Reportage on a planet without equitable or sustainable development.
haryana’s tryst with e-payments
Haryana is one of the first states in India to move towards e-payments of welfare programmes. Early last year, it began stopped disbursing its social sector pensions through sarpanches, and began using banks and banking correspondents instead. However, after six or so months, the state government called off the project and went back to the old approach. Given that the rest of the country is also moving towards e-payments, what does Haryana’s experience have to tell us? Is the new channel better at rooting out corruption? Is it more cost-effective at delivery than the erstwhile model?
ET emailed some of these questions to Ashok Khemka, the Director of the state’s Department for Social Justice and Empowerment. Read the interview here. You might also want to see this related story on the economics of the bank-BC model.
I am an Indian journalist with interests in energy, environment, climate and India’s ongoing slide into right-wing authoritarianism. My book, Despite the State, an examination of pervasive state failure and democratic decay in India, was published by Westland Publications, India, in January 2021. My work has won the Bala Kailasam Memorial Award; the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award; and five Shriram Awards for Excellence in Financial Journalism. Write to me at despitethestate@protonmail.com.
“Westland closure: Titles that are selling fast and a few personal recommendations,” by Chetana Divya Vasudev, Moneycontrol. (Because this happened too. In February, a year after DtS was released, Amazon decided to shutter Westland, which published the book. The announcement saw folks rushing to buy copies of Westland books before stocks run out.)
Fractured/Earth 
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