-The Hindu It is astonishing that public expenditure data on the education sector are not easily available In the current Budget session, how much money the Central and State governments will allocate to education and for what purpose should be a matter of public concern and debate. Even before the pandemic, public spending on education in most States was below that of other middle-income countries. Most major States spent in the range...

-The Hindu The reduction of out-of-pocket expenditure that the NHA highlights is essentially due to a decline in utilisation of care Low public spending on health in India has meant that people depend heavily on their own means to access health care. It causes rich-poor, rural-urban, gender and caste-based divides in access to health care, pushes people to poverty, and forces them to incur debt or sell assets. As a result, our...

-The Telegraph The poll bonds are sold in 10-day phases, and the 17th tranche was issued earlier this month The government has sought more time to provide details on the sale of electoral bonds although RTI documents suggest the information is available. “The government seeks more time to furnish the replies,” the finance ministry said in a written reply on Tuesday to questions posed by Trinamul Congress MP Santanu Sen in the Rajya...

-The Hindu Business Line Central Government approved the Baba Ramdev-owned entity under the category ‘Research Association’ The Income Tax Department has notified five years exemption for Patanjali Research Foundation Trust, based in Haridwar (Uttarakhand). “The Central Government hereby approves M/s Patanjali Research Foundation Trust, Haridwar under the category ‘Research Association’ for Scientific Research for the purposes of clauses (ii) of sub-section (1) of section 35 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 read with rules...

-The Hindu There was a total expenditure of ₹1.34 crore without appropriation by legislature Tamil Nadu’s revenue deficit of ₹23,459.44 crore during 2018-19 was understated by ₹3,757.23 crore and fiscal deficit by ₹1,300.49 crore primarily owing to short transfers totalling ₹1,366 crore towards various reserve funds, such as sinking fund and guarantee redemption fund, according to the Comptroller and Auditor-General’s report on State finances for the year ended March 2019. There were...