As the final bell goes off in my daughter's school, a ripple of anticipation runs through a group of children waiting at the gate. Tiny hands stretch through eager to touch those on the other side. For an instant, a single handshake seems to bridge an insurmountable distance, the meeting of the children of the two Indias: one that is elite, entitled and exclusive and the other that is deprived,...

In upholding the Right to Free and Compulsory Education for all Children, commonly known as the Right to Education (RTE), the Supreme Court signalled the beginning of a new approach to education. It marks a shift from the current institution-centric system to one that puts children and their interests at the core.  Most important, it is recognition of the pivotal role that education plays in a person's life, and that every...

The finance ministry has asked public sector banks to devise products for Indian farmers to ensure they get adequate funding in emergencies. The government, the majority owner of such banks, wants them to roll out products such as emergency loans to farmers that will be linked to savings accounts, a weather index-based insurance product, and set up a credit guarantee fund that will aid farmers in the event of crop losses...

75% of the youth. Every third student. 65% of all families in Punjab are in the throes of a sweeping drug addiction. With little or no hope in sight. THE RAILWAY barrier in Angarh, a locality in the border city of Amritsar in Punjab signals the end of too many things. The rule of law. The reign of sense. The fear of crime. The signs of normality. Even the divisions of...

One would expect a debate such as the current one on poverty estimates to be conducted with a serious exploration of its various facets. However, instead of a comprehensive, fact-driven exploration, the debate has yielded aspersions on the intellectual honesty of academicians. Although given its electoral connotations, one does expect political biases to creep into the debate, the barrage of criticism hurled at the Planning Commission, over its affidavit in...