-Outlook Chandwa (J'hand): All districts in Jharkhand would be covered in the Direct Cash Transfer programme by middle of next year, Union Minister Jairam Ramesh said today. "Now Hazaribagh, Ramgarh, Sareikela-Kharsawan and Ranchi are among the Jharkhand districts in the country where Direct Cash Transfer programme will begin from January 1. We are trying to cover all the districts in the state by May," the Rural Development minister said while taking stock...

-Frontline The Congress-led UPA seems to be betting heavily on the cash transfer scheme as a means to return to power in the next general elections. DECEMBER 2012 may go down in history as the month when the Congress party created its own “India Shining” moment: the moment when it started believing its own hype, and even deluded itself into thinking that its perception was so widely shared that it could provide...

-The Indian Express With less than a fortnight left to roll out its direct cash transfer scheme, the government is trying to fast-track the process of identification and registration of beneficiaries for the 34 schemes. Accordingly, it has decided to set up camps in each of the 43 districts where direct cash transfers would be launched for preparing a central database of beneficiaries, enrollment for Aadhaar numbers and opening of bank accounts. “A...

-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 Telegraph Ranchi: A study supported by a German non-government organisation has found that Aadhaar numbers/cards issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India is playing a big role in empowering Jharkhandi women. The results of the study that were presented at a workshop, organised today by Heinrich Boell Foundation at a city-based hotel, found that the Aadhaar cards had helped the women forge their own identity, besides fighting social taboos. Presenting the...