Articles by T N Krishnan

Population, Poverty and Employment in India T N Krishnan This paper represents a preliminary attempt to examine the successes and failures of the Indian economy in integrating population issues with development planning and what were, or would be, the consequences of rapid population growth for the alleviation of poverty in the country.

Demographic Transition in Kerala Facts and Factors T N Krishnan This paper examines the recent trends in birth, death and infant mortality rates the three key demographic parameters which define the demographic profile of a region

comprehensive scheme for the procurement and public distribution of cereals for the country as a whole. The reasons for such a scheme to concentrate on the distribution of cereals are quite obvious; not only do cereals provide more than half the calories in the average Indian diet but also they account for three-fourths or more of whatever calories persons in the low income groups are able to garner .each day. As the National Cominission on Agriculture says; "Considering that a substantial portion of the Indian population today subsists below the line of poverty, it should be a national obligation to take care of those who are at the subsistence level or below, particularly in difficult years. This should be the most important aspect of public policy. The only way of protecting the vulnerable sections front the impact of rising prices and inflation is to provide th food grains through public distribution, or, if this cannot be the foodgrains prices sufficiently low".1 In this paper, we have attempted to work out, first, the magnitude of cereals required for public distribution if the vulnerable groups of population are to be protected from price rise; second, the equitable manner in which that quantity can be procured internally; and, finally, the various policy implica tions which would follow from the adoption of such a scheme on public distribution and procurement of cereals.

IT was more than a decade and a half ago that Nicholas Kaldor suggested as part of his package of tax reform for India that the government ought to have the right to take over a property at the taxpayer's valuation where the government believes that the said property's value has been understated for tax purposes. Kaldor's recommendation was a broad one in the sense that the government's right to acquire property was related to the taxpayer's declaration of value for purposes of taxation regardless of whether or not the property passed hands in sale or underwent any construction. Almost exactly 15 years thereafter, the Direct Taxes Enquiry Committee, more popularly known as the Wanchoo Committee, when confronted with the problem of the use of property undervaluation as an outlet of tax-evaded money, recommended that the government should acquire the right to take over properties whose value has been understated in formal documents of transfers on sale. The purpose of both Nicholas Kaldor and the Wanchoo Committee was expressly the same, namely to deter the use of property undervaluation with a view to evading taxes, but the Wanchoo Committee's recommendation was far narrower than Kaldor's.