-The Indian Express Rising cases of leprosy among Adivasis call for urgent public action. India officially eliminated Leprosy in 2005 by BRInging the Prevalence Rate below 1/10000 at the national level. However, the National Health Policy 2017 (NHP), which will guide the health policy direction of the country over the next decade or so, still has elimination of Leprosy as a national level target. It is highly unlikely that India achieves elimination...

-Scroll.in It contends that the draft policy released in March undermines the rights of Adivasis and other forest dwellers. The Union tribal affairs ministry has criticised the environment ministry’s draft National Forest Policy, contending that it will promote the privatisation of forests and undermine the rights of communities who live in them. In a letter to the environment secretary CK Mishra on June 19, Leena Nair, the tribal affairs secretary, noted...

-The Hindu Any move to amend the RTI Act must involve public consultation The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)government has struck another blow against transparency and accountability. Its already negative track record — that has been marked by an unwillingness to operationalise the Lok Pal, the Whistleblowers Act and the Grievance Redress law — has taken another step backwards if one is to go by a single line in item 14 in the...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: In the Lok Sabha bulletin for legislative business of the upcoming monsoon session, one bill stands out because it is the only one about which no details have been furnished. The bill seeks to amend the Right to Information Act of 2005, and the ironical opaqueness has alarmed transparency advocates who have mounted a pushback. As many as 18 bills are listed for introduction, consideration and passage in the...

-DNA Union minister for women and child development Maneka Gandhi has again raised objections against the provision of implementing cash transfers in lieu of dietary supplements, known officially as Take Home Ration (THR), marking perhaps the third time the ministry has officially spoken against it. A decision to implement the provision in ten vulnerable districts was passed at the National Nutrition Council's inaugural meeting on April 18, chaired by NITI Aayog...