-The Business Standard States drag feet on even extended deadline for implementation; with Centre also worried on fiscal deficit, extension likely The National Food Security Act (NFSA) is still getting a lukewarm response from a majority of states. An extended deadline for implementing the law will expire in about a month and the Centre would have to give more time. Barring the nine states and two Union Territories (UTs) which introduced a food...

-The Indian Express Rajasthan government's decision to ‘target' free medicines and diagnostics is contrary to the recommended role of government in healthcare. In 2002-03, Abhijit Banerjee, Angus Deaton and Esther Duflo studied health facilities in rural Udaipur, Rajasthan. They found that facilities were poor and absenteeism was rampant. In 2013, we decided to revisit the same public health facilities. The motivation was to study two bold initiatives of the then Ashok Gehlot...

-The Hindu The right to good healthcare must be addressed using modern technology, innovative approaches and by involving tribals in developing solutions for their problems In his address to the nation on Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about inclusive development, with food security, safe housing and sanitation being the rights of every citizen. Health is intimately linked to these essentials of living. The health status of India's tribal communities is...

-The Business Standard Like Indira Gandhi, even Narendra Modi seems to be relying on directing public-sector banks through ministry of finance supported by party cadres. How new is that? Narendra Modi's biggest project so far is Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), an aggressively promoted idea to open bank accounts. The English media ran full-page ads and TV commercials to announce the scheme that is supposed to reach largely rural households. It...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: With all the buzz around double-income power couples, it is easy to believe that more and more urban families have given up the sole breadwinner model of the past. But that would be a mistake, as just released Census 2011 data shows. An overwhelming 51 per cent of urban households live on the income of a single earner, while double-income families are a distant 26 per...