-Outlook A scheme to credit kerosene subsidies to beneficiaries’ accounts flopped real big in Rajasthan Dharamvir Chaudhary’s fair price shop in Kot Kasim, Rajasthan, is deserted. A year ago the tehsil played host to an experiment by the government: residents were asked to buy kerosene—a fuel most of India’s poor use to cook and light lamps—at market price (Rs 50 a litre) from shops like Dharamvir’s. People were promised that the...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Total Matching Records found : 441
Why direct cash transfer shouldn’t be used to kill the PDS -G Pramod Kumar
-First Post If we are willing to believe the best practice examples of cash transfers from Brazil and Philippines, and trust the UPA on the fact that their cash-for-subsidy is going to be all hunky-dory, we also have a right to believe Sitaram Yechury’s concerns about the fancy plan. According to the CPM leader, the cash transfer is a ploy by the government to dismantle the PDS and systematically reduce subsidies. “This is...
More »Left, civil society slam cash transfer
-Deccan Herald Say it is a bid to lure voters, cut subsidies The Left and civil society are up in the arms against Aadhar-based direct cash transfer scheme, arguing that it was aimed at luring voters with an eye on the 2014 elections. A day after the announcement of the details, the CPM, civil society organisations including the one led by Aruna Roy and Medha Patkar and newly formed Aam Aadmi Party, all...
More »Cash is no cure-all-Lant Pritchett and Shrayana Bhattacharya
-The Indian Express Cash transfers seem to be the latest fad. With elections looming, the Prime Minister’s National Committee on Direct Cash Transfers has been tasked with an ambitious mandate to provide vision and direction to enable direct cash transfers of subsidies under various government schemes and programmes to individuals to enhance efficiency. Certain activists warn against an ill-considered and hasty transition from food to cash. Others believe directly transferring the...
More »Knock, knock, it’s Karat -JP Yadav
-The Telegraph When the going gets cold, the comrades will get going. In the winter chill of December and January, leaders of the four Left parties, including CPM general secretary Prakash Karat and his CPI counterpart Sudhakar Reddy, would go from house to house to collect signatures. Their target: five crore signatures in favour of a universal public distribution system (PDS) to ensure food security for the poor and also the relatively affluent. While...
More »
