Despite many policy measures taken by the central and state governments, the indebtedness of farmers, especially marginal and small cultivators, keeps increasing. Some recent studies on agrarian distress show the significant role of healthcare expenditure in increasing indebtedness. This article presents the result of a study conducted in selected villages of Amritsar and Gurdaspur districts of Punjab in 2008-09 to estimate the level of credit taken for healthcare purposes by marginal and small farmers. It also analyses the present scenario of public health services in rural Punjab.

Health sector reforms associated with decentralization, contraction of public sector, service contracting, user fees, etc., influence health sector both from the demand side and the supply side. In the wake of decreasing public expenditure on health, it is necessary to find the other factors that could take care of the health status. This article is an attempt to find the impact of economic reforms on infant mortality rate and life expectancy at birth. The study is based upon secondary data. Statistical tools like mean, ranking, and regression models are used.

Going by the reduced non-plan expenditure for higher education institutions, increased emphasis on interest subsidy on educational loans, a steep cut in the allocation for the National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship scheme, and reliance on public-private partnership modes for setting up of model schools in the Union Budget, it may not be wrong to infer that the State intends to continue reducing its

A wireless revolution has transformed telecoms in India and in other emerging markets. The electricity market, on the other hand, remains underdeveloped. We define Wireless Electricity as renewable energy produced within a few hundred meters of the point of consumption. A wireless revolution in electricity would solve the problem of electricity deficit, empower people at the bottom of the pyramid and mitigate the environmental impact of bringing hundreds of millions out of poverty as the Indian economy grows.