-The Indian Express The UPA is banking on cash transfers as a political tool, but it must concentrate on programme design The Congress has been congratulating itself on its newly announced direct cash transfer scheme — P. Chidambaram described it as a game-changer, Sonia Gandhi declared it nothing short of revolutionary, and Rahul Gandhi reportedly claimed that “Aapka Paisa, Aapke Haath” would bring the party generous political dividends. The Congress may have...

-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...

-Live Mint The solutions to India’s growth problems require a more holistic approach Whether rightly or wrongly, there is a growing critique of India’s current development strategy: of a top-down, trickle-down theory that rides on an extraordinary growth momentum. They are disparate, but when the dots are connected they do present a coherent reminder that this strategy may not be the best and, worse, it is not sustainable. To a large extent this...

-The Indian Express Raipur: In May 2010, Hindi TV channel Sahara Samay presented a five-point proposal to the public relations department of the Chhattisgarh government about covering government activities during 2010-11: 1. Two-minute special package: Sahara Samay will show the package 15 times a day during news bulletins. It will contain “CM’s speeches, government policies, and special news related to various departments.” Cost: Rs 3.28 crore per year at Rs 3,000 per...

-The Times of India The income tax department's '360 degree profiling' had resulted in former corporate lobbyist Niira Radia's contacts with several bigwigs coming to light. She may have fallen off the radar but the government plans to strengthen the mechanism with finance minister P Chidambaram initiating a pilot project with the FIU (Financial Intelligence Unit) to integrate data on all suspicious transactions with the '360 degree' database. Financial transactions of hundreds...