Telangana was the first State in India to implement a basic income scheme for all the 6 million farmers of the state, in 2018. Under the Rythu Bandhu Scheme, the state government offers to pay Rs10000/year to the farmers of the state, irrespective of the size of landholding. The amount is given by a bearer cheque through Village Panchayat. Commendably, before implementing the scheme, the State made all land titled good, by completely digitizing the land records and issuing new fully secured title deeds (Land Pass Books) to all the farmers. All land holdings records are transparent and could be digitally verified by anyone.
Subsequently, the state governments of West Bengal and Odisha, implemented their versions of the Telangana scheme. But these schemes lacked the basic ecosystem of clean land records like Telangana, hence were seen prone to leakage and misuse.
Sensing the evolving trend at the state level, the Union Government, implemented a nationwide scheme of guaranteed basic income for small and marginal farmers in the interim budget for FY20. The finance minister announced the “Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN)” scheme whereby an annual grant of Rs6000 was promised to the farmers owning less than 2 hectares of land in the country. The grant is paid in 3 installments of Rs2000 each, through a direct transfer to bank accounts of the eligible farmers. However, a large number of landless farmers and the farmers with unclear or disputed land titles are unable to get the benefit of the PM-KISAN scheme.
In the same budget, the finance minister also announced the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan (PM-SYM) scheme for the urban poor. The scheme envisages a pension of Rs3000 for urban workers on attaining the age of 60yrs. To be eligible, the worker must have registered under the scheme when he/she was between the age of 18-40yr, working in an unorganized sector and earning not more than Rs15000/month.
These schemes are in addition to the older schemes like MNREGA, Old Age Pension Scheme, & various Subsidized insurance Schemes for poor.
Subsequently, many state governments have announced direct cash payment of Rs1000-2000/month to all adult women in the respective states. The trend suggests that it is almost certain that most of the state governments will have this scheme implemented by the time next elections are held in their respective states. It is a matter of time that the central government announces a uniform monthly cash payment for all women citizens.
In my view, the small steps taken towards implementing a Universal Basic Income and wider social security mechanism are transformative. Given the context of elections, presently these might appear hasty and politically motivated. Nonetheless, these proposals shall eventually prove to be watershed in the fiscal policy and social welfare paradigm of the country.
I believe that in next one decade almost all social security and welfare schemes like MNREGA, Old Age Pension Scheme, cash payout to farmer, workers, students and female, & various Subsidized insurance Schemes etc. shall be subsumed in a uniform Universal Basic Scheme (UBI) that may guarantee a basic cash income and health insurance to all citizens. I am not worried about the immediate fiscal impact of these schemes. However, I would like the government to work on developing a robust technology support system for efficient and full-proof UBI in the future.
