Center For Global Development (26.09.2018)  India’s biometric ID, Aadhaar, is here to stay. This is the verdict of India’s Supreme Court which delivered a historic judgement today on a slew of petitions challenging the growing use of Aadhaar in the country. The apex court agreed that government can mandate its use to distribute government subsidies and benefits. It can also be required to be linked to the PAN, India’s tax ID number—an issue that has been hotly contested. However, Aadhaar will not be mandatory for opening bank accounts or getting mobile connections.

jagranjosh (09.10.2018) The Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) was awarded the ‘ISSA Good Practice Award’ for administrative solution for coverage extension at the ‘Regional Social Security Forum for Asia and the Pacific’ held recently at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The award recognizes the measures taken by ESIC for extension of coverage of the Scheme for Promoting Registration of Employers and Employees (SPREE), reducing the rate of contribution rates for 24 months in newly implemented areas and raising the wage limit for coverage under the ESI Act.

moroccoworldnews.com (28.08.2018) According to the World Bank, Morocco and India launched the India-Morocco Social Register cooperation on Monday, August 27.  The memorandum is expected to cement institutional ties between the two countries, with the goal of using common digital tools to identify and meet the needs of their respective populations.

Business Standard News (07.09.2018) Labour Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar stressed on signing of social security agreements among G-20 countries at the meeting of labour and employment ministers of the grouping held in Argentina

OpenGovAsia (06.08.2018) The National Health Protection Mission targets approximately 107.4 million deprived families. It has identified the occupational category of urban workers’ families as per the latest Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) data, for both rural and urban India.

Development Pathways (May 2018) In their scope, and by the fact that they are legally required, the social audits in India’s Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme are an unparalleled collective social accountability mechanism. In the state of Andhra Pradesh, social audits have been institutionalised and implemented across the state. This report, downloadable below, identifies the lessons for elsewhere.

opengovasia.com (31.05.2018) The 71st World Health Assembly has adopted a resolution on Digital Health initiated by India, to recognise the potential of digital technologies for the development of digital healthcare services and to advance the Sustainable Development Goals.

scroll.in (24.02.2018) Exclusion can mean lack of access to food, jobs and education and the underprivileged bear the biggest brunt.

In 2005, the Government of India launched the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), promising to re-imagine primary healthcare and address the under-served needs of rural areas.

socialprotection.org (2017) This report provides evidence on the lived experiences of women in low-income families, as they strive to balance their paid work and unpaid care work responsibilities. It presents the findings of a mixed-methods research project carried out in India, Nepal, Rwanda, and Tanzania during 2015–17. The findings of the research are clear and strong: that while women welcome the chance to earn income of almost any kind, their paid work options are few and poorly paid, and by no means contribute to their ‘economic empowerment’.