Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday countered the Opposition attack that the government's policies resulted in price rise and said the steps it took resulted in food inflation coming down. Replying to the debate on the motion on price rise, he said additional revenue measures were also taken to bring down the fiscal deficit and keep the economy in a better shape. The Rajya Sabha later unanimously adopted the motion: “This House...

By noon daily, the reception area of Surya Clinic in Muzaffarpur district of Bihar begins to fill up. Patients admitted for gyanecological care are clothed in the blue robes of the hospital and ushered into clean rooms with freshly made beds. At the state-run primary health centre (PHC) in Bochahan block of Muzaffarpur, which also offers family planning services, disposable gloves are washed and re-used and rusted beds are covered with...

A new package has been chalked out for private health institutions with a view to extending the benefit of Janani Sahyogi Yojana to women living below poverty line. Giving this information, Minister for Public Health, Family Welfare, Medical Education and AYUSH Anup Mishra said fees has been determined for pre-natal, natal and post-natal medicare. A first installment of Rs 50 thousand will be given to the private medical institutions with...

That hospital births curb mother and child deaths is probably a no brainer. Convincing expectant mothers to get admitted to a hospital is only part of the problem in India’s rural healthcare system. The other challenge is abysmal infrastructure: There is just one hospital bed for every 10,000 Indians living in villages and one in 10 primary health centres in rural areas stumble along without doctors. The result is a human tragedy....

While India’s new Right to Education Act seeks to bring free and compulsory education for all children, it seems to short-change them through an unrealistic vision of the private sector’s involvement. In August 2009, the Right to Education Act was passed in the Indian Parliament with no debate, by the fewer than 60 members who happened to be attending the session that day. Not that the Act was an open-and-shut...