-The Hindu In his article in The Hindu (editorial page, “Making a mockery of domestic gas pricing,” January 18, 2013, Surya P. Sethi attacks the gas pricing formula proposed by the Rangarajan Committee, curiously enough, for being based on numbers from foreign markets that do not reflect the supply, demand or cost of production in India. I say “curiously” because on the exact opposite side, domestic producers are also pillorying the committee’s...

-IANS Hyderabad: Thousands of people lined up at Aadhar centres in Hyderabad on Tuesday after the government said that LPG cylinders would be linked to Aadhar cards from February 15. Police used force to quell protests at some Aadhar centres in the city. People complained that the centres did not have application forms. A similar situation prevailed in Ranga Reddy district, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Tirupati and other towns across the state. Two women fell...

-Economic and Political Weekly A cost-benefi t analysis by the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy of the benefits from Aadhaar integration with seven schemes throws up huge benefi ts that are based almost entirely on unrealistic assumptions. Further, the report does not take into account alternative technologies that could achieve the same or similar savings, possibly at lower cost. Reetika Khera (reetika.khera@gmail.com) is at the Institute of Economic Growth on...

-The Hindustan Times The government is hoping to substantially negate the political fallout of higher diesel and cooking gas (subsidised LPG cylinder) prices by doubling the cap on the number of subsidised LPG cylinders from six to 12 a year. A proposal to this effect has  been readied for a final decision by the Cabinet, a senior government official confirmed to HT. Such a move will “substantially mollify” people who are...

The total expenditure on central schemes for the poor and on the major subsidies exceeds the states' share of central taxes. These schemes are chronic bad performers due to a culture of immunity in public administration and weakened local governments. Arguing that the poor should be trusted to use these resources better than the state, a radical redirection with substantial direct transfers to individuals and complementary decentralisation to local governments...