-RuralIndiaOnline.org Poor public Infrastructure, unaffordable private medical care and limited access to the state health insurance scheme are pushing Covid patients and their families into long-term debt in Marathwada  Eight days after testing positive for Covid-19, Ramling Sanap died in the hospital where he was being treated for the infection. But it wasn’t the virus that killed him. A few hours before he died, Ramling, 40, had phoned his wife, Rajubai, from the...

-TheWire.in Despite the fact that India's financial inclusion Infrastructure has a complex mix of self-help groups and small private banks offering credit to the poor, it has failed to deliver during the pandemic. When the pandemic struck, policymakers and prominent economists across the world called for financial Infrastructures to be strengthened. They argued this would support the efficient channeling of relief through cash transfers or cheap loans. India was no exception to...

-SabrangIndia.in On-ground voices and detailed reports highlight the need for cash transfers to keep vulnerable groups afloat in face of a growing unemployment Many experts and reports analysing the socio-economic impact of Covid-19 have demanded fiscal support for India’s vulnerable and below poverty line (BPL) population amidst the Covid-19 crisis. On June 17, 2021, this notion was reaffirmed when Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) President T. V. Narendran said, “There is an estimated...

-The Hindu Besides models, all-cause mortality numbers from India’s Civil Registration System suggest that official figures may have been exceeded by far If the official count as on May 15 was over 0.27 million deaths in India since the pandemic began, based on modelling, The Economist had estimated around one million COVID-19 deaths as on May 15. Against a daily tally of over 4,000 deaths in May this year, the report estimated...

-Newslaundry.com The state’s River Training Policy appears designed to allow near unfettered mining of sand and boulders by private contractors, bypassing green clearance and scientific assessment. In November 2020, a few months before floods ravaged Uttarakhand, the deputy collector of Purnagiri in Tanakpur district announced an open auction of tenders to desilt the riverbed in Champawat’s villages. Tenders for government work usually seek the lowest bidder, the contractor willing to do the job...