Cash transfers to cut subsidies

Conditional cash transfer to the poor for buying foodgrain, instead of providing it at subsidized rates under the Food Security Act, can save at least Rs.30,000 crore a year, said Shanta Kumar, chairman of a panel set up to revamp the staterun Food Corporation of India. Kumar said linking cash transfer to conditions such as constructing toilets was one of the options being considered.
Kumar heads the panel set up by the government to restructure Food Corporation of India -the massive state-run food procurement, storage and transportation agency -one of the Centre's key reform plans. Kumar said the panel is studying the best practices and models that different countries have adopted.