-The Hindu Obamacare and other such examples make a compelling case for seeking the right combination of roles for the public and private sector in health reform in India Nail or screw? Which is best to join pieces of wood? In carpentry, the answer is that each offers benefits depending on the application. With health care reform, the choice of public or private sector financing, delivery and regulation is subject to a...

-Mumbai Mirror Second punch: Govt issues circular telling officials to hold back any files that they think are not in public interest. Outraged Right to Information (RTI) activists have railed at two government notifications, issued in the last two weeks, which they say seek to dilute the efficacy of the RTI Act. Some advocates of transparency and the regime of accountability have termed the orders "illegal" and have written letters of protest...

-The Indian Express India's 2005 Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) creates a justiciable "right to work" by promising up to 100 days of wage employment per year to all rural households whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. Employment is provided in public works projects at a stipulated wage. The Central government proposes to allow a greater share of the cost of projects under the scheme to...

-The Indian Express Mumbai: In a move that has Right To Information activists up in arms, the administration of Governor-ruled Maharashtra has issued a directive to all departments and offices, asking them not to provide any information under the RTI Act if it "does not constitute any public interest". While government officials say the objective of the directive is to merely restrict those misusing RTI, activists describe it as a move to...

-The Hindustan Times The government plans to put up coal mines for bidding by private steel, power and cement companies and introduce changes in the law to enable commercial mining in the future, signalling its intent to fully open the sector to private players. The new auction-based system will replace the earlier controversial policy of allotting coal blocks based on recommendations of a panel of bureaucrats, which the Supreme Court had struck...