Can we agree in this country on a floor of human dignity below which we will not allow any human being to fall? No child, woman or man in this land will sleep hungry. No person shall be forced to sleep under the open sky. No parent shall send their child out to work instead of to school. And no one shall die because they cannot afford the cost of...
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Cash cure for leaky PDS by Anirban Bhaumik
The Government proposal to make cash transfer in place of food grain to poor families has drawn mixed reactions. Raghuvir Nagar on the western outskirts of Delhi has of late turned into a turf for a war between two schools of thought. The war has not been limited to campaigns and debates and purportedly escalated to the level of allegations, even intimidation, so much so that the Government of the national...
More »Cash Transfers as the Silver Bullet for Poverty Reduction: A Sceptical Note by Jayati Ghosh
The current perception that cash transfers can replace public provision of basic goods and services and become a catch-all solution for poverty reduction is false. Where cash transfers have helped to reduce poverty, they have added to public provision, not replaced it. For crucial items like food, direct provision protects poor consumers from rising prices and is part of a broader strategy to ensure domestic supply. Problems like targeting errors...
More »Poverty begets poverty by Richard Mahapatra
A 30-year survey of the poor gives a wake-up call POVERTY is becoming hereditary in India, at least for a sizeable population. That is the conclusion derived from a three-decade tracking of poor households in rural India. A survey by the Chronic Poverty Research Centre (CPRC), an international association of researchers and academicians, claims that those who are chronically poor may pass on poverty to their next generation. What’s more, people residing...
More »World Bank endorses cash-transfer of food subsidy to poor
-FnBNews The World Bank, like many analysts, is in favour of cash-transfer of subsidy for foodgrains to the poor in India. This suggestion was made in a recent report on Social Protection for a Changing India, drafted by the World Bank for the Government of India. Using the National Sample Survey data, the report stated that the Public Distribution System (PDS) continued to absorb substantial public resources at almost 1 per...
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