Child welfare continues to be accorded the least priority in planning and implementation of public services or amenities. Other than those institutions, public and private, directly charged with the protection of children, almost all others exhibit a low level of sensitivity to children and low levels of preparedness for child protection, a new study has shown. Conducted by Childline 1098 — a helpline service for children in distress — the study...

-The Times of India The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday morning issued notices to 11 officers, contractors and politicians summoning them to Delhi headquarters of the agency for questioning in connection with the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) scam. In Lucknow, a dozen member team of the CBI has started visitng the primary health centers and community centers to verify if the money sanctioned to the people under different...

-The Telegraph   Jharkhand’s flagship maternal and Child Health scheme has attracted the Centre’s attention and may now be replicated in other states. Mamata Vahan was launched in July 2010 by the state wing of the National Rural Health Mission as a free referral transport service to ferry expectant mothers to hospitals, aimed at encouraging institutionalised deliveries to reduce mother and child mortality. Launched as a pilot project in Ranchi — across Mandar,...

-The Times of India   The state chapter of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind that is planning a huge rally on January 5 at Nizam College grounds demanded on Tuesday that madrassas (religious schools) in the country be kept out of the purview of the Right to Education Act. Jamiat's state unit president Hafiz Peer Shabbir, who is also a member of the Legislative Council, told mediapersons that the government had not yet evolved a...

Twelve government doctors involved in alleged illegal clinical trials in Indore have been slapped a fine of Rs 5,000 each when a probe committee had recommended stringent action like prosecution and cancellation of licences. The paltry fine has invoked strong reactions from health activists who called the action an eyewash and demanded that the government immediately suspend the doctors if it was serious about penalising them and setting an example. The 12...