Manorama BakshiArjun Kumar Odisha’s Health Assurance Question Odisha has spent the past decade steadily widening the boundaries of public health protection. From the launch of the Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY) in 2018 to the more recent Gopabandhu Jan Arogya…
Punjab is one of India’s major agricultural states and has historically played an important role in national food security. Its economy is supported by agriculture and allied activities, industry, services, infrastructure and a large network of urban and rural settlements. At the same time, the state faces challenges related to agricultural diversification, groundwater and irrigation management, employment generation, infrastructure development, energy subsidies and environmental sustainability.
The rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in July 2017 marked the most extensive structural overhaul of India's fiscal federalism, subsuming 17 distinct central and state levies along with 13 cesses into a single indirect taxation architecture. Designed to eliminate the cascading tax-on-tax effect, establish a unified national market, and accelerate economic formalization, the original GST regime was constructed around a four-tier rate structure comprising 5%, 12%, 18%, and 28% tax slabs, supplemented by special reduced rates for precious metals and an additional Compensation Cess on select luxury and sin goods. While this multi-tiered framework was politically essential at inception to achieve revenue neutrality and protect low-income consumption, over time it introduced operational frictions, tax classification disputes, and severe structural distortions.
BACKGROUND
Women’s economic insecurity is shaped not only by low household income but also by unpaid care work, limited control over resources and unequal access to employment. State governments have increasingly responded through direct cash-transfer programmes that place money in women’s bank accounts. Madhya Pradesh’s Mukhyamantri Ladli Behna Yojana is one of the most significant examples of this shift.
India's fiscal stability is closely linked to the financial health of its states, which account for a significant share of public expenditure and revenue. Differences in revenue mobilisation, expenditure quality, fiscal deficits and debt levels can create substantial variation in the fiscal resilience of individual states. NITI Aayog introduced the Fiscal Health Index (FHI) as a systematic framework to assess and benchmark the fiscal performance of states. States can track their performance across the five pillars: Quality of Expenditure, Revenue Mobilisation, Fiscal Prudence, Debt Index and Debt Sustainability: year-on-year and identify areas where deterioration is taking place (NITI Aayog, 2026a).
Madhya Pradesh, located in central India, has Bhopal as its capital and is the second-largest state in India by area and the fifth-largest by population, with more than 72 million residents. The state has a diversified economy driven by agriculture, mining, manufacturing, tourism and services. It is one of India’s leading agricultural producers, particularly in pulses, oilseeds and soybean, and has significant mineral resources, including large reserves of diamonds and copper. Madhya Pradesh has a projected GSDP of ₹18.48 lakh crore for 2026–27, representing a nominal growth rate of 11% over the revised 2025-26 estimate(PRS Legislative Research).
Women’s economic insecurity is shaped by more than the absence of a regular wage. Many women manage food purchases, children’s schooling, health care, care work and household budgeting, often without independent control over income. This is particularly important in households dependent on informal work, seasonal employment, small farming or irregular daily earnings. State governments have increasingly responded to this gap through direct benefit transfer programmes that credit cash directly into women’s bank accounts.