-The Times of India NEW DELHI: In an indicator of the state of school infrastructure in the country, Centre told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday that over 37% of schools did not have electricity connections till March 2017. While only 62.81% schools in the country have electricity connections, Jharkhand is at the bottom of the list with just 19% schools in the state having access to electricity. The national capital along...
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Niti Aayog and health ministry prepare model contract for privatising urban health care -Nitin Sethi & Menaka Rao
-Scroll.in Terms of agreement give private players 30-year lease over parts of government district hospitals. Niti Aayog and the Union ministry for health and family welfare have proposed a model contract to increase the role of private hospitals in treating non-communicable diseases in urban India. The agreement, which has been been shared with states for their comments, allows private hospitals to bid for 30-year leases over parts of district hospital buildings...
More »Farmers need remunerative prices, not debt waiver, to end rural distress -TK Arun
-The Economic Times Farmers are agitated. Loan waivers have not stemmed protests or farmer suicides. This is a multidimensional problem and also a huge political opportunity for parties that can think constructively. Waiving loans is bad policy. It adds to the fiscal stress of states, straining under the electricity utility debt they have taken over. The states would undo the Centre’s hard-wrought fiscal discipline, scaring rating agencies. Waived loans bring little benefit to...
More »GST adding to economic growth is rubbish, says NITI Aayog member Bibek Debroy -Jatin Gandhi
-Hindustan Times With petroleum, electricity, alcohol and other products kept out of the purview of GST, the gains to GDP will not accrue in the same proportion as projected, he says. Claims that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) will boost the country’s economic growth by 1.5 percentage points are “rubbish”, NITI Aayog member and economist Bibek Debroy said, hours before its roll out on midnight Friday. Debroy’s remarks contrast with finance minister...
More »Why are farmers up in arms? Here's a quick primer to a deepening crisis
-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: Farmers protesting in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra demand better prices for their produce and loan waivers. But low prices and loans are not the real problems. These are mere symptoms of structural problems which cannot be solved by temporary measures such as a loan waiver. "While such turmoil appears to have immediate causes, their sources are rooted in problems that lie deeper," says Prakash Bakshi, a former...
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