-The Hindu The National Democratic Alliance government has just introduced a cess of 0.5 per cent on all taxable services for the Swachh Bharat campaign. In February 2016, it will introduce a 2 per cent cess on airfares for all domestic flyers except those flying to remote locations, and international travellers. This cess is meant to fund losses that airlines may incur in connecting to hinterland locations. The Central government loves...

-The Hindu The funds collected can be used only for the designated purpose and cannot be diverted More than Rs. 1.4 lakh crore of funds collected by the government under various cesses for purposes as varied as higher education, road development and the welfare of construction workers are lying unutilised, shows an analysis by The Hindu of a Comptroller and Auditor-General report on government finances and answers by Ministers in the Lok...

-Business Standard Health cess recommended; public health care to be primary focus The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government plans to increase public investment in health from 1.04 per cent of GDP (gross domestic product) to 2.5 per cent by 2020, with 70 per cent of this being dedicated to primary health care. This target has been set in the overhauled draft National Health Policy that now emphasises on substantially ratcheting up government...

-The Hindu Business Line It's a huge exercise in collective cleanliness which needs massive funding and human resources. Cosmetics won't work At first glance, the government has not put its money where its mouth is. Just ₹2,625 crore have been provided for the Swachh Bharat Mission in the Budget. This is against ₹4,620 crore in 2014-15 and ₹3,500 crore the year before. The drop is puzzling till one looks at the Budget...

-The Hindu Much of the National Health Policy document reads like a report of health issues and systemic challenges, and is sorely wanting on policy detail Health impoverishment - falling into poverty due to health care costs - affects 63 million individuals in India every year. This is a damning statistic, especially when read with the fact that 18 per cent of all households face catastrophic health expenditures (health expenditure greater than...