BHOPAL: The sterilization fiasco in Madhya Pradesh refuses to die down. Lamenting the decision of making his wife undergo sterilization two months ago, a 35-year-old man, father of six daughters committed suicide in Betul district on Wednesday. His wife, who went under the scalpel in February, alleged that her husband was promised a plot of land and cash by the panchayat secretary and sarpanch of the village in exchange for the...

The government is thinking of letting the states cherry pick the central schemes for rural welfare, a step back from centralized decision-making that it hopes could help quell the accusations that Centre was weakening the federal structure. The idea behind the 'flexifund route' is to allow states the freedom to decide rural development schemes they want to implement and how much of allocation should each get. It would mark a departure...

The National Advisory Council (NAC) wants the government to assess if its cash incentive scheme for the welfare of girls meets its objective of reducing gender selection, as there’s no official study yet to suggest that it does. As part of its recommendations for a national policy to stem India’s declining sex ratio, NAC also sought the formation of a communication and advocacy strategy and stronger laws to prevent the misuse...

Jairam Ramesh asks Azad not to wind up health survey Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh has urged health and family welfare minister Ghulam Nabi Azad not to discontinue the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), till a credible alternative is in place. In a 22 April letter, a copy of which has been reviewed by ‘Mint’, Ramesh questioned the comparability of data generated by the annual health survey (AHS) or the district level...

There is evidence to show that growth is slowly becoming inclusive. But for the quality of life to improve, incomes must be complemented by infrastructure. For close to at least five years now inclusive growth has had a central place in the official discourse on the economy. The UPA II has itself worn its self-proclaimed success in delivering an inclusive growth as a badge of its effectiveness, not to mention its...