The new National Vaccine Policy Draft 2011 by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare comes out openly in favour of public-private partnerships and suggests flexible governing and funding mechanisms to support vaccine development in the PPP mode. This article argues that our vaccine policy must look into the health of the children in the country and it should not be overly concerned solely with the viability of the vaccine industry.

Microsoft India has partnered with government in delivering many successful e-governance initiatives. It has played a key role in the areas of education through the Siksha initiative by enhancing IT skills of the teachers. Ranbir Singh, group director, public sector, Microsoft India, in an interview with Samir Sachdeva mentions the areas where Microsoft has partnered with various government agencies for the betterment of society.

Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt and others (“Land Acquisition and Dispossession: Private Coal Companies in Jharkhand”, EPW, 11 February 2012), touch on several important issues, but with a sophistication which is expected from academics. The piece, however, portrays only the tip of the iceberg; the grass-roots situation is much more serious and tense. Land acquisition by privately-owned coal
mining companies has assumed very sinister proportions. This letter is to bring some more examples to the attention of EPW readers. (Letters)

This vaccine policy is more about spending and coverage, than about protecting children. It is not designed to enhance national public capacities for public immunization programmes, but to justify spending public money on public private partnerships (PPPs) or privately produced vaccines in the name of protection from diseases, whose incidence figures and public health statistics are dubious and industry manufactured.

The quality of implementation of the National Rural Health Mission in a number of states has transformed the public healthcare system considerably. Learning from these improvements which have focused on the grass roots, local recruitment is the best way to forge a credible public health system that has public accountability.