-The Indian Express The discussion on the political economy needs to be rescued from the current bout of bad taste Amartya Sen has found himself at the centre of an unseemly round of name-calling this week. While promoting his new book, he said, when asked in an interview, that he would not want Narendra Modi as prime minister. That, coupled with his qualified approval of the food security bill, was sufficient for...
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Private care? -TK Rajalakshmi
-Frontline The National Advisory Council recommendations seem to be making a strong case for a major role for the private sector in the delivery of health care. THE recommendations for universal health coverage drawn up by the National Advisory Council (NAC), headed by United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi, push for public-private partnerships (PPPs) in the health delivery system but not for any inbuilt mechanisms for accountability. The NAC also...
More »What the poverty numbers don’t say -Bhaskar Dutta
-The Indian Express What caused the steep fall in poverty reported by the Planning Commission? The evidence is mixed Earlier this week, the Planning Commission released estimates of the incidence of poverty in 2011-12. As in virtually the entire literature on the measurement of poverty in India, these estimates are based on data on per capita consumption expenditure collected by the National Sample Survey Organisation. The estimates show that there has been...
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-The Indian Express Greater economic Growth, not more subsidy, has resulted in poverty falling like never before Given how poverty levels have fallen sharply, from 37.2 per cent of the population in 2004-05 to 21.9 per cent in 2011-12, the question is whether this is due to rising economic Growth or a more sprawling subsidy regime. Since the government plans to bring in the Food Security Bill, it is easy to guess...
More »Will rising prices hit poll result? UPA govt panics -Rajeev Deshpande
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Rising apprehension that food inflation may finally begin to bite in electoral terms has seen the Manmohan Singh government press the panic button as retail prices of cereals, vegetables and pulses soar in comparison to last year. Persistent high inflation, particularly in food, is gnawing the government ahead of assembly polls in four major states later this year and the 2014 Lok Sabha election, a concern...
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