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

Coronavirus-focus News

• From June 21, every citizen above the age of 18 will be vaccinated free at vaccination centres run by the Centre or a state government.
• The Union government has also announced a price cap for COVID-19 vaccines in private hospitals. The maximum price for Covaxin, Covishield, and Sputnik V vaccine has been fixed at Rs 1,410, Rs 780, and Rs 1,145 per dose respectively.
• ICMR will conduct the fourth round of ‘National sero-survey for COVID-19’ this month. This sero-survey will be conducted in the same 70 districts in which the first three rounds were conducted.
• To encourage steps to curb the spread of COVID-19, the Maharashtra government has announced ‘corona-free village’ competitions, where three villages in each revenue division will be awarded prizes up to ₹50 lakh.
• Weyan, a village in district Bandipora, Jammu & Kashmir has become the first village in the country to vaccinate its entire adult population.

Policy News

• Under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U), the Union government has approved the construction of nearly 3.61 lakh houses.
• Kerala retained the top rank in NITI Aayog’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Index 2020-21.

Education

• The Ministry of Education has developed an online module for compiling the data of out-of-school children and their mapping with special training centres (STC) on the PRABANDH portal.
• The Union government has released new guidelines for the development of e-Content for children with disabilities.
• The Ministry has released the All Indian Survey of Higher Education report 2019-20. According to the report, in the last five years, there has been a growth of 11.4 per cent in student enrolment.

Other News

• According to a report by the International Labour Organization and UNICEF, worldwide the number of child labourers has risen to 160 million, with millions more at risk because of the impact of COVID-19.