As a matter of fact, the Centre has been mulling some variant of UBI in lieu of the heavily contested farm loan waivers. On January 29, 2019, Rahul Gandhi promised a minimum income guarantee for all poor families should Congress come to power in 2019.
The Economic Survey of 2016-17 had first envisaged the UBI as "a conceptually appealing idea" and a possible alternative to social welfare programmes targeted at reducing poverty.
What is UBI?
UBI is a programme in which every citizen of a country, state or region is given a fixed monthly income free of cost, that is, without the expectation of repayment or enrolment from the beneficiary. The amount disbursed is deemed enough to cover a person’s basic expenses.
UBI is a fixed income which every adult, rich or poor, working or idle, gets from the government. The idea is to create a society where economic inequality does not exist, as a first priority, and the nation looks to bring all its citizens at a minimum level of income.
According to Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN), a global network of academics, students and social policy practitioners promoting and serving as a repository of published research on UBI, "A basic income is a periodic cash payment unconditionally delivered to all on an individual basis, without means-test or work requirement."