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DelhiKabul ties The budget must catalyse start-ups
must not waver India’s primary development challenge is to
reskill and train more than a billion young adults
three years.
Thegovernmentshouldaimtocatalysethe
creation of start-ups. While the existing
“StartupIndiaFund”isapromisinginitiative,
fund deployment remains a significant issue
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lining the need for better quality jobs. Telanganahassoughttohelpstart-upsbypro-
fghanistan has now experienced four major Tali- Historically,thegovernmentaccordedpri- viding them with a working space and an
ban and Islamic State (IS) terrorist attacks in 10 ority to this issue. A National Youth Policy encouragingenvironmentinT-Hub,anincu-
was first formulated in 1988, while the Youth bator for start-ups. It is now associated with
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days and seven such attacks in the past month. ndia officially has 18 million unem- Policyof2003soughttoencourageyouthskill more than 835 start-ups.
What has triggered these latest assaults? At a time ployed (ILO, 2017), with the majority of development – further strengthened by the Articulating a National Employment Pol-
them young people. According to 2017 creation of the National Council for Skill icyisimportantinsuchtimes–recentreports
when they are either in control of or contesting estimates from the of Labour and Developmentin2005.TheNationalYouthPol- that the government is moving in this direc-
nearly half of Afghanistan, the Taliban Employment,organisedemploymentis icy of 2014 had the government promising to tion are heartening. It should also attempt to
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nDelhi’spoliticalimagination,thereal parties and national politics. Take the Left.
terror should be seen as a psychological weapon. And the com- political battle of 2018 begins in Karna- The CPM, already a pale shadow of its past
taka.Itthenendswiththethreestatesof after losing Bengal, is reduced to being in
mitment to supporting Kabul must not be allowed to waver. Rajasthan,MadhyaPradeshandChhat- powerin onlyKeralaandTripura. InAgar-
n A family planning clinic at a government hospital in Hajipur, Bihar. More than 40% of the tisgarh, setting the stage for the Lok Sabha tala,barringaperiodoffiveyearsfrom1988-
money allocated for reversible methods remained unutilised HINDUSTAN TIMES polls of 2019. But before that, in February, 1993, it has been in power for 40 years. But
threekeyNortheasternstates—Nagaland, today it confronts an aggressive BJP
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both health and economy Despite population stabilisation being a critical area,
frameworkbindsNagaland,hometoAsia’s
oldestinsurgencyandwithastrongconcep-
tionofitsownuniquenessandclaimsofsov-
it will deprive the party of resources to
recover; and it will generate despondency
across its ranks and sympathisers.
T
he BRICS grouping of countries — Brazil, Russia, India, MUttrEJa terminalmethodsratherthansupportingthe of its people entirely — which is why the in the National People’s Party. Retaining
policyobjectivestopromotespacingbetween peaceprocesswithrebelgroupsissoimpor- power will be a morale booster. But losing
China and South Africa — are losing billions of dollars in children and improvingthe quality of care, is tant — but a democratic government pro- powerandseeingBJPentergovernment,in
productivity owing to cancer, says a research paper pub- amatterofconcern.Forproperspacingofchil- vides a channel to articulate some of their thisChristian-dominatedstate,willreduce
dren, women need reversible contraceptive concerns.Thistime around,electionshave the Congressto onlythree states acrossthe
lished in the Journal of Cancer Epidemiology. India recorded a methods.In2016-17,64%oftheFPbudgetwas becomecontentious.Asignificantsectionof country. The Congress will then only have
total productivity loss of $6.7 billion in 2012 because of cancer, allocated to terminal and limiting methods, Naga civil society and political opinion, MizoramintheentirebeltfromDelhiallthe
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positive for the health sector in last whilejust3.7%wenttowardsspacingmethods. tiredofthelongdrawnpeacetalksandseek- way to India’s eastern-most borders.
