The National Food Security Act 2013 guarantees maternity benefit to the tune of Rs. 6,000/- per child by the Central Government for pregnant women and lactating mothers, barring those who are already availing such benefits while being in regular employment with the Central Government or State Governments or Public Sector Undertakings or under other laws. The NFSA 2013 also legally guarantees free meals for every pregnant woman and lactating mother...

-Financial Express The Survey ends up using an array of inapposite health indicators in studying the scheme’s impact Universal health coverage (UHC) has received an unprecedented systemic push over the past decade, reinforced greatly by the Sustainable Development Goals. In India, the public health insurance (PHI) route has been strongly advanced as the prime agency for attaining UHC—founded on the experience of the multitude of state and national PHI schemes stretching since...

-Press release by Working Peoples' Charter dated 21st September, 2020 Amidst the micro and macro-economic crisis of the last 5 years, the union government has aggressively pushed the agenda of labour law reforms -- purportedly to simplify India’s ‘complex’ labour legislations, improve the business environment, and augment growth and employment. These changes, driven primarily by the business fraternity, have been aimed at improving India’s ranking in the ‘Ease of Doing Business’...

-TheWire.in In the name of simplification and universalisation, the new labour codes will likely result in increased worker exploitation. The Indian government has brought out four labour codes with the stated objective to rationalise and simplify the existing 44 labour laws. It is a welcome initiative to consolidate and simplify the delivery of justice to the working class. The four labour codes relate to wages, industrial relations, social security and welfare and...

-The Telegraph Hospitalisation cover does not protect families from catastrophic expenses A three-state study has found that India’s government-funded or private health insurance schemes that pay for hospitalisation have not adequately protected households from catastrophic health expenditures and rekindled the debate on how to achieve universal health care. The study that examined sample households in Gujarat, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh found 28 per cent of insured households and 26 per cent of uninsured...