-Outlook Newly-appointed Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Ajay Maken today said the state governments would be asked to issue an executive order to provide property rights to slum dwellers till the Model Bill on the issue is passed. Soon after taking charge of the ministry today, Maken told reporters that a Model Property Rights to Slum Dwellers Bill, 2011 will be passed at the earliest and the states would be...

-The Hindustan Times Underprivileged people of Muktsar district, the home turf of Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, received a lion's share for construction of houses in 2011 in the run-up to the assembly elections, it has emerged. Funds to the tune of over Rs. 40 crore were pumped into Muktsar district alone from the social infrastructure fund (SIF) to help Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) construct or repair their houses, while five districts,...

-The Hindu Flooded with complaints about denial of admission to disadvantaged children under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category, the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has asked the education departments across to country to evolve a code of conduct to be followed stringently by the private schools and managements to ensure transparency in such admissions. The admission process should be clearly specified in the brochure, school website...

-The Hindustan Times Lawyer and education activist Ashok Aggarwal has spent over a decade challenging private schools that violate laws, cheat parents and deny students – especially the poor -- an opportunity to study. But two years after the Right to Education Act came into effect requiring private schools to set aside 25% free seats for students from Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), Aggarwal isn’t worrying about the law’s implementation.   “Most top schools...

-Deccan Herald The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has directed the Karnataka government to submit a report within four weeks on the allegation that a private school in Bangalore cut off tufts of hair of four children, admitted under the Right to Education Act quota. The Commission has also sought to know from the chief secretary whether any action had been initiated against the school authorities.  The four students were admitted to first...