-Outlook The BJP government needs to understand that "vikas" means growth and development, not growth alone. The new government that came to power with the promise of "vikas" has launched an unrelenting attack on social welfare programmes and legislations. In October 2014, there was a rumour that NREGA would be restricted to some districts. Though the changes proposed have not been implemented, NREGA is in danger of dying a slow death...

-Economic and Political Weekly The release of the independent Annual Status of Education Report has become an annual event, bringing attention to the status of learning amongst children in rural India. An examination of the 2014 report looks at the representation of data within the binary of government vs private schooling, as well as the silence of the report on the quality of private schools, and highlights the need to move...

-The Hindu Washington: A top global human rights group has criticised the Indian government for its treatment of minorities, lack of protection for women's and children's rights, restrictions on free speech and insufficient support extended for human rights via New Delhi's foreign policy engagements. In its 25th annual World Report on human rights, New York-headquartered Human Rights Watch noted that there was a "spike" in incidents of violence against religious minorities in...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: At a time when the government is stressing on science and mathematics for girl students, a study from Rajasthan on gender and equity goals in secondary education shows that its efforts are not misplaced and in fact the issue needs urgent attention. One of the key highlights of the study undertaken with support of MacArthur Foundation shows there is a paucity of women maths and science...

-The Indian Express The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) released last week forced India's policymakers, yet again, to confront the unfortunate realities of our primary education system. In its 10-year history, ASER has challenged the fundamental assumption of elementary education policy: that the expansion of the schooling system would ensure that children learn. Indeed, in the last decade, while the Centre was able to expand the system through the provision...