India's Fiscal Policy Prescriptions, Pragmatics and Practice

Review of some existing estimates on fiscal implications of NFSA -- Food grain entitlement -- Subsidy implications -- PDS and alternative distribution mechanism -- Identification of beneficiaries -- Incremental costs -- Integration of NFSA with social protection programmes -- Way forward -- References -- 5 Land and Food Acts: Trading Economic Pragmatism for Political Gain -- Introduction -- Land acquisition and compensation -- Food security -- Bearing the burden -- Notes -- References -- 6 A Separate Debt Management Office in India -- Introduction -- Some basics of debt management -- Separate debt management office: A traditional view -- Central bank independence -- Need for coordination -- Separate DMO: Post-crisis debate -- Debt management in India -- Dimensions of public debt in India -- Important role of the RBI -- Coordination between RBI, government and markets -- Fiscal responsibility legislations -- Need for a separation of debt and monetary management -- A discussion on the views against separation -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- 7 Show Me the Cash: Direct Benefits Transfer in India -- Introduction -- Does direct benefit transfer work in theory? -- International experiences -- Economic impact of transfer programmes in different countries -- Effect on education -- Effect on labour supply -- Effect on child labour -- Effect on health, calorie intake -- Effect on inequality -- Social and political impact -- DBTs in India -- Implementation challenges and alternatives -- A status report of the roll-out of DBT in India -- Conclusion -- Abbreviations -- Notes -- References -- 8 India's Education Challenges: Expenditure Effectiveness Issues -- Introduction and overview -- Education sector policies in India and their fiscal implications -- Education performance -- Empirical evidence -- Role of supply side factors -- Conclusion -- Note