representing 0.36% of our GDP. While the cost per death of pro- year’s Union Budget was the stated Therearealsoseriouslimitationsinthecapac- ing closure, wants a ‘solution before elec- For the BJP, the polls represent another
goaltoincreaseIndia’shealthsector itytoutilisethefundsavailableforfamilyplan- tion’.ButtheCentreisclearthatthiscannot opportunity to shed its tag of being a Hindi
ductivity lost in India was less than $20,000, the lowest among
spending from the current 1.15% of ningattheimplementationstage.Forinstance, beareasontopostponepolls. BJP’sgeneral heartland party. It hopes to continue its
BRICS countries, the highest productivity losses – $0.74 billion – GDP—oneofthelowestworldwide—to2.5% 40%ofthemoneyallocatedforreversiblemeth- secretary, Ram Madhav, has said the state questforbotha‘Congress-mukt’and,inTri-
by2025. Oneneedstolookatbudgetaryprovi- odsremainedunutilised. Adecentralised,par- needs ‘elections for solution’. As the peace pura’scase,a‘CPM-mukt’Bharat. Entryin
because of the lip and oral cancers are a cause for alarm. Taking sionsfromtheperspectiveoffamilyplanning. ticipatory planning process that factors in talks enter the final lap, Delhi feels having government in these states will take the
the loss of productivity owing to premature death into considera- According to the 2015-16 findings of the actualneedsandresourcerequirements ofdis- an elected legitimate government in BJP’s national tally to 21 states. A spike in
National Family Health Survey 4, the total tricts,andsystematictrackingandmonitoring Kohima strengthens its hands. numbers in Nagaland and Meghalaya will
tion can provide policymakers additional perspective when they demandfor familyplanning(FP)among cur- of the spending will improve utilisation. It is important because it has provided a allow the BJP to claim it is not just a Hindu
chart out strategies for prevention and control of the disease. rentlymarriedwomenbetweentheagesof15 In2016-17,almost81%oftheFPbudgetwas democraticplatform totribalsin aBengali- party.Butadefeatoradismalperformance
and49is66%.TheunmetneedforFPservices spent on compensation to beneficiaries, and dominated polity like Tripura to articulate will show to the party that heartland Hin-
Doctors say close to 60% of cancers in India can be prevented. is 13%, declining by just 1% over the last dec- incentives to frontline workers and health theiraspirations.This,amongotherfactors, dutva will extract its costs in other pockets
Around 40% of cancers in the country (such as lung cancer and ade.Lessthanhalf(48%)ofcurrentlymarried careprovidersofterminal methods offamily has weakened the militancy that used to ofIndia.TheelectionswillshowiftheBJP’s
women aged 15–49 years use modern contra- planning. The skewed emphasis on targets engulf the state till a decade and a half ago. momentofsupremepoliticaldominanceor
cancers of mouth) are caused by tobacco use and another 20% ceptives. Despite evidence that family plan- defeats India’s declared policy of population It is important because democratic as Yogendra Yadav terms it, political
ning is a critical area from the perspective of stabilisationthrougharights-basedapproach hegemony, persists or whether cracks are
from infections such as hepatitis B that cause liver cancer and
reducingmaternalandinfantmortality,allo- to family planning and reproductive health. beginning to appear. Nagaland, Tripura,
human papillomavirus, which can lead to cervical cancer. Can- cations have been skewed and insufficient. There is evidence on the ground to show NAGALAND, TRIPURA AND Meghalaya may be small states. But their
cer cases in India are rising not just because of better diagnostic
Examining the budgetary allocations and that when there are improvements in the MEGHALAYA MAY BE SMALL elections provideanopportunitytocitizens
expenditure offers some insight into the rea- qualityofcare,they’veresultedinadramatic tonegotiatewiththeirpoliticalelites.Their
facilities but also owing to the shift in the way we lead our lives. sons for the tardy pace in India’s progress on riseinuptakeoffamilyplanningservices.The
STATES. BUT THEIR ELECTIONS — specific geographical locations, with spe-
Tobacco and alcohol use, consumption of processed food, air pol-
familyplanning.TheFPcomponentgetsabout governmentneedstoincreaseallocationsand LIKE ELECTIONS ELSEWHERE — cifichistoriesofpoliticalviolence,lendthem
4% of the total budget available under the
National Health Mission’s reproductive and
strengthenthesystemsthatwouldenablebet-
ter utilisation of family planning budgets.
PROVIDE AN OPPORTUNITY TO greater sensitivity. The outcome here will
shape not only the politics of the states but
lution and obesity are among the biggest triggers of the disease.
childhealthflexi-pool.Analysisofdatashows Poonam Muttreja is executive director of Population CITIZENS TO NEGOTIATE WITH the fortunes and political strengths of
Indian Council of Medical Research estimates say India is likely thatinthefinancialyear2016-17only60.7%of
the funds available for family planning were
Foundation of India.
The views expressed are personal.
THEIR POLITICAL ELITES. India’s national parties.
prashant.jha1@htlive.com
to have more than 17.3 lakh new cases of cancer and more than n
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ers.
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