-The Hindu Budgetary support must be strengthened to make Ayushman Bharat a success Ayushman Bharat has been rolled out as a health protection scheme that will provide guaranteed access to treatment that is free at the point of delivery to about 40% of the population selected on the basis of censused socio-economic indicators. It is the essential first step on the road to universal health coverage, although it has been launched by...

-TheWire.in Little can be done without a massive increase in public health expenditure and a radical revamp of the primary health infrastructure. Even by Narendra Modi’s high standards, the level of deception involved in the recent launch of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) is breath-taking: the prime minister managed to claim that PMJAY is the world’s largest health programme without making any significant financial provision for it. It may be recalled...

-The Indian Express On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will roll out the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), which will provide an annual health cover of Rs 5 lakh for 50 crore people in 26 states. Mewat: LEANING BACK on a steel chair at City Care Hospital in Nuh, Mohammed Haneef is patiently waiting for a doctor to treat his “throat pain”, unsure of what the bill will finally add up...

-Livemint.com While farmers will receive a 12% penal interest payment for delays in settling claims, state governments will be penalised if they delay in depositing their share of subsidies New Delhi: Faced with a sharp decline in the number of farmers signing up for its flagship crop insurance scheme, the centre on Tuesday imposed a 12% penalty on insurance companies for delayed settlement of claims. Under the new guidelines that will take effect...

-The Indian Express It is important to evaluate the consequences of the Centre’s agriculture policy. With elections around the corner, it’s too late for a course correction of the farm sector, but it’s an opportune time to document the unintended consequences of half-baked policies for the next five years. Otherwise, the momentum of existing policies will continue to feed rural economic misery. Agriculture GDP growth plummeted just as India’s agricultural trade surplus,...