Nobel imprint in Punjab: Cash incentive scheme to save power and water

‘Pani Bachao Paisa Kamao’ was launched last year as a pilot project by the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) on six of the state’s 5,900 rural power feeders that cater to 14.16 lakh tube wells.

Officials said the monthly quota for rabi crop was fixed lower — at 50 units per HP — because wheat is 4-5 times less of a water-guzzler than paddy. (Express File Photo)

On Monday, The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences described the Nobel-winning work of Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer as a “new experiment-based approach” that has “transformed development economics”. Nothing better illustrates this description than the fields of Punjab, where Mumbai-born Banerjee and his wife Duflo have left their imprint on a popular incentive scheme to save power and water.