-The New Indian Express The recent socio-economic and caste census (SECC) 2011 data on deprivations is profoundly disquieting. At the global level too, the latest data on economic inequality is equally disconcerting. That 75 per cent of rural households in India earn less than Rs 5,000 per month or around Rs 33 per capita per day and that over 40 per cent are landless and work as manual casual labourers even...
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National Health Policy 2015: Mapping the Gaps -Forum for Medical Ethics Society
-Economic and Political Weekly The draft National Health Policy 2015 is an improvement over its predecessors--the policies of 1984 and 2002. However, it also reveals several gaps, inconsistencies and blind spots which tend to dilute otherwise constructive proposals. The purpose of this article is to open up the draft to further public debate and comment. Forum for Medical Ethics Society (fmesmumbai@gmail.com) is a voluntary, non-profit organisation registered in Mumbai. The society was...
More »Midday meals to lose gas cushion -Basant Kumar Mohanty
-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Centre has decided to stop reimbursing states for the unsubsidised cooking gas cylinders they are forced to buy for the school midday meal scheme. A food security adviser expressed the fear that the Centre's decision may force states to fall back on firewood. But a former member of the National Advisory Council backed the decision, saying states should make use of the additional money they were getting...
More »Slimming Down -Sudha Pillai
-The Indian Express Reduce Centrally sponsored schemes, specify their objectives and timelines. A Niti Aayog taskforce chaired by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has apparently recommended that 25 per cent of the funds under Centrally sponsored schemes (CSS) be made available to states as untied monies. If this recommendation is accepted, states would receive a total of Rs 42,000 crore during 2015-16 itself. This recommendation should be viewed in...
More »Socio Economic Caste Census: Has It Ignored Too Many Poor Households? -NC Saxena
-Economic and Political Weekly A survey to identify who the poor are and how many are actually poor is necessary if programmes and benefits targeted at the needy are to reach them. The Socio Economic Caste Census, of which partial results have been published, was intended to do this. Yet, even a cursory look at the figures indicates that they call for a willing suspension of disbelief. N C Saxena (naresh.saxena@gmail.com) was...
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