India Working on New Social Security Plan for Poor, Mint Reports

(Bloomberg) -- India’s government is working on a new welfare plan and tweaking existing ones for the country’s poor, the Mint newspaper reported, citing two people aware of the development it didn’t identify.

The proposals have been discussed by officials and they may be announced in the budget, the report said. A formal rollout would be done only after getting approvals from the states, it said. 

Queries sent to the ministries of finance and rural development by Mint remained unanswered.

The proposed social security scheme may be similar to an existing plan, which directly transfers money to farmers’ bank accounts, according to the report. 

The existing schemes for informal workers may be made attractive by including accident insurance, the report said. State governments may also be roped in to fund the plans in part, it said. 

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