Six districts have reduced infant mortality rate to 28, which is the UN target to be achieved by 2015 A few districts in the eight empowered action group (EAG) States have excelled by achieving the targets set by the United Nations under the millennium development goals (MDGs). The EAG States are Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and Rajasthan. Of the 248 districts of the EAG States and Assam...

-Press Information Bureau   Bageshwar in Uttarakhand has reported minimum Crude Birth Rate (CBR) of 14.7 while Dhemaji in Assam has reported the Minimum Crude Death Rate (CDR) of 4.5 as per the findings of the Annual Health Survey (AHS) in 284 districts of nine states. The survey results were released by Secretary, Health & Family Welfare Shri K. Chandramouli at a press conference in New Delhi today in the presence of...

The bidirectional relationship between economic development and health justifies greater investment in the health sector. The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) has been described as one of the largest and most ambitious programmes to revive health care in the world and has many achievements to its credit. It seeks to provide universal access to health care, which is affordable, equitable, and of good quality. It has increased health finance, improved infrastructure...

The past couple of months have seen a renewed attack on the National Advisory Council (NAC). The NAC has been decried as an unconstitutional, undemocratic, “super-cabinet” where unaccountable “jholawalas” hatch harebrained schemes guaranteed to run the government aground. Another line of criticism has focused on the process of the formation of the NAC, its space within the Indian Constitution, and its capacity to influence policy. The two criticisms merge with...

-The Business Standard   Among the many initiatives and innovations being considered to improve returns to farming, the creation of producers’ companies deserves closer policy attention than has been the case so far. A farmers’ company, registered as a corporate entity with the registrar of companies, under the Companies Act, can help farm producers come together and derive economies of scope and scale. A group of farmers in Andhra Pradesh has reportedly...