-Business Standard/ NIPFP Strap: It recognises that the medium-term fiscal arithmetic does not afford space for expansionary fiscal policy   In my column on the FY20 Budget (A silent fiscal crisis, July 5, 2019), I had warned that the government faced a structural fiscal constraint that was concealed by using incorrectly optimistic numbers for revenue receipts. This year’s Budget is transparent. But the government continues to be heavily fiscally constrained due to inadequate...

-The Hindu Citizens should not be asked to provide the same information more than once to government agencies In June 2014, the Modi government set out to change how the government worked. At that time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke in a meeting of Union Secretaries about “reforming the public service delivery system and bridging the governance deficit” by introducing “self-certification” in place of “affidavits”. That event revealed his enthusiasm and commitment...

-TheWire.in The State Government has also reduced the cut-off age for old age pensioners from 65 to 60 years. New Delhi: Close to 42 lakh pensioners in Andhra Pradesh received their pensions at their houses from the village and ward volunteers under the State Government’s ‘Intivadhakey Pension’ programme, according to a report in The Hindu. The massive doorstep pension disbursement initiative was one of the promises in the YSRCP’s election manifesto and was...

-Decoding the Priorities: An Analysis of Union Budget 2020-21, Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA), February 2020 The publication presents an analysis of the priorities in Union Budget 2020-21, both on public expenditure and resource mobilisation front. It has been divided broadly into five chapters. The first chapter focuses on a host of important aspects under Resource Mobilisation, like domestic tax policy, international taxation policy, financial transparency, and Centre-State...

-The Hindu Concerned over time and quantum of funds to be devolved over the years Even after the Centre accepting the Union Finance Commission’s revenue deficit grant award of Rs. 74,000 crore, the State Government is concerned over the time and quantum of funds to be devolved over the years. The concern is largely based on the Centre’s practice of slashing the grant progressively in the previous years. Citing financial constraints, if the...