-The Economic Times In over a decade, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has been instrumental in providing employment to rural households. One of its key provisions is that once the work week is completed, the worker must be paid within 15 days. Millions depend on the timely payment of these wages. The payments process has made many strides in the last decade, from cash payments to wages being...
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Kaushik Basu, Professor of Economics and the C. Marks Professor of International Studies at Cornell University, interviewed by Mohit M Rao (The Hindu)
-The Hindu The former Chief Economic Adviser on India’s current slowdown in economic growth and the mix of policies needed to reignite it In a career spanning more than four decades, economist Kaushik Basu has donned many hats. He was Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India (2009-2012) and Chief Economist of the World Bank (2012-2016). At present, he is Professor of Economics and the C. Marks Professor of International Studies...
More »Electoral Bonds prize anonymity, you won't know who's bought them -Milan Vaishnav
-The Indian Express Far from reducing opacity in how politics is financed, this new vehicle merely legitimizes it. It is an open secret that political finance in India is, to put it mildly, a sordid affair. When it comes to political contributions, opacity reigns. The situation is not much better when it comes to expenditure, as candidates regularly declare laughably small amounts of campaign spending in order to give the appearance...
More »Civil society activists allege another hunger death in Jharkhand due to failure of aadhaar-based biometric authentication
-Press note from Right to Food Campaign, Jharkhand Etwariya Devi, a 67-year-old widow, died of hunger and exhaustion on 25 December in Sonpurwa village of Majhiaon block of Garhwa district (Jharkhand). She lived with her son Ghura Vishwakarma, daughter-in-law Usha Devi and their three children in a dilapidated kutcha house. The family has a hand-to-mouth existence and is routinely unable to access adequate nutrition. Surviving the day on only a meal...
More »No charges on debit card transactions up to Rs 2,000 from now
-PTI Giving further impetus to digital payments, the government will reimburse charges for transaction up to Rs2,000 on debit cards and BHIM New Delhi: Customers will not have to pay any transaction charges for payments through debit card, BHIM app and other payment made for up to Rs2,000 from Monday onwards. Last month, union cabinet approved a proposal that government will bear the merchant discount rate (MDR) charges on transactions up to Rs2,000...
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