-The Hindu A 2012 WHO study ranks India third — behind Myanmar and Bangladesh — among countries that fail to provide health cover to people. A 2011 study reported in The Lancet on ‘Healthcare and equity’ confirms this: every year, at least 39 million people here fall into poverty due to private out-of-pocket health expenditure. A vast majority of Indians do not have access to healthcare or essential drugs. By the...
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Pvt schools battle RTE Act’s social challenges -Charu Sudan Kasturi
-The Hindustan Times Lawyer and education activist Ashok Aggarwal has spent over a decade challenging private schools that violate laws, cheat parents and deny students – especially the poor -- an opportunity to study. But two years after the Right to Education Act came into effect requiring private schools to set aside 25% free seats for students from economically weaker sections (EWS), Aggarwal isn’t worrying about the law’s implementation. “Most top schools...
More »Much more than a survival scheme -Aruna Roy & Nikhil Dey
-The Hindu An anthology of independent evaluations of MGNREGA shows that it has provided income security, improved health, narrowed the gender gap and created useful assets In the midst of the debates that prevail in this country over the feasibility of the world’s largest public works programme, the MGNREGA Sameeksha — an anthology of independent research studies and analysis on the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, from 2006-2012 — is...
More »Farm loan target fixed at Rs 5.75 lakh crore: P Chidambaram
-PTI KARAIKUDI (TN): Disbursal of agricultural loans has been on the rise under the UPA regime and the target for this fiscal has been fixed at Rs 5.75 lakh crore, an increase of Rs 1,00,000 crore over the previous year, Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram said today. 'We have set a target of disbursing Rs 5,75,000 crore (loans) during this year (2012-13),' he said inaugurating the new building of Rural Training Centre...
More »Resurgent agricultural sector to have larger share in economy-Vinay Pandey
-The Economic Times A change in the national accounts, slated to take place sometime in the next two years, will show that a resurgent farm sector is now the second biggest contributor to the economy, displacing manufacturing and financial services. The unexpected reversal is not just a statistical artefact. Instead it is an outcome of a change in the terms of trade, the price of agricultural produce compared to industrial output since...
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