Time for true universal basic income

If the new basic income programme is restricted to the bottom 50 per cent of the population, both urban and rural, it would cover the most vulnerable groups

Prime Minister Narendra Modi accepted that loan waivers or market interventions are not likely to relieve rural distress in his interview on January 1, as argued earlier in this space. Why is that so? And more importantly, what should be done to deal with this burning issue? The answer lies in understanding what causes the malaise in the first place.

I have previously posited an income-deficit syndrome as the defining trait of rural India. The income from the main economic activity, agriculture, is often not sufficient to meet even the family consumption needs. Low incomes caused by poor productivity and prices