-The Indian Express Decades of mismanagement have hobbled India’s mental health programme An event commemorating World Mental Health week opened at the WHO in Geneva this week. At a key session, the Disease Control Priorities project released its recommendations to governments to address the burden of mental disorders. This was timely for India, for few countries have witnessed so many high-profile debates related to mental health while ignoring the centrality of mental health...

-The Telegraph Bhubaneswar: Swachh Bharat as a slogan sounds smart, but rampant corruption at the grassroots level is coming in the way of implementing development projects such as constructing toilets in the state. Public sector units executing toilet projects under the Swachh Bharat Swachha Vidayalay Abhiyan are being forced to deal with villagers and sarpanches who want money before the first brick is laid. Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) is one of...

-The Hindu Business Line Calls for more formalisation of work, greater female participation New Delhi: Creative ‘Made in India’ anti-poverty policies, such as MGNREGA (rural job guarantee scheme) and PMGSY (rural road scheme), that helped stabilise and raise household incomes, continue to inspire the world, said a senior ILO official, adding that economic growth by itself is not enough to tackle growing income inequalities and create quality jobs. “The rising tide (of growth)...

-Livemint.com Given condition of land records and problems in identifying actual beneficiaries, the task is gigantic, say analysts New Delhi: The Aadhaar-based direct benefit transfer (DBT) of fertilizer subsidies may not see the light of day anytime soon. “The roll-out of DBT in fertilizer will take some time because there are various hurdles,” said a government official, who is working on DBT. The official, who requested anonymity, said that “this is more challenging”...

-The Hindu The production of waste in India is growing at an exponential rate. However, the welfare and dignity of the informal workers involved in the stigmatised sector of waste management remains at the bottom of any government’s political agenda. Human society has always produced waste and always will. Waste materials — substances without value — are constantly generated in all production, all distribution and all consumption processes. The time waste spends...