The Union Budget uses a silo-based approach to health in complete disregard for what its own reports and data point out in terms of what is required for the nation’s health.
Piecemeal interventions, an emphasis on private participation, and a slew of cosmetic announcements characterise the health budget of 2016-17. The attempt was ostensibly to project the government’s propoor face; if so, that exercise has proven to be a resounding failure given the low budgetary allocation and the emphasis on the private sector yet again for the delivery of critical health services. Notwithstanding the grandiose announcements of a health insurance cover of Rs.1 lakh a family in the below poverty line (BPL) category, an additional top-up cover for senior citizens, and the proposal to open 3,000 generic drug centres under the Prime Minister’s Jan Aushadhi Yojana, the overall estimated budget allocation shows only a minuscule increase over the Revised Estimates for 2015-16. It still falls far short of reaching the Twelfth Plan target of 2.5 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP). The total allocation, according to the think tank Centre for Budgetary Governance and Accountability, remains at 0.25 per cent of the GDP at the present allocation levels.
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How Not To Handle An Epidemic
The lockdowns were meant to buy time to put in place appropriate health measures and contain the coronavirus’ spread, but they have failed to achieve the objective and heaped immense misery on the marginalised sections of society. India is still in the exponential phase of the COVID-19 infection and community transmission is a reality that the government refuses to accept.
Tragedy on foot
As the COVID-19-induced lockdown cuts the ground beneath their feet in Tamil Nadu, thousands of migrant workers are trudging along the highway to the relative safety of their upcountry homes.
Sarpanchs as game changers
Odisha manages to keep COVID-19 well under control because of the strong participation of panchayati raj institutions and the community at the grass-roots level under the leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Scapegoating China
As the COVID-19 death rate spikes and the economy tanks in the United States, Donald Trump and his advisers target China and the World Health Organisation with an eye to winning the forthcoming presidential election.
New worries
Kerala’s measured approach to the pandemic and lockdown has yielded results. But it still has to grapple with their huge economic impact on its economy, which it feels the Centre’s special financial relief package does little to alleviate.
No love lost for labour
Taking advantage of the lockdown and the inability of workers to organise protests, many State governments introduce sweeping changes to labour laws to the detriment of workers on the pretext of reviving production and boosting the economy.
Capital's Malthusian moment
In a world that needs substantial reorienting of production and distribution, Indian capital is resorting to a militant form of moribund neoliberalism to overcome its current crisis. In this pursuit of profit, it is ready and willing to throw into mortal peril millions whom it adjudicates as not worth their means—an admixture of social Darwinism born of capital’s avarice and brutalism spawned by Hindutva. .
Understanding migration
When governments and their plans are found to be blatantly wanting in addressing reverse migration, exercises such as the Ekta Parishad’s survey of migrant workers throughout India can be useful to work out creative long-lasting solutions.
Waiting for Jabalpur moment
The Supreme Court’s role in ensuring executive accountability during the ongoing lockdown leaves much to be desired. Standing in shining contrast is the record of some High Courts.
An empty package
The Modi regime, which has been unable to control the COVID-19 infection, restore economic activity and provide relief to millions exposed to starvation, trains its sights on Indian democracy, making use of the panic generated by fear and a lockdown that forecloses paths of resistance.
