-The Hindu Several instances of in-kind transfers being successfully implemented. Social sector groups want Finance Minister to review the implementation of alternative subsidy systems before going ahead with Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). “There have been several instances of in-kind transfers being successfully implemented in various parts of the country. Our appeal to the Finance Minister was to look at all the successful examples of alternative schemes before the government pushes ahead with the...

Representatives of around 20 civil society organizations and NGOs met the Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley as part of pre-budget consultation on social sector on 12 January, 2016. Immediately after the pre-budget consultation, a press conference was held by some of these organizations to convey the media persons what demands/ suggestions were made.   Subrat Das, Executive Director of Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA, http://www.cbgaindia.org/) informed us that during...

-Frontline The NCRB data used to justify the new law bringing down the age of responsibility for criminal action are open to interpretation. Often the same data can be interpreted in different ways to arrive at contrary conclusions. Portions of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data have been quoted ad nauseam by the government and the media alike to justify the changes made in the juvenile justice law. Experts from the...

-IndiaSpend.com India accounts for 27% of the world's neonatal deaths and 21% of all child deaths Here are some health statistics for Indian children five years or younger: 38.7% are stunted (below normal height for the age), 19.8% are wasted (underweight and short) and 42.4% are underweight. This in a country that boasts a 40-year-old national child-health programme – now among the world’s largest – and increased spending on child health 200% over...

-The Times of India CHENNAI: The World Health Organization says close to one in seven people in India are at risk of contracting malaria. In a report that should worry Public health officials, it says India, along with Ethiopia, Pakistan and Indonesia accounts for 80% of all malaria cases worldwide, but the country allocates the lowest funding for malaria control in the world. The report, based on the data collated by the National...