-The Hindu Business Line Affordable quality healthcare at the community level across age groups is the key to advancing universal health coverage, the World Health Organisation said on Friday. “A well-functioning primary care system that meets most of a person’s health needs, throughout the life, is central to universal health coverage (UHC),” said Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia. The theme of this year’s World Health Day, celebrated on April...

-The Hindu Governments can provide direct cash transfers while creating conditions for employment With the Congress promising through the Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY) scheme ?6,000 every month to the poorest 20% of households if voted to power, Mahendra Dev and Pronab Sen talk of the importance and problems of direct cash transfers. Providing social protection is important even as governments try to create conditions for income-generating activities, they say in a discussion...

-Livemint.com In conversation with Guy Standing, economist at the School Of Oriental and African Studies, University of London Neither the Narendra Modi government nor Rahul Gandhi have gotten minimum income scheme right, he says New Delhi: Income support is the big economic idea of the season. While the ruling BJP government announced a limited money transfer scheme targeted at farmers in the recent interim budget, the Congress has proposed to solve the country’s...

-The Indian Express He said the government needs pursue health and education efforts in order to build opportunity for and capabilities of people. Nobel laureate and economist Amartya Sen Wednesday said the idea that giving cash to people can help the economy grow misses out on the fact that real economy needs healthy and educated people who can drive growth. He said the government needs pursue health and education efforts in...

-The Indian Express My resignation from National Statistical Commission was the last act in a long story of disregard for its reports William Setzer, in the working paper, “Politics and Statistics: Independence, Dependence or Interaction”, published by the UN, lists several possible areas where political interference in official data generation and publication can happen. One of these is the extent and timing of release of data. He cites several examples. Most...