-The Hindu In case you missed the Budget, here's a round-up. Affirming that the economy is right on track, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the Union Budget for 2016-17. Citing that the CPI inflation has come down to 5.4% from 9 plus, he said it is huge relief for the public. Tax Infrastructure and agriculture cess to be levied. Excise duty raised from 10 to 15 per cent on tobacco products other than beedis 1 per...
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Neglecting Health Expenditure in Favour of the Chimera of Insurance -Dipa Sinha
-TheWire.in When the data tells us insurance-based health schemes have not reduced out-of-pocket expenditure for the poor, Jaitley’s budgetary focus should have been on boosting public provision of health care. Despite sustained economic growth for over two decades, improvements in health indicators in India have not kept pace. By 2015, India was able to meet only four out of the ten health targets set under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for that...
More »States ask for more
-The Hindu Business Line If the finance panel’s award has been negated by cutbacks elsewhere, there’s a problem A few days back, the States conveyed to the Centre that the new devolution arrangement — more under the Fourteenth Finance Commission award and less from the Union Budget — was not working well for them. The main burden of their argument was that the additional transfers — ₹1.78 lakh crore more this year...
More »Centre writes to states for security of women healthcare workers -Sushmi Dey
-The Times of India New Delhi: Worried that the recent gang-rape and suicide of an ASHA worker in Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh can jeopardise its ambitious health plans, the Centre has asked states to take proactive measures to ensure security of healthcare workers. The health ministry has suggested states to set up a complaint committee or cell headed by a woman as per Vishaka guidelines in every healthcare facility. Besides, states have also...
More »Some Good News
-Economic and Political Weekly Health and nutrition indicators have improved, but remain unacceptably low. After a hiatus of a decade, we now have up-to-date information on the health and nutrition status of the population. Preliminary results for 13 states and two union territories of the much awaited National Family Health Survey–4 (NFHS–4) which was conducted in 2015–16—the first after NFHS–3 of 2005–06—have just been released. In a welcome development, NFHS–4, for the...
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