IIPS (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 - Governance)

Context: Members of Opposition parties and of the scientific community have expressed their anger and dismay at the Central Government’s move in suspending Director and senior Professor at the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), which conducts crucial data collection for the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), among others. 

• The Health Ministry cited complaints regarding irregularities in recruitment and compliance with the reservation roster at the IIPC.

Key Points

• The Centre was informed through NFHS-5 that 40% households did not have access to clean cooking fuel (questioning the impact of the Centre’s Ujjwala Yojana), and that in rural areas, more than half (57% households) do not have access to LPG or natural gas. 
• It also noted that anaemia is on the rise in India. It found that 19% households lacked toilet facilities and their members defecate in the open.

International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) 

• It serves as a regional Institute for Training and Research in Population Studies for the  Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) region.
• The Institute was re-designated to its present title in 1985 to facilitate the expansion of its academic activities and was declared as a 'Deemed University' on 19 August 1985 under Section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956 by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (Ministry of Education).
• The Institute is under the administrative control of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
• The IIPS’ mandate is to contribute to the improvement of the population health outcomes and their determinants, and the achievement of health equity through programmatic initiatives.
• Besides teaching and research activities, the Institute also provides consultancy to the Government and Non-Government organizations and other academic institutions.