-The Financial Express While the Central Statistical Organisation has estimated “agriculture and allied services” to grow 4.1% in FY17, Niti Aayog member Ramesh Chand expects the growth rate to be a handsome 7%. Chand spoke to FE’s Prasanta Sahu and Sandip Das on critical factors that need to be addressed to ensure at least 4% annual growth over the next 15 years. * How do you foresee the direction of the agricultural...

-The Hindu Business Line It should have considered universal basic income. But sadly, budgets are not seen as a means to meet socio-economic goals The Union Budget attracts considerable media hype and debate. Democracy, if understood as a contract between the state and its citizens, may have to use the budgetary process to ensure not only prosperity for all, but justice or fairness to the most disadvantaged among them as well. A rational...

-Scroll.in Botched-up beneficiary lists have denied the needy the government rations to which they are legally entitled. Even though few in eastern Uttar Pradesh’s Baksha village have ever seen the internet, every man, woman and child there knows the word online. Online for them means standing in a queue outside a computer shop with a bundle of documents that the shopkeeper consults as he types away into the computer. At the end...

-The Indian Express Linking of Aadhaar to a growing number of government entitlements is misguided LAST week the Union food ministry issued an unprecedented diktat. It has insisted that each family member must possess an Aadhaar number within four months, to be eligible for subsidised foodgrains under the National Food Security Act. This ties in with the larger plan for all ration shops by 2019 to verify Aadhaar biometrics at every...

-PTI NEW DELHI: After cooking gas LPG, the government on Thursday made Aadhaar mandatory for availing subsidised foodgrains from the ration shops with a view to better the target of Rs 1.4 lakh crore subsidy under the food security law. The government has given time to those not having the biometric-based unique identification number to apply for Aadhaar by June 30. The government issued a notification to this effect but did stop short...