A difference of opinion between two ministries has put paid to a six-month-old proposal to extend a government health insurance scheme for the poor to those working under the government’s flagship job guarantee programme. The Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) offers cashless hospitalization benefit up to Rs30,000 for a poor family of five. Nearly 11 million families have been issued smart cards since the scheme was introduced through the labour ministry...

It's a myth that the global financial crisis left India virtually unscathed. In fact, India is the biggest victim of financial crisis-induced poverty, according to data obtained by TOI from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs' (UNDESA). Check out these figures. The UNDESA data estimates that the number of India's poor was 33.6 million higher in 2009 than would have been the case if the growth rates...

To assist the poor in entitlements under Act  Lok Karmi should not have affiliation with political bodies 12th Standard pass will be preferable The Centre has set in motion the process to appoint Lok Karmis and Lok Sevaks for the proper implementation of Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGREGA). In view of disparities in rural social structures and inequalities in functional capabilities of the poor and marginalised sections lacking literacy skill...

Though many migrant workers from south Madhya Pradesh have died of the incurable workplace disease called silicosis contracted from inhaling quartz dust in stone crushing factories in Gujarat, the public health system has carried out no comprehensive survey to identify the disease, which is often passed off as tuberculosis, many factories have not installed anti-pollution systems, and the NHRC has been sitting on the case since 2006 “He kept coughing…became more...

I solicit your personal intervention in the matter to ensure that para-wise comments on the reports of Sanjay Dixit (member of Central Employment Guarantee Council who's come out with a scathing report on the implementation of NREGA in Uttar Pradesh) and pending complaints are attended on priority basis. - Rita Sharma, union secretary (now retired), rural development, in a letter to Atul Kumar Gupta, chief secretary, Uttar Pradesh, on January 13....