-The Economic Times   Everyone knows poverty is rampant in India, but nobody knows exactly how many of us are poor. That's because we've tried to count the poor many times with different assumptions, and come up with widely different numbers. In 2004-05, the Planning Commission reckoned that only 27% of Indians were poor. This was debunked by a committee headed by Suresh Tendulkar in 2009, which pegged the number of poor...

The food ministry is set to oppose the mandatory 5% ethanol blending programme, fearing diversion of foodgrain for manufacture of ethanol. The ministry has called for the report of the expert panel headed by Planning Commission member Saumitra Chaudhuri in order to "review" the programme. The petroleum ministry was expected to soon send the report to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs for a final decision after factoring in the dissent notes...

-The Indian Express   Indian government uses public funds to alleviate, prevent and end poverty; but, unarguably, does so inefficiently. A new report from the World Bank for the Planning Commission on India’s “social protection” programmes outlines the scope of the failure and provides a few answers. Those programmes can be divided into three kinds, the report argues: those that prevent a slide into poverty, like social security and insurance schemes; those...

-The Hindu   “Surveys leading to move are misleading, towing a pre-planned agenda” Opposing the Delhi Government's move to extend a pilot project in the Capital for providing cash subsidies in place of subsidised foodgrains for the needy, a group of non-government organisations led by social activist Arvind Kejriwal has said the decision is “questionable” and that the surveys conducted ahead of the project's implementation were “misleading”. One of these surveys conducted by...

-Express News Service   A Delhi government pilot study to test waters in the cash-for-food scheme is facing stiff resistance. NGO Parivartan, led by RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal, raised questions on Thursday about the move. Another NGO, which has been entrusted with the pilot study, has, meanwhile, alleged that Parivartan workers have threatened the families who are part of the study. The pilot study, involving 500 households in Raghubir Nagar, West Delhi, is...