Modi Wants Indian Railways to be Better Than Airports, Calls for Private Sector Role

[janon]

You can't use direct transfer of cash to eliminate poverty.If it were that easy, we would have done it already.
We need to change the society and that needs sustained efforts over time

Cash transfer doesnt eliminate poverty, nor do subsidies. The intent is not to eliminate poverty, but to make sure that nobody dies of starvation. To reduce poverty, we need industrialization, infrastructure, jobs etc. There are no shortcuts.

 

[greatone]

Money can be debited once a month. This is the age of computers. Paying people enough money for food needs will end up being cheaper than subsidizing the food. After all, what does subsidizing mean? The govt is paying the producers and distributors, who are free to jack up prices. On the other hand, if govt pays to the consumers, then the producers and distributors will try to keep prices down, to reap maximum profit.

Whether you pay people money, or subsidize their food, you end up paying. In the former case, you only pay for the item. In the latter, you pay for the item, plus the overhead costs.



That's precisely why things should not be subsidized. When housing was paud for by the govt, they gave that away to other people and lived in slums. When foodgrains are subsidized, they end up being sold to bakeries and eateries for a higher price. It is when govt subsidizes something, that that thing gets misused and sold for higher prices on the black market. If govt paid people money and left them free to do what they want with it, then they cannot sell that money for a higher amount of money. If they buy alcohol with that, it's their fault, isn't it? They deserve to go hungry in that case.

Generally its the women in the family who use the BPL card to buy rations and in small quantity.
And people are less likely to squander money if they get it piecemeal in form of various subsidies rather than a large cash transfer.Its common sense.

What you are suggesting was tried and found more inefficient at reducing poverty than subsidy system we have today.

 

[The Great One]

The method of cash handouts was tried before and it did not work.
Poor people simply buy alcohol and other drugs, party for a few days/weeks and go back to being poor again.
Many slum dwellers put the free houses they are given by the govt. up for rent and go back to living in slums because they are used to the slums.
To them, living in conditions that would appall us is pretty normal

You can't use direct transfer of cash to eliminate poverty.If it were that easy, we would have done it already.
We need to change the society and that needs sustained efforts over time.

I thought that Direct Cash Transfer pilot was successful. Anyway, DCT is better than that shoddy PDS systems in any case. At the very least it reduces corruption and over piling of food grains. Not to mention the real beneficiaries can be targeted here unlike in the case of say, diesel or petrol subsidies which are used by all, whether rich poor or middle class.
And not all the poor people are drunkards and drug addicts LOL.

BTW 'greatone'............ Good going there. COPYCAT

 

[greatone]

Im the real deal biatch

 

[kadamba-warrior]

Hard cash would work much better. It's cheaper to hand out cash, than to have an elaborate, inefficient mechanism of subsidizing everything. A lot of overhead can be eliminated, and the cost to the country would be lower.

Also, USA and UK have a lot of money, and very few poor people. That's not the case with India. We have a tiny percentage of people who earn enough to pay taxes, and you expect them to pay for the large percentage of the non productive population. It is mathematically infeasible.

If ten percent of the population is poor, then the earning of the other 90 percent can be used to give them things they need. But if 90 percent are poor, and the other ten percent are only barely rich, then you cannot expect to redistribute the earning of that ten percent among the 90%. It will simply make everybody poor.

True. But more than the inefficiency, it is always an avenue for corruption when you involve so many bureaucratic layers and intermediaries to deliver goods to the public. Instant benefit transfer to bank accounts really addresses this concern.

Too bad, Aadhaar and DBT are getting scuttled due to political one-upmanship!

 

[Vinayak Tiwari]

Which fool started a discussion of PDS and subsidy in this thread ?