-The Hindu Much of the National Health Policy document reads like a report of health issues and systemic challenges, and is sorely wanting on policy detail Health impoverishment - falling into poverty due to health care costs - affects 63 million individuals in India every year. This is a damning statistic, especially when read with the fact that 18 per cent of all households face catastrophic health expenditures (health expenditure greater than...

-Outlook The BJP government needs to understand that "vikas" means growth and development, not growth alone. The new government that came to power with the promise of "vikas" has launched an unrelenting attack on social welfare programmes and legislations. In October 2014, there was a rumour that NREGA would be restricted to some districts. Though the changes proposed have not been implemented, NREGA is in danger of dying a slow death...

-DNA It's a misconception that high economic growth translates into employment A recent report prepared by the consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers for the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) harps on the usual premise of boosting economic growth as the basis for job creation. Accordingly, it will still take 20 years to remove unemployment even if India grows at an annual growth rate of 9 per cent. This is exactly what we were...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: More than 50% of land allotted to special economic zones (SEZs) across the country remains idle, and its very purpose was defeated with no significant increase in employment even as the government's Revenue Foregone was to the tune of Rs 83,000 crore between 2007 and 2013, the comptroller and auditor general (CAG) has found. Exposing systemic weaknesses in tax administration, a performance audit on SEZs by...

-Outlook India To the social subsidy whiners, please check corporate write-offs column The TV anchor asked eagerly of Arun Jaitley whether he would take hard decisions or, in the case of a bad drought, revert to loan waivers and (obviously wasteful) subsidies. The finance minister replied that it depended on the situation as it unfolded but he hoped he wouldn't have to return to such steps. "We hope so too," said...