-The Hindu The very foundation of Aadhaar must be reconsidered in the light of the privacy judgment Predictably enough, the recent Supreme Court order affirming that privacy is a fundamental right sent Aadhaar’s public-relations machine into damage control mode. After denying the right to privacy for years, the government promptly changed gear and welcomed the judgment. Ajay Bhushan Pandey, CEO of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), suddenly asserted, “The Aadhaar...

-PTI Non-Performing Govt Schools Should Be Handed Over To Private Players: Niti Aayog Government think tank Niti Aayog has recommended to hand over non-performing or "hollowed" government schools to private players under the public- private partnership (PPP) mode. The Aayog, in its recently released "Three-year action agenda", has recommended that the idea, where the private sector adopts government schools while being publicly funded on a per child basis, can be explored. According to the...

-Hindustan Times After Tamil Nadu’s pioneering Amma canteens, many states have started community kitchens, such as Karnataka’s Indira Canteens. This is a welcome development. The first coverage of the recently inaugurated “Indira canteens” in Karnataka that I noticed were two reports on television channels. Both were poking fun (justifiably) at Rahul Gandhi’s goofy speech at the launch. Sadly though, neither commented on the rationale or importance of the Karnataka government’s initiative. This...

-PTI Govt last year launched PMUY scheme to provide 5 cr poor women with free LPG connections in 3 years New Delhi: The government has extended till September-end the time by which poor women wishing to avail of free cooking gas (LPG) connections must apply for the unique 12-digit biometric identification number Aadhaar. The government had in March this year mandated that anyone not having Aadhaar but desirous of availing free LPG connection...

-Ideas for India Soon after Aadhaar was made compulsory for availing midday meals in schools, the government claimed that the move had helped expose several instances of schools siphoning off funds under the scheme by reporting inflated student enrolment. Comparing official data with that from the Indian Human Development Survey, this column shows that corruption in the scheme is less than what is being alleged - and not of the nature...