Eminent citizens have petitioned PM Manmohan Singh asking him to ban all forms of child labour for those under 14 years of age. Spearheaded by international child Rights organisation `Save the Children', 45 eminent members of society have demanded that the Child Labour Act be amended to remove contradictions between the Child Labour Prevention and Regulation Act (CLPRA) and the Right to Education (RTE) Act that provides education as a...

Conflicting recollections on Bhopal tragedy highlight need to make old government papers public I was on the last unaffected train out of Bhopal that night, or so I was told. It was the Dakshni Express from Hyderabad to Delhi. There was nothing unusual at the station and next day in Delhi, I went through an entire working day unaware of that night’s news. It was not the age of 24x7 television...

While India’s new Right to Education Act seeks to bring free and compulsory education for all children, it seems to short-change them through an unrealistic vision of the private sector’s involvement. In August 2009, the Right to Education Act was passed in the Indian Parliament with no debate, by the fewer than 60 members who happened to be attending the session that day. Not that the Act was an open-and-shut...

International law expert Kishore Singh has been nominated as the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education. His candidature was presented by the government as well as by two judges of the International Court of Justice at The Hague, and supported by the Geneva-based Platform of NGOs on the right to education. The appointment of an Indian to such a prestigious and challenging position in the U.N. system is most opportune...

Honour killings are being reported at an unnervingly quick clip, but what escapes attention is the fast and furious increase in numbers of couples seeking protection, fearing for their lives once they decide to marry. Advocates say the Punjab & Haryana high court receives as many as 50 applications a day from couples seeking protection, a staggering ten-fold rise from about 5 to 6 a day five years ago. Such...