The Indian government has approved the inclusion of information on caste in the ongoing population census. The controversial decision was taken by a group of ministers, headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. Caste-based parties say the information will help the government target affirmative action benefits better. But critics say caste is the most regressive feature of Indian society; that it is repressive, reinforces hierarchy and breeds inequity. India has been conducting the national census...

For the first time, a job quota will be thrust on the private sector if the government accepts a panel’s recommendation for reservations for the disabled and turns it into law. The government-instituted committee has suggested extending to the private sector the 3 per cent reservation for the physically challenged that now exists in government jobs. It also wants a 5 per cent quota introduced for disabled students in private educational institutions...

Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal on Wednesday turned down the demand from States to provide entire funds for implementing the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory education Act and asked them to contribute to this “national mission.” Replying to a question in the Lok Sabha, Mr. Sibal said several Chief Ministers had written to him seeking between 90 and 100 per cent funds for implementing the Right to education...

The NREGS is restricted. The PDS is targeted. Only exploitation is universal. The rotting of lakhs of tonnes of foodgrain in open yards, while shocking, is hardly new or surprising. Remember the rural poor marching on godowns in Andhra Pradesh in 2001 in similar circumstances? The Supreme Court was quite right in jolting the Union government. “In a country where admittedly people are starving, it is a crime to waste even...

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) is world’s most extensive primary education programme, but is it working? The grim reality that India’s Right to education is at best working in terms of quantity of schools, and certainly not in terms of quality of education, was first proved in successive Annual Status of education Reports (ASER), brought out by education NGO ‘Pratham’ through nationwide ground-level surveys. Now a Planning Commission evaluation report confirms most...