s showpiece cash plan flops in Congress bastion -Chetan Chauhan
-The Hindustan Times The UPA's showpiece direct benefits transfer (DBT) plan is struggling. Poor Aadhaar enrolment clubbed with lack of banking facilities is coming in the way of the anti-poverty programme. Numbers are telling. Two months after the roll out in Rae Bareli, the constituency of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, only Rs. 1,400 has been transferred in Rae Bareli. The district has 6,000 people enlisted for the National Social Security Programme....
More »Cash transfer reaches just 10% of test population-Sidhartha
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) was supposed to be a game-changer ahead of the 2014 general elections, with the government planning to plug leakages by transferring cash directly into the accounts of beneficiaries and hoping to cash in on their goodwill. But eight months down the line, it is discovering that the grand plan has run into bureaucratic walls and the beneficiaries are not ready to...
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