Latest news with #RuralIndia
Hindustan Times
01-07-2025
- Health
- Hindustan Times
AIIMS Jhajjar launches portal to boost elderly health in rural India
Jul 02, 2025 05:14 AM IST In a step towards improving elderly well-being, particularly in rural India, AIIMS Jhajjar has launched a digital portal — — designed to offer accessible health resources, preventive care tools, and mental wellness support for senior citizens. The initiative is spearheaded by the Society for Rural Mental Health (SRMH), in partnership with the Health Department and the Department of Preventive Oncology at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Jhajjar. The event drew participation from over 200 mental health professionals, public health experts, and caregivers. (HT Photo) The portal was unveiled during a Continuing Medical Education (CME) programme titled 'Comorbidity and Mental Health in Rural India' held at AIIMS Jhajjar. The event drew participation from over 200 mental health professionals, public health experts, and caregivers, who discussed the growing mental and physical health needs of India's ageing population and the unique challenges faced in rural settings. Dr Rajiv Gupta, patron of SRMH, underscored the collaborative effort behind the platform and acknowledged the key role of Aaravdeep Sindhu in its development. ' is an innovative step towards bridging the digital gap for our elderly population, providing them with accessible health information, mental wellness tools, and government welfare schemes at their fingertips,' Dr Gupta said. The portal offers centralised access to a range of state and central welfare schemes for seniors, free digital health assessments via the Geriatric Health Questionnaire (GeHQ)—a tool published in EC Neurology that helps detect early signs of memory loss or depression—and educational content on mental wellness, safety, and physical activity. Its interface features a simplified design with large fonts to ensure ease of use for elderly individuals. Officials also confirmed that a mobile application version of Sahaym is in development, with planned features including emotional support services and wellness tracking.
Economic Times
30-06-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
Rural wealth rising: 112 districts in India cross threshold of $2,000 per capita income
Key Growth Drivers: Live Events State Leaders and Laggards: (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Rural India is undergoing a quiet revolution. Once heavily dependent on agriculture, the rural economy is now being rapidly reshaped by the services sector. A new report by HDFC Securities reveals that 112 rural districts, home to 291 million people, have surpassed the $2,000 per capita income threshold—a milestone that signals growing prosperity and consumer report, titled "Rural India – Shifting Economic Foundations," offers a bottom-up analysis of 250 districts across eight major states, accounting for 72% of India's rural GDP (Rs 109 lakh crore). It shows that rural regions are not just catching up—they're driving India's consumption engine, especially as urban demand remains muted under the weight of the standout districts are Dakshina Kannada in Karnataka and Namakkal in Tamil Nadu, where per capita incomes have exceeded $5,000, buoyed by strong contributions from manufacturing, livestock, aquaculture, and real Sector: The fastest-growing, clocking an 8.8% CAGR, led by trade & hotels (9.8%), financial services (9.1%), and real estate (8.3%).Industry: A stable 7.1% CAGR, driven by mining (13.5%) and construction (8.7%).Agriculture: Trailing with 3.9% CAGR, hampered by slow crop growth (2.8%).Top performers: Maharashtra (7.7% CAGR), Tamil Nadu (7.6%), Kerala (6.7%), and Andhra Pradesh (6.5%). These states saw robust growth driven largely by Pradesh impressed with the highest growth rate at 8.1%, despite having the lowest per capita income at $ and Madhya Pradesh, however, lagged due to poor agriculture and industry report underscores stark inequalities across districts—some thriving above $5,000 per capita income while many in Uttar Pradesh remain below $1,000. Still, this growing pool of higher-income rural consumers is poised to fuel demand for discretionary goods and services, offering a compelling opportunity for businesses and policymakers India looks ahead, it's clear: the next wave of growth may come not from its cities, but from its villages.
India Today
04-05-2025
- Politics
- India Today
3 examples, 3 questions: Congress slams PM's 'desperate U-turn' on caste census
Congress on Sunday claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a "desperate U-turn" on the caste census and asked whether he will have the honesty to acknowledge that his government has officially changed its policy on the subject and commit to a timeline for such a leader Jairam Ramesh said there is enough evidence of Prime Minister Modi's "sudden, complete, and desperate U-turn" on the caste examples, Ramesh said that in a TV interview on April 28, PM Modi branded all those demanding a caste census as "urban naxals." "On July 20, 2021, the Modi Government told Parliament that it had 'decided as a matter of policy not to enumerate caste-wise population other than SCs and STs in the Census'," the Congress leader said on its affidavit to the Supreme Court dated September 21, 2021, the Modi Government clearly stated that "the exclusion of information regarding any other caste (outside of SCs and STs) from the purview of census (2021) is a conscious policy decision taken by the Central Government as explained in the preceding paragraphs", he said."In fact, the Modi Government explicitly urged the Supreme Court not to order a caste census for the OBCs. In such a situation, any direction from this Hon'ble Court to Census Department to include the enumeration of Socio-Economic data to the extent relating to BCCs of Rural India in the upcoming Census, 2021, as prayed, would tantamount to interfering with a policy decision as framed under Section 8 of the Act'," Ramesh three questions to the prime minister, Ramesh asked whether he will have the honesty to acknowledge that his government has officially changed its policy on the caste census over the last 11 he explain to the people and Parliament the reasons for the change in the government's policy, Ramesh further also questioned whether the PM will commit to a timeline for the caste Congress has said the government's caste census decision is in line with its pattern of first opposing every good scheme or policy, defaming it and then adopting the same policy in the face of public pressure and opposition party has also claimed that Prime Minister Modi is the "master of giving a headline without a deadline" and called the government's caste census decision a "diversionary tactic" in the face of demands for taking strong action against Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror Centre on Wednesday announced that caste enumeration will be part of the next population census, with the inclusion of caste details for the first time since parties, including the Congress, had been demanding a nationwide caste census, making it a major election issue. Some states like Bihar, Telangana and Karnataka have conducted such the decision taken by the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had said the census comes under the purview of the Centre, but some states have done caste enumeration in the name of surveys "non-transparently" which has created doubts in the PTI
