-Down to Earth   As India elects new government, the 12th Five Year Plan may no longer be pro-poor MUCH hope is pinned on the 12th Five Year Plan that was declared as the first health Plan by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, while drafting the Plan, also termed it "pro-poor" and promised the maximum budget for social welfare schemes. But as the Plan comes into force this...

-The Hindustan Times   The all-powerful Planning Commission may shrink, made more accountable, and forced to think long-term under the new government. Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi is likely to dilute its over-arching financial powers and convert it into a developmental think-tank. Five Year Plans, the main mandate of the Planning Commission, may be scrapped. Instead, the panel may have to draft plans with 10-30 years on its horizon. The 12th Five Year Plan...

-Down to Earth   Delhi High Court exempts four private hospitals from treating the poor for free. Experts fear other hospitals will follow Many a poor patient has benefitted from the Supreme Court's 2011 order which mandates that all private hospitals which received land at a lower price from the government have to treat a certain number of people from the economically weaker sections (EWS) for free. Take the case of four-year-old Shagun, born...

-The Hindustan Times   The Aadhaar scheme, touted as ‘gamechanger' by the UPA government, ended up hurting the Congress in the Lok Sabha polls, said outgoing Union food and consumer affairs minister KV Thomas. "The Aadhaar initiative, and the objective of linking welfare schemes with it, didn't find favour with the people. The decision was not appreciated by voters," Thomas told HT on the eve of the Congress Working Committee meeting on Monday,...

-The Hindustan Times   The complexion of the 16th Lok Sabha, borne out of the most decisive mandate in 30 years, looks like a mixed bag of milestones. First up, the lower house will have the highest number of women lawmakers. On most other counts of demography, it still needs to shape up. The average asset of an MP has more than doubled from about Rs. 6 crore to Rs. 14 core in...