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The government's flagship health insurance scheme has issued cards to 55.4 crore beneficiaries. But National Health Authority data shows only 25% of cardholders have ever used the scheme — and rejection rates at empanelled hospitals range from 18% to 44% depending on the state.

More than two years after the Supreme Court struck down the Electoral Bonds Scheme, the Court's five-judge Constitution Bench has been forced to issue a fresh direction to SBI, finding that the bank's disclosures were incomplete — 22,217 bonds remain unlinked between purchaser and political party.

The National Education Policy 2020 promised a fundamental restructuring of India's school system. A new report by the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration finds that three years after state-level rollout began, fewer than a quarter of states have implemented even the foundational literacy programme, and the 5+3+3+4 curriculum structure exists only on paper in most regions.

Ramprasad Meena, a 67-year-old retired schoolteacher from Sawai Madhopur, spent three years filing 84 RTI applications to force the Rajasthan government to complete a drinking water pipeline promised in 2018. His persistence secured piped water for 4,200 households — and a contempt of court notice for the Executive Engineer who ignored 11 RTI responses.

An RTI analysis by NT shows 2.4 crore NREGA workers across Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha and five other states have not received wages for completed work in over six weeks. The delay violates the scheme's 15-day payment mandate.

The Consumer Price Index for April 2026 shows food inflation at 8.7% — the highest in 14 months. Tomatoes, onions and edible oils are the primary drivers. The RBI's tolerance band tops out at 6%; economists are divided on whether a rate response is warranted.

Results for 14 Lok Sabha and assembly by-elections declared on May 1 show the INDIA bloc winning 11 seats, including four considered safe for the ruling alliance. Political analysts say the results signal weakening ground support ahead of major state elections in Rajasthan, MP and Bihar in 2027.

The upcoming delimitation exercise will redraw India's electoral map based on 2031 Census data. States that successfully reduced fertility rates — Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh — stand to lose representation, while high-fertility northern states gain seats.

The Supreme Court's landmark ruling allowing states to sub-categorise OBC reservations — giving greater representation to the 'most backward' within OBCs — will reshape caste politics in 18 states. NT explains the legal shift, what changes, and what stays the same.

The four Labour Codes passed in 2019–20 promised gig workers social security for the first time. Five years on, the Code on Social Security has still not been notified for gig workers in any state. Platform companies continue to classify drivers and delivery workers as 'partners', not employees.

RBI's State Finances report flags that Punjab, Rajasthan, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh and four other states have crossed a critical threshold — interest payments now exceed their combined spending on education and health. Analysts warn the debt spiral will squeeze public services for a decade.

A new Central Ground Water Authority report classifies 12 Indian states as 'critical' or 'over-exploited' for groundwater. Bengaluru, Chennai, Jaipur, Ahmedabad and four other cities are on a trajectory to exhaust exploitable aquifer reserves within four years under current extraction rates.

India missed its 100 GW solar target by 2022, revised it to 2026, and has now installed 86.7 GW as of March 2026 — still short. Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh account for over 80% of capacity, while eastern and northeastern states lag far behind.

PM Fasal Bima Yojana was launched to give farmers affordable crop insurance. Ten years on, RTI data shows insurance companies have collected ₹1.36 lakh crore in premiums — of which 34% has been paid as crop loss claims. Farmers in Vidarbha and Bundelkhand report claim rejections running at 60%.

The Soil Health Card Scheme, which has issued 22 crore cards to farmers recommending optimal fertiliser doses, has had limited behavioural impact. ICAR's own survey finds that only 11% of card recipients actually changed their fertiliser application — urea overuse continues.

India accounts for 35% of the world's 148 million stunted children under five. New NFHS-6 baseline data for 12 high-burden states shows that while wasting (acute malnutrition) has declined, stunting rates have barely moved in states like Bihar, UP and Jharkhand in eight years.

The Mental Health Care Act 2017 guaranteed every Indian the right to mental healthcare. Eight years after enactment, India has 9,000 psychiatrists for 1.4 billion people — one per 155,000 citizens. 97% of district hospitals have no psychiatrist. Community mental health centres promised by 2020 exist in 3% of districts.

The PM POSHAN scheme (Mid-Day Meal) feeds 8.3 crore children daily, making it the world's largest school meal programme. But a Ministry audit finds that only 58% of enrolled children receive a full nutritionally compliant meal on all school days — gaps are sharpest in Jharkhand, Bihar and Assam.

India approved 4.1 million engineering seats for 2025–26. Only 2.47 million were filled — a 40% vacancy rate. Meanwhile, a NASSCOM survey shows 52% of engineering graduates are 'not industry-ready' for their first job, raising questions about whether India's engineering capacity is scaling in the right direction.

UPI transactions crossed ₹20 lakh crore in value and 13.4 billion in volume in April 2026 — a milestone for India's payments stack. But NABARD data shows 63% of rural Indians still prefer cash for regular transactions, and only 28% of India's 6.4 lakh villages have any banking point of presence.

India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act was notified in August 2025. A survey by the Data Security Council of India finds that 72% of companies subject to the Act have not completed basic compliance steps — no Data Protection Officer appointed, no consent framework implemented.

An UIDAI audit reveals 11.4 crore Aadhaar numbers have demographic mismatches — wrong names, dates of birth or addresses — that prevent successful bank account seeding. These errors silently block access to PM-KISAN, PMJAY, PDS and other schemes for millions of beneficiaries.

India's 25 High Courts are functioning at 66% of their sanctioned strength — 399 of 1,114 posts are vacant. The Supreme Court Collegium has cleared 112 names in the last six months, but the government has acted on only 31. The result: 5.1 crore cases pending in courts across India.

India's three new criminal laws — Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam — replaced the IPC, CrPC and Evidence Act from July 2024. Nine months on, an NT survey of police stations in six states finds widespread confusion in FIR filing and trial courts adapting unevenly.

The Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, 2023 reserves 33% of Lok Sabha and state assembly seats for women. But the Act stipulates implementation only after delimitation — which won't happen before 2029 at the earliest. India currently ranks 148th globally in women's parliamentary representation at 13.6%.

India's Self Help Group–Bank Linkage Programme has linked 1.43 crore SHGs to banks, with ₹10.03 lakh crore in outstanding credit. But NABARD's survey finds that only 19% of rural women can access individual formal credit without a male household member as guarantor or co-signer.