-The Hindu The policy also makes denial of health care an offence The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has suggested making health a fundamental right, similar to education. This key proposal in the draft National Health Policy, 2015, suggests making denial of health an offence. Thirteen years after the previous health policy, the draft, now in the public domain for stakeholders' suggestions and comments, has addressed the issues of universal...

-The Hindu Traditional hierarchies are too deeply entrenched to be reversed through one single measure; they need a concerted push, backed by strong will from different segments of society, including, but not confined to, politicians The rise of Other Backward Classes (OBC) and Dalit-Adivasi leaders in the political sphere is celebrated as India's "silent revolution." At the national level, this phenomenon has been especially marked since the early 1990s, leading to comments...

-AP United Nations: The highest rate of child marriage was in Bangladesh, where two-thirds of girls are married before age 18, followed by India, Nepal and Bangladesh. Nearly half of girls in South Asia marry before their 18th birthday as children in the region continue paying the price of persistent inequality, according to a Unicef report released on Thursday. The Unicef report said that child marriage is pervasive in South Asia even though...

-Deccan Herald The Green Revolution has changed life in Indian villages, but the main beneficiaries were the landlords. Daily labourers remain poor and marginalised. The limits of using ever more fertiliser and pesticides are becoming apparent. Many farmers are confused because extension services want them to reconsider practices they were told to abandon not that long ago. A member of the Santal tribe, an Adivasi community, assesses things from the village perspective. Since independence...

-The Hindustan Times The women's reservation Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha in 2010 but has not yet been passed in the Lok Sabha. No other legislation in our democratic history has been discussed for so many years (15 years) without being passed or rejected. Such a delay has happened even though major parties support the Bill and there are 1.2-1.5 million women who hold elected office at the local level...