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The digital empowerment and upskilling of ASHAs, who are India's frontline health workers, can be pivotal in transforming the country's rural healthcare, according to an expert. Recruited under the National Health Mission launched in 2013, the Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) create awareness in the community by educating and promoting healthy practices, and helping people access services. Elsevier, a Dutch publisher and disseminator of scientific, technical and medical information, including over 2,900 journals such as 'The Lancet', collaborated with the Union government in 2022 on a digital health pilot project titled 'Digital Innovations & Interventions for Sustainable HealthTech Action', or 'DIISHA'. Speaking to PTI, Shanker Kaul, Managing Director, Health Solutions-India, Elsevier, said, "If we are able to digitally empower ASHA workers, upskill, recognise and reward them, then a large part of task-shifting can happen where ultimately, that primary-level screening ..
The FMCG sector is expected to register 6.1 per cent volume growth in the rural market this fiscal, a report from Kantar Worldpanel said, depicting a strong positive outlook. This volume growth in the rural market stood at 4.4 per cent a year ago, while the urban volume growth is likely to remain flat at 4.2 per cent, it added. "Rural market is going to see a seismic shift once there is stability in the macro market," said the report titled 'The Rural Challenge'. The report also predicts that in the near future, rural volumes will catch up with urban growth, which is currently bigger. Now, the rural market is a big and important part of the Indian FMCG industry as it generates half of the FMCG volume and value. The report also pointed out that "FMCG growth is majorly led by population, and not consumption" in rural areas. Stagnation in consumption in the rural market is on account of factors like inflationary pressures, decline in rural household size, higher spending on utilitie
The Union government on Tuesday proposed unique identification number for land or 'Bhu-Aadhaar' in rural areas and digitisation of all urban land records as part of several land-related reforms in the Budget. In her speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the Centre would work with states to carry out these land reforms, both in rural and urban areas. The Centre would provide fiscal support to incentivise states to complete these reforms within the next three years. Working with states, the finance minister said the government will initiate land-related reforms by state governments. "Land-related reforms and actions, both in rural and urban areas, will cover (1) land administration, planning and management, and (2) urban planning, usage and building bylaws. These will be incentivized for completion within the next 3 years through appropriate fiscal support," Sitharaman said. On rural land-related actions, she said these would include assignment of Unique Land Parcel ...
Consumption of paan, tobacco and other intoxicants has increased with people spending a bigger portion of their income on such products in the last 10 years, according to a survey. The Household Consumption Expenditure Survey 2022-23, released last week, revealed that the expenditure on paan, tobacco and intoxicants as a portion of total household spending has increased in rural as well as urban areas. The data showed that the expenditure on these items has increased to 3.79 per cent in 2022-23 in rural areas from 3.21 per cent in 2011-12. Similarly, in urban areas, the spending grew from 1.61 per cent in 2011-12 to 2.43 per cent in 2022-23. The proportion of spending on education has reduced to 5.78 per cent in urban areas in 2022-23 from 6.90 per cent in 2011-12. In rural areas, this proportion has come down to 3.30 per cent in 2022-23 from 3.49 per cent in 2011-12. The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, conducted the Hous
The Congress on Tuesday claimed that there is "real economic distress" in India's rural areas and asserted that the single most important policy response to the "crisis" is to kick start the agriculture sector with "adequate and predictable" MSPs for agricultural produce. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "guarantees", saying he had made a promise in 2017 to double farmers' income by 2022. "A quick look at how the rural economy is performing: For the first time in over 50 years, real rural consumption expenditure fell by 8.8 per cent between 2011-12 and 2017-18. Between 2019-20 and 2023-24, the annual growth rate of real rural wages was negative for both agricultural (-0.6 per cent) and non-agricultural (-1.4 per cent) work. "Tractor sales in India, a proxy for rural economic health, have seen a steep decline in key states in the west and south in the first 9 months of this fiscal year, dragging overall sales down 4 per cent. Tract
Now getting new electricity connections will be as fast as three days in metropolitan areas, seven days in municipal areas and 15 days in rural areas, according to the latest amendments in the existing norms. The government has approved amendments to the Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020, the power ministry said in a statement on Friday. The amendments also simplified the process of rooftop solar installations and empower consumers living in multistoried flats to chose connection type and ensure separate billing for common areas and back-up generators in residential societies, thus enhancing transparency, the ministry said. The revised rule provides for checking meters installed by distribution companies in case of consumer complaints to verify electricity consumption. According to the statement, the time period for obtaining a new electricity connection under the rules has been reduced from seven days to three days in metropolitan areas, from fifteen days to seven days
Retail inflation for farm workers and rural labourers eased marginally to 7.52 per cent and 7.37 per cent in January as compared to the previous month, mainly due to lower prices of certain food items. In December 2023, Consumer Price Index-Agricultural Labourers (CPI-AL) and Consumer Price Index-Rural Labourers (CPI-RL) was 7.71 per cent and 7.46 per cent, respectively. Food inflation stood at 9.67 per cent and 9.43 per cent last month as compared to 9.95 per cent and 9.80 per cent in December 2023 and 6.61 per cent and 6.47 per cent in the year-ago period, a labour ministry statement said. In January 2023, CPI-AL was 6.85 per cent and CPI-RL was 6.88 per cent. The All-India CPI number for AL and RL for January 2024 increased by 1 point each to 1,258 and 1,268 points, respectively. The CPI-AL and CPI-RL were 1,257 and 1,267 points, respectively in December 2023. The major contribution towards rise in the general index of AL and RL came from miscellaneous groups to the extent of 1
A parliamentary committee has recommended setting up of population-based cancer registries in rural areas to help data-driven and evidence-based policy formulation. It has also suggested raising taxes on tobacco products citing that increasing their market price would make them less affordable. This will result in lower consumption and decrease the risk of tobacco-related diseases, including cancer, the panel said. The health ministry must pursue with the Department of Revenue to expedite the decision on raising taxes on tobacco products, the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare said in its 147th report. It was presented in Rajya Sabha on Friday It said for better policy formulation on cancer treatment and uniform distribution of cancer care, there is an urgent need to have realistic information about the incidence and type of cancers across the country. The committee said that the health ministry should take appropriate steps to persuade