The Reserve Bank of India has directed all banks to maintain "no-frills accounts" - a bank account at zero balance - for 100% fi nancial inclusion so as to include all households under the ambit of the formal fi nancial sector. This study conducted in 2008 in Hooghly district of West Bengal reveals that the scheme has been largely unsuccessful in the fi nancial inclusion of excluded categories such as the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, Other Backward Classes and those who are less educated.

Despite the steps towards gender responsive budgeting, the budgetary allocations for promoting gender equality and women's empowerment show a decline. The gender budget statement in proportion to the total expenditure of the union budget as well as the projected Gross Budgetary Support for Women and Child Development in the Twelfth Five-Year Plan has decreased. Will this affect its ambitious gender agenda?

Pakistan’s enormous macroeconomic, internal, and human security challenges coexist alongside the opportunity created by a huge desire for change. With democracy taking root and a new constitutionally ushered era in state governance, The Lancet Series about Pakistan and health focuses on health as a nation-building and social-welfare agenda at a time of unprecedented social upheaval and economic hardships in the country. We call for a unified vision for the goal of universal and equitable health access. We provide recommendations for six objectives for policy and action.