1355 - Cash transfer policy - good economics or bad ideology? by Ram Krishnaswamy

"Cash Transfers can have a complementary role" - Part II of Interview with R.Ramakumar

Here is a link to an excellent interview on the above subject with Prof Ramakumar of TISS. (Only wish the camera was in focus).
http://youtu.be/4uReqqtVRx8

Again and again Indian Politicians and Policy makers seem to be copying everything from Latin America blindly without understanding the cultural & sociological implications in India.

When questions are raised as to why India is going for an Identity Card when USA, UK and Australia have Said No to ID Cards for Privacy reasons, the Pro Aadhaar junta ask you why should we copy what Americans do ?. We are clever and capable of making our own decisions. Fair enough

Now when you question the need for Cash Transfers in India we are told it is used successfully in Latin America.

So the question is why is India blindly copying everything like ID cards and Cash Transfers from Latin America ?

You have to talk to a Mexican or Chilean national or a down trodden Indian migrant (not the well off) in Malaysia living a basic existense, they will tell you the attrocities committed by Police and Govt authorities on downtrodden people making use of the ID Card as a weapon for intimidation, sexual assaults and demands for bribes.

Let me tell you where Cash Transfers will work, at Infosys, where the company electronically transfers wages to a hundred thousand employees. Does it mean it will work as a substitute for PDS or NREGA ?

Now to even believe Cash transfers will replace subsidies like PDS and NREGA has to be an idea that comes from the rich and powerful who have no understanding of poverty. We cannot expect the Harvard graduates in our Cabinet to have any understanding of poor peoples needs, even though they may even believe they have all the answers.

After all a few thousand crores got spent to brighten up a village like Tembli before the PM and Sonia Gandhi arrived. Tembli got Power & Paint before the launch of UID or Aadhaar.

Do Sonia Gandhi and Man Mohan Singh even know what this village looked like before the event or how things are in that village now after the tamasha was over ? I think not.

We cannot dream of  Mahatma Gandhi’s resurrection to witness first hand a nation and a Congress Party that has deviated so much from his philosophies. While Gandhi tried to wipe our Untouchability today we have a Congress Party that has included Caste in the National census.

The next best option would be to elect some on like Anna Hazare (let us excuse the man for his Pro Mody blurts) as he may be closer to the poor Indian than any of the Harvard returned polticians dancing to American and World Bank tunes.

What ever happened to India’s non alligned policies ?

I prayed hard that NDA should be wiped out for their attrocities and today I am praying hard that this corrupt UPA II Coalition just disintegrates. Having said that what alternative does India have ?

It is common knowledge that one Indian is equal to three Japanese brain wise, but three Indians as a team equal one Japanese in out put.

The Indian crab story also comes to mind.

A few Crabs called the Jan lok Pal committee climbed to the top and the Indian Govt quickly grabbed all these troublesome crabs and put them in another basket called the Jan Lok Pal Committee along with some seasoned politicians and we do not hear much from Jan Lok Pal activists any more. One way to silence activists is to grab them and put then inside committees and effectively silence them as has happened in NAC.

Some one joked that NAC was Congo. I asked why do you say that and the response was Congress NGO.

There is one exception to this rule Arundhati Roy.