-The Hindu   The Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana to provide health Insurance cover is likely to be extended to more people among the vulnerable sections. This was decided at a Union Cabinet meeting, which reviewed the scheme on Thursday. The scheme has already been extended to MGNREGS beneficiaries, street vendors, domestic workers, beedi workers and those working at building and construction sites. “The scheme has been extended to a few segments of unorganised workers....

Single-premium plan likely to be only for women initially; Centre, states to share premium for economically weaker sections. Customers may soon get health, insurance and pension covers, as well as a scholarship for their daughter’s school education under one policy. The single-premium policy, which the finance ministry is considering, is likely to be available only for women in the first phase. The premium will be shared by the Centre and the state...

The discordant black-flag picket at the Golden Temple on New Year morning belied Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s clean-slate aspiration for 2012 but he is engaging in earnest with the challenges of what, in his own reckoning, will be another tough year. The Lokpal tangle controversially unresolved, attention is likely to remain riveted on politics, especially with high-stakes battles for Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and three other states under way. The Prime Minister,...

-The Hindu   Achieving universal health coverage through an equitable system is among the key goals of India's 12th Plan. Within the overall objective of creating an entitlement-based health care system, one of the challenges is access to medicines. The High Level Expert Group instituted by the Planning Commission on Universal Health Coverage underscores serious policy distortions and inefficiencies that stand in the way of making essential medicines accessible to all. A...

Recognising the impact of schemes such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), President Pratibha Patil on Thursday called for their further utilisation in the agriculture sector in the emerging scenario of “farm labour shortage and food security.” The President's comments are significant in the context of Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar's recent letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urging him to suspend the MGNREGS during crop harvesting...