Keep up-to-date with all that is happening in welfare policy with this curated selection of news, published every fortnight.

Policy News 

1. The Union Cabinet approved the continuation of the Capacity Development (CD) scheme till March 2026. An outlay of ₹3,179 crore has been approved for the scheme’s continuation. 
2. The Union government released ₹1,348 crore to six states for providing grants to urban local bodies.
3. The Union Ministry of Rural Development launched the Ombudsperson app for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).
4. The Ministry of Finance announced that the World Bank will provide ₹869 crore loan to fund Rejuvenating Watersheds for Agricultural Resilience through Innovative Development (REWARD) Project.
5. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology released the Draft India Data Accessibility & Use Policy, 2022.
6. Maharashtra proposed Women’s Policy titled ‘Policies and Strategies on Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women’ after the review of the state’s 2014 women’s policy. 

Education 

1. The Ministry of Education approved the continuation of the National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme (NMMSS) till 2025-26.
2. The Ministry of Education approved the ‘New India Literacy Programme’ scheme for adult education for the period 2022-27.
3. The Union Cabinet approved continuation of the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) scheme till 2025-2026.
4. The Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports submitted a report titled ‘Reforms in the Education of Performing and Fine Arts’ to the parliament. 
5. The University Grants Commission issued draft accessibility and inclusivity guidelines for higher education institutions.
6. The University Grants Commission issued Open and Distance Learning Programmes and Online Programmes, Second Amendment Regulations, 2022.
7. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment issued new guidelines for the National Overseas Scholarship (NOS) that bar humanities subjects, like Indian history, culture and heritage from the scholarship’s purview. 
8. The Chief Minister of Haryana announced that for students of Classes 9 to 12 skill development will be made a compulsory subject. 

Health 

1. The Union Cabinet approved the national roll-out of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) with a budget of  ₹1,600 crore for five years.
2. The National Health Authority (NHA) is set out to integrate the database of Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) 2011 beneficiaries with the National Food Security Act (NFSA) portal.
3. The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare launched the National Polio Immunisation Drive (NID) for 2022.
4. The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare launched ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) – DHR (Department of Health Research) policy on Biomedical Innovation & Entrepreneurship for medical professionals.

Sanitation 

1. The New Delhi Municipal Council constituted a special Sanitation Response Unit (SRU) for the safety of people working as sewer cleaners.
2. The National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj launched the three-day long National Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Conclave 2022.