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There is a belief that Universal Basic Income will encourage wasteful expenditure, but a study shows otherwise. Finance officials said a pilot project done in Madhya Pradesh and Delhi on UBI in 2011 proved such arguments wrong. Hyderabad: A day before the Union Budget is presented in Parliament on February 1, the state government is betting big on the possible rollout of Universal Basic Income scheme for those people living below the poverty line through a direct cash transfer scheme in the place of existing welfare schemes.

The TS government is keen to bring all its welfare schemes under the […]

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New Delhi, Jan 31: The Economic Survey, the annual document prepared by Chief Economic Advisor, before the release of Union Budget, will be tabled in the Parliament today. Economic Survey evaluates the performance of Indian economy in each of the sectors for the financial year. The survey also looks extensively at the trends and expectations coming from the economy, recommending the government key policy changes as per requirement.

Although the Indian economy has slowed down due to staggering private investment, followed by the demonetisation drive, speculations are rife that the Economic Survey could recommend Centre to implement the populist Universal […]

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Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian. DH file photo The Economic Survey to be presented in Parliament may feature a chapter on universal basic income this year. Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian has promised to float the idea to let the government think over it. Universal basic income is a form of social security where the State transfers a sum of money to poor citizens to supplement their income to reach a certain threshold.

In the Indian context, it may mean people below the poverty line. Recently Subramanian had said that his effort would be to add a new chapter […]

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St. Thomas wants to become a test site for Ontario’s Basic Income pilot project, a social welfare system overhaul that’s set to roll out in select communities later this year. City council and its Elgin county counterparts endorsed the plan last week and are hoping the region will be chosen to participate. (Jennifer Bieman/Times-Journal) Forget Jumbo the elephant, St. Thomas really wants to be a guinea pig instead.

The Railway City is jumping at the chance to be part of Ontario’s Basic Income pilot project – an ambitious overhaul of the social welfare system that guarantees a single monthly stipend […]

Full Post at www.stthomastimesjournal.com

Supporters of the Swiss referendum to add a universal basic income policy to the Swiss constitution watch as activists pour 8 million valid Swiss 5-cent coins into the Bundesplatz to celebrate gathering enough signatures in Bern, Switzerland, on October 4, 2013. (Photo: Generation Grundeinkommen )

Universal basic income is emerging as a realistic policy position across Europe. As we reported in late 2015, local authorities across the Netherlands are currently running trials to award every citizen unconditional money from the state. And this year, Finland started an experiment of 2,000 randomly selected people, all of whom currently receive out of […]

Full Post at www.truth-out.org

On Sunday, Benoit Hamon, a relative outsider, won the French Socialist Party’s presidential primary, which means he will run for president in the country’s upcoming elections.

His three main – and pretty radical – policies seem to be gaining some ground. Who is Benoit Hamon?

Right wing ideas are gaining traction all over the world – things like reducing welfare and cracking down on immigration – Hamon represents pretty much the opposite. He is thought of as a good old-fashioned ‘socialist’.Hamon was briefly a member of the current French president’s government – confusingly, the Socialist Party – but left because […]

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G. Sampath — Photo: Special Arrangement | Photo Credit: The idea of a universal basic income (UBI) has been gaining ground globally. While Switzerland held a referendum on it last year (it was voted down), Finland introduced it earlier this month. Media reports suggest that the government of India’s flagship Economic Survey this year is likely to endorse the UBI, setting the stage for its introduction.

On the face of it, an unconditional basic income for everyone seems a great idea. In the West, the UBI is being discussed as a solution to two problems: unemployment due to automation; and […]

Full Post at www.thehindu.com