There are fears that curative health care will be left to the private sector, while the public system will handle preventive and low-quality care. AN issue of The Lancet earlier this year highlighted some of the problems with public health in India, acknowledging that “it is in crisis”. The robust economic growth over the past 20 years has not translated into better health indices; indeed the decline of infant and child...

-The Hindu   ‘The mechanism for compensating the affected people is not clearly defined and has many limitations' Industry chambers led by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and FICCI on Friday sought a review of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Bill, 2011 approved by the Union Cabinet stating that the industry was concerned on royalty, profit sharing and the methodology of providing assistance to project-affected persons. In a statement here, Rana Som,...

-The Hindu Business Line   Input subsidy expenses not contributing to boost productivity The World Bank has said that South Asia's foodgrain stock management, especially in India, needs to improve to tackle inflation. In its focus on food inflation in South Asia, the bank said that high stocks have led to high wastage due to inadequate storage capacity and technology. According to World Bank's estimates, the Food Corporation of India lost 10-16 million tonnes...

The World Bank has suggested sale of excess public land in Indian cities to fund infrastructure projects. Collaborating with the India Development Foundation and the Public Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility , the World Bank has formed a steering committee headed by Vijay Kelkar, chairman of the 13th finance commission, to formulate a proposal on monetizing excess public land. Earlier this month, the bank's India director Roberto Zagha Patricia Annez met stakeholders,...

A report by an expert group on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) has suggested wide-ranging institutional reforms to regulate the public and the private sectors to ensure assured quality and rational pricing of healthcare services. The group, set up by the Planning Commission to develop a blue print and investment plan to meet the human resource requirements to achieve health for all by 2020, focuses on rational use of drugs. The extensive...