The ministry of rural development has been considering the creation of a social registry — the Social Registry Information System — to track the living conditions of the poor on a real-time basis. The details recorded, such as special events or adverse shocks that affect the well-being of an individual or a family, would help the government design better interventions. It would also make redundant the periodic surveys conducted to gather data. This process not only takes time but also affects the accuracy of the data by the time they reach the tables of policymakers. In principle, the SRIS would appear to be a superior system. This idea evolved from the socio-economic caste census of 2011. Attractive as it may appear, the notion has conceptual as well as practical difficulties. Hence it seems to be stuck in a file without moving towards implementation.

One complication relates to what precisely needs to be monitored and measured. There are many metrics that are important: consumption expenditures, savings, incomes, assets like land, uncertainties and insecurities faced from the primary source of livelihood, and the geographical location of the family. It is well-known that the fortunes of households living on the edge of poverty fluctuate a great deal, moving in and out of poverty. How would poverty be measured continuously if interventions are to be prompt and effective? Another difficulty pertains to the gathering and collation of the data for use. Would the data be left to the local government or should they be left to a specialized cadre of field workers trained to process data and do some basic analytics to glean patterns of change. In this case, the costs of gathering data would become significantly higher than those incurred for conducting the periodic surveys. It would be incorrect to claim that the lack of evidence is the main reason for the persistence of poverty. One way by which the distribution of benefits could be improved is by organizing it at the village level in the presence of a government functionary and a locally elected official. The actual distribution could be done equitably through a consensus of opinion. Local information is best known to the local people. Random checks could be carried out later as to how the actual distribution took place. Cash benefits could continue to be deposited directly to the Jan Dhan accounts. Where there is political will, there is usually a feasible way.