Indian Healthcare System

Why in the NEWS

The recently released health ministry data shows a lot of loopholes in our health system.

Key Statistics

• 42% of existing institutions in five southern States, 17% in three western States.
• India has 35 lakh nurses but only 2.06 nurses for every 1,000 people here are no nursing colleges in 40 percent of districts across India.
• In fact, 42% of nursing institutions are clustered in five southern States, while three western States have 17%.
• India currently has close to 35 lakh nurses, but its nurse- to-population ratio is only 2.06:1000 against a global
• About 64% of the nursing workforce is currently trained in just eight States.
• Though there has been a 36% growth in the number of institutions offering undergraduate nursing education since 2014-15, resulting in a 40% growth in nursing seats, there is a regional skew within these statistics.
• About 64% of the nursing workforce is currently trained in just eight States; 42% of nursing institutions are concentrated in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, while 17% are in the western States of Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Maharashtra.
• Only 2% of nursing colleges are in the northeastern States.

Issues

• According to the WHO, approximately 27 million men and women make up the global nursing and mid- wife workforce, accounting for nearly 50% of the global health workforce.
• “There is a global shortage of health workers, in particular nurses and mid- wives, who represent more than 50% of the current shortage in health workers. The largest shortages of nurses and midwives are in Southeast Asia and Africa,” a WHO report says.
• 40% of districts do not have nursing colleges.
• The growth of nursing colleges also lags far behind the 81% growth rate of medical colleges.

Scheme funding

• The Central government has announced a scheme to set up 157 new nursing colleges co-located with medical colleges in the next two years, with financial support of ₹10 crore a college.

GS PAPER – II

Henley Passport Index

Why in the NEWS

• India has climbed seven places on the Henley Passport Index, 2023 to the 80th rank from 87 last year, though the number of countries allowed visafree access to Indian passport holders remains unchanged.

Key Points

• India climbs seven points to 80 on Passport Index;
• Singapore is at top position with its citizens able to visit 192 travel destinations out of 227 around the world visa-free.
• Germany, Italy, and Spain occupied the second place.
• Alongside Japan at the third position are Austria, Finland, France, Luxembourg, South Korea, and Sweden.

What is Henley Passport Index?

• The Henley Passport Index is the ranking of all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa.
• The index includes 199 passports and 227 travel destinations.
• The index is brought out by Henley and Partners.

India’s past rankings

• In 2014, India ranked 76 with 52 countries allowing Indian passport holders visa-free access.
• It ranked 88 in 2015 (visa-free access to 51 countries), 85 in 2016, 87 in 2017, 81 in 2018, 82 in 2019 and 2020, and 81 in 2021.

About Henley Openness Index

• Henley & Partners also conducted an exclusive new research resulting in the Henley Openness Index which measures how many nations do not a country allow visa-free access to.
• Here, India was ranked 94 out of a total of 97 ranks for allowing only four countries visa-free access.
• At the bottom of the Index were four countries for scoring zero for not per- mitting visa-free access for any passport – namely, Afghanistan, North Korea, Papua New Guinea, and Turkmenistan.

GS PAPER – III

Rajasthan government tables Bill to guarantee minimum income Bill

Why in the NEWS

• The Bill covers three broad areas: Right to Minimum Guaranteed Income, Right to Guaranteed Employment, and Right to Guaranteed Social Security Pension.

About the Bill

The Bill largely covers three broad areas: Right to Minimum Guaranteed Income, Right to Guaranteed Employment, and Right to Guaranteed Social Security Pension.

• The Right to Minimum Guaranteed Income under the Mahatma Gandhi Minimum Guaranteed Income Yojana states that the state government shall provide to eligible persons a minimum guaranteed income through this scheme by providing employment in urban areas through the Indira Gandhi Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme (IGUEGS) and in rural areas through Chief Minister Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (CMREGS) or by providing pension to an eligible category of old age/specially abled/widow/single woman.
• Under Right to Guaranteed Employment, every adult person residing in the rural areas of the state shall have a right to get guar- anteed employment for doing permissible work of at least additional 25 days in a financial year on completion of maximum days of work as prescribed by the MGNREGA, and to receive minimum wages weekly or in any case not later than a fortnight. Next, for urban areas, every adult person of the state shall have a right to get guaranteed employment for doing permissible work of at least 125 days in a financial year and to receive minimum wages weekly or in any case not later than a fort- night.
  • In case the Programme Officer fails to provide employment within 15 days from the receipt of the application in the prescribed manner, the applicant shall be en- titled to receive unemployment allowance from the state government on a weekly basis and in any case not later than a fortnight.
• The Right to Guaranteed Social Security Pension entitles every person falling in the category of old age/specially-abled/widow/single woman, with prescribed eligibility, to a pension. An important component of the pension would be an automatic increase of 15 per cent annually on the base rate in two installments i.e., 5% in July and 10% in January of each financial year, starting from 2024-2025.

GS PAPER – III

Chhatisgarh CM launches new rural housing

Why in the NEWS

• Recently, Chhatisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel has announced an ambitious rural housing project.

Key Points

• Rural housing scheme ‘Nyay Yojana’, aimed at providing home .
• ‘Gramin Awas Nyay Yojana’, the scheme will be funded by the State and will ease the process of receiving grants for the eligible beneficiaries.
• The survey of families will be conducted by the Panchayat and Rural Development Department.

Miscellaneous

Person in NEWS

J Robert Oppenheimer

J. Robert Oppenheimer was an American theoretical physicist and one of the key figures in the development of the atomic bomb during World War II.

• Scientific Contributions: Oppenheimer made significant contributions to theoretical physics, particularly in quantum mechanics and quantum field theory. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Göttingen in Germany in 1927, where he studied under renowned physicists like Max Born and Werner Heisenberg.
  • His early work included research in quantum electrodynamics, and he co-authored a famous paper with Melba Phillips on quantum tunneling in 1930.
• Los Alamos and the Manhattan Project: During World War II, Oppenheimer played a central role in the Manhattan Project, the top-secret U.S. government program to develop the first atomic bomb. In 1942, he was appointed the scientific director of the Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico, where the bomb’s development took place.
  • Under Oppenheimer’s leadership, a team of scientists and engineers successfully created the first nuclear weapon, which was tested on July 16, 1945, in the Trinity test. The success of the test marked a turning point in modern history and led to the use of atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, ultimately ending World War II.
• Post-World War II: After the war, Oppenheimer became an advocate for international control of atomic weapons and worked to prevent nuclear proliferation. He also played a significant role in shaping the post-war scientific landscape in the United States.