-The Hindu Business Line Don’t let Modi’s gloss undermine the efforts and achievements of the UPA government, says the former Prime Minister This is the text of a speech delivered at the Congress chief ministers’ conclave in New Delhi on June 9 There is somewhat of a euphoria that our GDP growth since 2014-15 has started accelerating once again. But doubts have been expressed both within and outside government about the validity of...

-Economic and Political Weekly This article examines the decline in coverage levels of the Routine Immunisation Programme in the better-governed states across three rounds of the District Level Household and Facility Survey. The analysis points to an urban conundrum where proximity to urban centres is a "risk factor." An understanding of peri-urbanisation processes is essential for improving outcomes and governance in urban health services and the National Urban Health Mission. Purnamita Dasgupta...

-Hindustan Times A dominant feature of the first year of Narendra Modi's leadership is the quiet dismantling of India's imperfectly realised framework of welfare and rights, covertly, by stealth.   A declared pro-corporate agenda, such as the land acquisition ordinance, proved politically messy and costly. Therefore, the government resorted instead for an enfeebling of the welfare architecture of the country through a combination of fiscal withdrawals, ignoring even legally mandated obligations.   But this attracted...

-The Indian Express With the country’s ace survey body unsure, the matter has been in a limbo for a year now. New Delhi: The government’s efforts for a nationwide assessment of drug abuse has hit an unexpected hurdle. The country’s largest survey body, the National Sample Survey Organisation, has said it cannot carry out the job as it does not have the required expertise. NSSO has, however, said at internal meetings...

-Economic and Political Weekly The states now have an opportunity to set their own priorities in the social sector. In the constitutional scheme of things, it is the states rather than the centre which bear the larger responsibility for social sector spending. Indeed, the states already account for as much as 80% of total outlays in the area. But central government intervention in the form of establishment of and funding for certain...