P Chidambaram: Minimum income scheme to be rolled out in phases

Chidambaram addresses a press meet at the party headquarters in Chennai. Pic/PTI

The Congress party's minimum guaranteed income scheme will be rolled out in phases and the five crore beneficiary families will be covered in phases, senior leader P Chidambaram said on Wednesday.

Addressing a press meet here, the former finance minister said enough economists and experts in the subject have been consulted and they broadly agreed that India has capacity to implement the scheme. He said the allocation for the scheme is expected to constitute 1.8 per cent of the GDP.

"We will cover the five crore families in phases," he added. The senior party leader said the scheme has to be tested in the field before being rolled out. An expert committee will be set up for its implementation and it will design it at every stage and "we will consult the committee before we move to the next stage," he said. There is enough data to identify the five crore families, Chidambaram added.

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