-The Hindu The Aadhaar Bill opens the door to mass surveillance. This danger needs to be seen in the light of recent attacks on the right to dissent. No other country, and certainly no democratic country, has ever held its own citizens hostage to such a powerful infrastructure of surveillance. The Aadhaar project was sold to the public based on the claim that enrolment was “voluntary”. This basically meant that there was...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi's statement in the Lok Sabha that 60 per cent JNU students are from marginalised sections has drawn attention to the unique deprivation weightage offered by the university. Highlighting the inclusive character of the university, the Congress vice-president said the parents of 40 per cent of JNU students earned less than Rs 6,000 a month. JNU Students' Union general secretary Rama Naga, who hails from Baipariguda in Odisha's...

-TheWire.in When the data tells us insurance-based health schemes have not reduced out-of-pocket expenditure for the poor, Jaitley’s budgetary focus should have been on boosting public provision of health care. Despite sustained economic growth for over two decades, improvements in health indicators in India have not kept pace. By 2015, India was able to meet only four out of the ten health targets set under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for that...

-The Hindu Efforts to include children with disabilities in mainstream schools are fraught with challenges, say experts. Chennai: The last few weeks have been hectic for Sangeetha* (name changed) as she has been looking to admit her 11-year-old son into a new school for the coming academic year. “My son has mild Pervasive Development Disorder (PDD) and was studying in a private school in Mogappair but he and 17 other children with special...

-The Indian Express Delhi’s odd-even trial was brave, but policy needs good research at design stage. The trial period of the odd-even policy demonstrated a commendable willingness from the Delhi government to experiment with a policy option, and decide its future based on the evidence of impact, and acceptability from the residents of Delhi. Good evidence on the impact of any public policy requires a willingness to experiment, quality data, and a...