The increase in the total number of suicides committed in India during 2020 in comparison to the previous years has hit the headlines recently. While some media commentators have stated that the economic distress (caused by job loss, income loss, failure of business, and growing hunger, among other things) in 2020 could have led to more suicides being committed, others have said that home isolation and deteriorating mental health (associated...

-The Hindu Yawning gap between States in access to online education, says the study. The percentage of rural children who were not enrolled in school doubled during the pandemic, with Government schools seeing an increase in enrolment at the expense of private schools, according to the Annual Status of education Report (ASER) 2021. Over a third of children enrolled in Classes 1 and 2 have never attended school in person. However, enrolment does...

-Down to Earth Rate of returns for females higher than that of males; intervention to address gaps in India’s mental healthcare for adolescents need India has the highest adolescent population in the world — the country is home to over 250 million adolescents, according to India’s 2011 Census.  This has increasingly built a case for investing in them. The Population Foundation of India, a non-profit, commissioned a study ‘Investing in Adolescent Development, which examines...

-The Hindu But remote work, education, and healthcare still not equally available to all, says survey The story so far: Internet connectivity has shot up over the last year, with most new users attributing their new connections to the COVID-19 pandemic and shutdowns. However, a new nationwide survey found that remote work, education, and healthcare are still not equally available to all, even among those with digital access. How was the study designed? LIRNEasia,...

-Newsclick.in Modi government has restrained spending of various ministries including education, social justice, environment and others. Continuing with its policy of cutting down spending, the central government has spent only 47% of the budgeted amount by the end of September 2021. That’s half of the financial year 2021-22 gone. This is a new low (see graph below), and bizarrely, it comes at a time when tax revenues have picked up. As can be...