Reportage on a planet without equitable or sustainable development.
india’s payments dilemma. continued.
The Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC) could recommend that the Reserve Bank of India should grant limited purpose bank licences to telecom firms and other industries in order to promote financial inclusion. A working group led by Morgan Stanley India chairman PJ Nayak, tasked by the Commission to propose changes to the country’s payment laws, has proposed a radical new approach to ensure the unbanked get access to formal and secure payment systems, which includes restricting the central bank’s regulatory grip over payment and settlement systems.
Its prescriptions are significant as they offer an alternative last mile solution that could help UPA-2 operationalise its ambitious direct benefits transfer programme to ensure subsidy payouts reach intended beneficiaries through the use of technological innovations.
At the same time, it is getting flak from sectoral experts for not paying enough attention to accompanying risks. Says MS Sriram, a member of IIM-Bangalore’s Centre for Public Policy, “The report doesn’t balance risk and innovation. What is at stake here is small depositors’ savings. The RBI has to be conservative on these issues.”
The complete story by my colleague vikas and yours truly, here.
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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