-PTI Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Friday asked banks to gear up for implementation of the ambitious cash transfer scheme, which seeks to transfer money directly into beneficiary accounts in 51 districts from January 1. "There is lot of work to be done from January 1. There are huge burden, huge responsibility going to fall on your shoulders. It is banks that have to make cash transfer scheme successful. I know you...

Should they be targeted? Should they go to individuals or households? Are conditionalities necessary? Without a full consideration of these issues, cash transfers will remain an expensive gamble Having worked on cash transfers for over 25 years, and being an economist, I find recent criticisms of the idea shrill and ill-informed. Only a right-wing ideologue would call them a panacea or a cure-all. They would merely be a vast improvement on...

-The Economic Times The oil ministry may raise prices of diesel by Re 1 a litre or that of cooking gas by Rs 100 to neutralise the impact of its plan to increase the supply of subsidised cylinders to households, government officials said. "A Re 1 hike in diesel prices would generate about Rs 8,000 crore a year, which is sufficient for three additional cylinders in a year. About Rs 100 hike...

-The Hindu Adding fuel to fire, people haven’t received subsidy Kotkasim (Rajasthan): Mahipal Singh Yadav (31) is a contractual junior manager at the Kotkasim Gram Sewa Sahakari Samiti. Joining the cooperative, he had hoped, would be like any other job. However, since the direct cash transfer of kerosene subsidies scheme was piloted here, Mr. Yadav has found himself at the receiving end of people’s anger. The KGSSS operates five fair price shops (FPS) in...

-The Hindu Chennai: Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said the cash transfer scheme, aiming at crediting subsidy amount directly to the bank accounts of beneficiaries, would be fully implemented throughout the country by December 2013. “Beneficiaries of 39 schemes will get their money transferred to their bank accounts directly,” Mr. Chidambaram said, while participating in the centenary celebrations of former Assembly Speaker S. Chellapandian on Sunday. He said the “your-money-in-your-hands” scheme would...