-Newsclick.in The Infant Mortality Ratio (IMR) data, which has either risen or remained stagnant in urban areas raises questions about the condition of the urban health care system. While on one hand, the Narendra Modi led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has been making tall claims about its  Ayushman Bharat scheme, crucial indicators such as Infant Mortality Ratio (IMR) are showing a deep disparity. The decline in the government’s expenditure on public...

  In the month of June this year, encephalitis related deaths in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district grabbed the headlines. Actually, most of the children, who were admitted or died at Shri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH), hailed from East Champaran, Vaishali, Sitamarhi and Samastipur apart from Muzaffarpur. Unfortunately, till recently official data on the number of cases and deaths related to Japanese Encephalitis (JE) and Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) was unavailable for...

-Down to Earth Government cites increasing pollution and heatwave in the state as reason for the ban The Government of Bihar recently banned felling of trees, citing increasing pollution as well as a fatal heatwave. Trees on private land, however, can be felled in the absence of a tree-protection Act in Bihar. The current order was passed under the Forest Conservation Act, DK Shukla, principal chief conservator of forests, told Down To Earth (DTE)....

-Newsclick.in According to health officials in Muzaffarpur, AES cases are mostly coming from Mushahar, Ravidas and Paswan communities due to “their poor living conditions”. Muzaffarpur: Chedi Manjhi, Ravinder Manjhi, Raj Kishor Ram, Haran Paswan, Anup Manjhi, all are Dalits. They have one more thing in common—all of them are fathers of children who have died due to AES in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur in the last fortnight. Chedi Manjhi’s eight-year-old son Aditya Kumar reportedly died...

-Newsclick.in Continuing delays in payment of salaries have led various teachers’ association to question the state government’s commitment to the education sector in the state. Unhappy over the Nitish Kumar government’s apathy towards the non-payment of salaries since March this year, hundreds of school teachers’ associations in Bihar are questioning the state government’s commitment towards the education sector. Bihar Madhyamik Sikshak Sangh (BMSS) president Kedarnath Pandey said it is a matter of...