Articles by Ravi Duggal

Anand Teltumbde’s article “Keep Off Education” (EPW, 8 June 2013) on the proposed privatisation of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) schools is important because education cannot be left to the private sector; certainly not in the right to education (RTE) context.

The Third People's Health Assembly was held in July in Cape Town, South Africa with its theme of "Health for All Now". Developing countries which transformed public health systems under the structural adjustment policies into insurance-based health models have failed in providing healthcare to the poor. Where does India stand in relation to the ruling United Progressive Alliance's commitment to take public health spending to 3% of the GDP by 2012?

The centre's attempt to increase spending on public health by hiking allocations to its National Rural Health Mission programme has failed because the states have responded by reducing their expenditure. Instead of decentralising expenditure on health, the centre has taken control of a larger share of resources for the sector, which have not been adequately utilised even for the priority programmes. The irony is that those who deliver care, understand the situation and can plan and budget have no role in decision-making while the decision-makers have no idea of the ground realities.

This article examines the allocations for health in the budget in the light of the commitments made in the National Common Minimum Programme and the trend in state governments' expenditures. The focus is on the National Rural Health Mission.

Unlike the health policy of 1983, this policy attempts to address the problem of poor financial allocations for health care and recommends that it be enhanced considerably. But without a detailed exercise inquiring into the present pattern of allocations, this prescription, overdue as it is, will not serve any purpose. If the additional resources are to make an impact, considerable restructuring of the health system has to be undertaken urgently.