Using an equity-based framework for evaluating publicly funded health insurance programmes as an instrument of UHC in Chhattisgarh State, India

Universal health coverage (UHC) has provided the impetus for the introduction of publicly funded health insurance (PFHI) schemes in the mixed health systems of India and many other low- and middle-income countries. There is a need for a holistic understanding of the pathways of impact of PFHI schemes, including their role in promoting equity of access. Methods: This paper applies an equity-oriented evaluation framework to assess the impacts of PFHI schemes in Chhattisgarh State by synthesising literature from various sources and highlighting knowledge gaps. Data were collected from an extensive review of publications on PFHI schemes in Chhattisgarh since 2009, including empirical studies from the first author's PhD and grey literature such as programme evaluation reports, media articles and civil society campaign documents. The framework was constructed using concepts and frameworks from the health policy and systems research literature on UHC, access and health system building blocks, and is underpinned by the values of equity, human rights and the right to health

The Networked Media Economy and the Indian Gilded Age

This chapter examines how the rapid growth of the networked media economy has become aligned with the broader development of digital platforms in India. Given debates over new forms of economic dependency arising from the power of digital platforms, the chapter critically explores a Braudelian model of global capitalism in the context of the specific state-capital relationships that have fostered an ‘Indian Gilded Age’. It analyses the development of Jio Platforms, India’s largest telecommunications firm and a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), which is owned and controlled by the country’s wealthiest individual, Mukesh Ambani

Gendered dimensions of the 2004 tsunami and a potential social work response in post-disaster situations

The majority of people who died in the 2004 tsunami were women. Women endured rape, and sexual and gender-based violence in camps and places of supposed refuge. Similar reports have come from other disasters. This article examines the roles that social workers can take to respond to these issues