Scroll.in Though the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE Act) has refocussed attention on school education in recent years, some fundamental problems continue to plague the system. Despite the constitutional and legal obligations of governments, education budgets have remained modest and woefully inadequate to requirements. While there has been a reasonable expansion of coverage and enrolment in schools, the fundamental issue of poor learning outcomes, especially...

The Hindu Businessline India’s urea production has surged by 25.6 per cent during the first month of the current fiscal to 23.45 lakh tonnes (lt), thanks to the revival of four closed plants in the public SECtor at Gorakhpur, Sindri, Barauni, and Ramagundam. However, sales were lower at 11.77 lt in April from year-ago, which indicates its comfortable availability as farmers normally rush to store the crop nutrient ahead of sowing...

KEY TRENDS   • Oxfam India's 2023 India Supplement report on poverty and inequality in India reveals that the gap between the rich and the poor is widening. Following the pandemic in 2019, the bottom 50 per cent of the population have continued to see their wealth chipped away. By 2020, their income share was estimated to have fallen to only 13 per cent of the national income and have less than 3...

National Law School of India University, Bengaluru What is the status of hunger and malnutrition in India? The year 2023 marks a decade since the enactment of the National Food SECurity Act (NFSA). The Act aims to provide food and nutritional SECurity by ensuring access to quality food at affordable prices. However, despite 10 years of food SECurity being a legal right and the availability of sufficient quantities of food grains, India...

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has said that as per SECond Advance Estimates (2022-23), production of foodgrains in the country is estimated at 3,235 lakh tonne, which is higher by 79 lakh tonne than the production of foodgrains during 2021-22. Record production of rice, maize, gram, pulses, rapeseed and mustard, oilseeds and sugarcane is estimated.  Total production of sugarcane in the country during 2022-23 is estimated at record 4,688 lakh...