-The Hindu Any move to amend the RTI Act must involve public consultation The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)government has struck another blow against transparency and accountability. Its already negative track record — that has been marked by an unwillingness to operationalise the Lok Pal, the Whistleblowers Act and the Grievance Redress law — has taken another step backwards if one is to go by a single line in item 14 in the...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Union health ministry on Thursday said Aadhaar cards were not required for treatment under the National Health Protection Scheme, but guidelines released by the Centre suggest that beneficiaries can seek treatment only once without the 12-digit biometric identity. The ministry said a notification "being issued" enables implementation agencies to ask beneficiaries for their Aadhaar card to authenticate identity. "In order to authenticate the identity of beneficiaries accurately,...

-Firstpost.com There is nothing to prevent the government from making Aadhaar mandatory for Ayushman Bharat. Even as the Courts reopened and news on the Aadhaar verdict is awaited, a Union health ministry notification issued on 4 July has confirmed that Aadhaar will be mandatory for the ‘Ayushman Bharat’ national health insurance scheme. While details of the scheme were out in June, the new notification also sets a deadline for enrolment for those...

-The Indian Express NREGA is a demand-driven programme and if the demand vanishes because wages are low and uncertain, nothing will be able to save it. The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) is going through a deep crisis of delayed and failed wage payments. The problem is not new, but it is more serious than ever and threatens to undermine the entire programme. The crisis has at least four manifestations: Delayed payments,...

-The Indian Express EPFO manages social security funds of workers in the organised/semi-organised sector in the country. EPF is applicable to establishments with more than 20 workers. New Delhi: The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation’s (EPFO’s) enrolment numbers, which formed the basis for an ‘independent’ study released earlier this year that the government cited as an indicator of buoyancy in formal job creation in the economy, has now been sharply whittled down for...