The Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act was billed to be a giant leap towards universalization of education in India. However, it has acquired the dubious distinction of being the only fundamental right that exists just on paper. More than seven years after the Constitution was amended in 2002 to make free and compulsory education to children in the age group of 6-14 a fundamental right and over four...
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Wiping flaws by swiping a ‘smarter’ NREGS card by Tarannum Manjul
Fake entries and wrong entries have been the bane of the government’s flagship welfare plan — the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). However, Uttar Pradesh has found a way out. Starting July 2009, the state Department of Rural Development introduced the biometric smart card attendance system in 10 villages of two blocks, and in 2010, it plans to extend the same to at least one block in each of...
More »7 months on, UPA-2 flagship schemes fail to impress by Rajeev Deshpande
Seven months into its second innings in power, UPA-2’s report card on key target schemes is just about average. Initiatives like Rajiv Awas Yojana are yet to be fully formulated while some others like the western dedicated rail corridor are stalled and a few other schemes are suffering from end-user glitches. A year-end review of flagship programmes, now scanned by PMO’s delivery monitoring unit apart from Cabinet Secretariat, has highlighted...
More »Trials in sexual offences to be completed in 2 months
As a fallout of the Ruchika molestation case, trials in all sexual offences including rape will now be completed within two months as far as possible and all victims will have the right to appeal against a court order, under new amendments to CrPC. The amendments which came into effect yesterday would come as a big relief to complainants as till now only the state could file an appeal against...
More »Changed Forever by Disaster by Akash Kapur
THANTIRAYANKUPPAM, INDIA — Five years ago, I woke up on a Sunday morning, checked the news online and saw that a tsunami had hit my part of the world. Early reports were sketchy. I read about just a few casualties (in Sri Lanka, as I recall), and I remember thinking that the whole thing sounded exciting. I went down to the beach, about a 15-minute drive from my house. I walked...
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