Inefficient food grain procurement policies, politically driven high cross-subsidy burden, and unregulated power supply for agriculture are harrowing implications of the food-water-energy nexus in India. This policy brief assesses the readiness of Indian states and deep dives into several state-level policies and last-mile infrastructural considerations to adopt DBTE.

The paper assesses the efficacy of India’s food security response during COVID-19 pandemic. It details out field level insights and also covers the lessons learned from the PDS experience during the pandemic.

India is a country on the move, with crores of people moving out of their villages and towns every year searching for better livelihood opportunities elsewhere in the country. Against this backdrop, social welfare benefits meant for them and other eligible beneficiaries must be made portable, so they can be availed no matter where the […]

To check overexploitation of groundwater in Punjab, the state government launched an innovative pilot for Direct Benefit Transfer in Electricity (DBTE), “Paani Bachao, Paise Kamao” (Save water, earn money). This note highlights the on-ground challenges in the implementation of the pilot and the way forward.

This note discusses how free power to the agriculture sector has led to the overexploitation of groundwater in India. It highlights the case of Punjab, where the government launched Paani Bachao, Paise Kamao (Save water, earn money), an innovative pilot program for Direct Benefit Transfer in Electricity (DBTE), to address the rapidly declining water tables in the state.

Based on findings from MSC’s diagnostic study on the IM-PDS program, this note examines portability in the public distribution system as a reform to strengthen government service delivery in India