In a plea to the faculty and students of the prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Indian President Pranab Mukherjee drew attention to the healthcare emergency India faces -- as 80 percent of costs are paid out-of-pocket and healthcare debts plunge 40 million Indians into poverty every year.

“I am deeply concerned about the impoverishing impact of health and medical expenses on the vulnerable sections of our society," the president said, addressing the institute's 40th Annual Convocation of AIIMS.

As I wrote some years ago for Newsweek, AIIMS is a remarkable institution -- providing care free or virtually free to huge numbers of Indians from all walks of life. 

In 2005, "the government-run hospital, with about 2,000 beds, treated 3.5 million people, achieving mortality and infection rates comparable to the best facilities in the developed world--for fees that come to about $1 a day for inpatients," that article reported. "AIIMS can do this because of government funding of about $100 million a year.... [and because] senior residents at AIIMS make about $400 a month."

The problem is that the institution is essentially unique in India, which has adopted a disastrous go-slow policy when it comes to increasing the budget for health care, regardless of the concern of Mr. Mukherjee (who was finance minister before he was nominated to the figurehead post of president).

Just like you can't throw a stone in India without hitting a politician, it's pretty tough to talk to a policy wonk without getting a sermon on "governance." But here's something you don't hear that often:

Apart from delivering essential services like clean water, building decent roads and collecting the garbage, good local government can actually create wealth. And I'm not talking about a few guys weaving baskets. I'm talking about 60 millionaires in one village in Maharashtra.

The prime minister's moves to hike prices for petrol and diesel fuel, thus reducing the government's subsidy bill and moving closer to balancing the budget, resulted in a spike in inflation that has put paid to industry's hopes for an interest rate cut.

Inflation rose to a 10-month high 7.8 percent in August, thanks mainly to the fuel price hike, Reuters reported Monday.

My article on the Be! Fund this week showcased how the non-profit is applying the principles of venture capital to create entrepreneurs in India's poorest communities -- and building businesses that employ people and address social or environmental problems.  But can these entrepreneurs really bring about large scale change?