-The Hindu The Direct Benefits Transfer Initiative is the real tool against corruption that will ensure that the welfare state doesn’t degenerate into a farewell state We are grateful to Narendar Pani (Editorial page, “Cashing in on schemes for poor,” November 29, 2012) and Bharat Bhatti and Madhulika Khanna (Editorial page, “Neither effective nor equitable,” December 4, 2012) for starting a useful debate on the United Progressive Alliance government’s Direct Benefits Transfer...

-Governance Now An alumnus of IIT Kanpur, Ram Sewak Sharma is a 1978 batch Indian administrative service officer belonging to Jharkhand cadre. Sharma is praised for laying down IT infrastructure in Jharkhand. In his role as the director general of unique identification authority of India (UIDAI) Sharma is chauffeuring ‘Aadhaar-enabled service delivery’ which would result in saving huge financial resources to the public exchequer. In an interview with Pratap Vikram Singh,...

-Tehelka The cash transfer debate has turned political with BJP complaining to the Election Commission about the timing of the announcement. It claims the scheme was declared with Gujarat polls in mind. However the Congress-led Central government rubbished the allegation and said the announcement happened in March. Even the political slugfest continues, the debate among experts and activists hasn’t died down. Akshai Jain spoke to a few experts about the various...

-The Hindustan Times The Election Commission on Tuesday ticked off the Union government for announcing the implementation of Aadhar-based direct cash transfer scheme during election time in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh and directed it to keep the process in abeyance in the two poll-bound states. The three-member commission, in its meeting chaired by chief election commissioner VS Sampath, in its order stated that the government's announcement was "avoidable", keeping in mind the...

-DNA Bhopal: The state government on Tuesday said the 'cash transfer scheme' announced by the Central government recently was already in place here.   "The process of transferring amounts of subsidy directly into bank accounts of beneficiaries is already in place in Madhya Pradesh with a view to preventing leakage in govt subsidy schemes and ensuring transparency in selection of beneficiaries", read a press statement issued by the government.   According to it, Chief Minister...