-The Economic Times With the general election a few months away, the central government has begun crunching the numbers in preparation for a comprehensive programme to help farmers tide over challenges posed by a dip in prices and dwindling incomes. The government is keen on a more substantive intervention than a loan waiver at the central level to alleviate agrarian distress besides stepping up investments in the sector, having concluded that writing...

-The Telegraph Despite being prohibited the practice remains widespread and unmodernised, and violators are not punished The death of five sanitation workers in Delhi is a grim reminder of the hostile conditions that confront manual scavenging in India. Manual scavenging has been prohibited by law. Yet, it remains unchecked. There is also a distinct lack of effort to make this objectionable occupation safe and dignified. This is the net result of institutional...

-The New Indian Express The government had earlier said all 10.74 crore households categorised as deprived in the SECC 2011 would benefit from the scheme. NEW DELHI: Families that earn more than Rs 10,000 a month, or own a refrigerator or a two-wheeler, among other amenities, won’t be able to benefit from the Modi government’s ambitious health insurance scheme. The National Health Agency (NHA), responsible for implementing the Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan...

-TheWire.in The Ayushman Bharat scheme provides support to the most deprived portion of India’s population and engages private insurance players, positive steps that must be welcomed. In his speech on the 72nd Independence Day this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi remarked that India’s economy, once a sleeping elephant is now running. The same cannot, however be said about the healthcare system of India. This elephant is malnourished, weak, diseased and lumbering at...

-The Hindu It’s time to debate the modalities of the next Census, given the earlier confusion over caste data. As the 2011 Census approached, demands for inclusion of data on caste in Census reached a crescendo. P. Chidambaram, the Union Home Minister at the time, was opposed to collecting caste data and blocked it by claiming that it was logistically impossible for the Census, but caste information could be collected via the...