-KanglaOnline.com   The second day and the concluding session of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights public hearing on Right to Education Act, child trafficking, child labor, disabilities and other child rights was conducted today at Kangla Hall, Imphal. The two day public hearing concluded today on the note that several cases regarding infrastructure and maintenance on school systems had to be addressed by the concerned director of schools and other...

After the brutal murder of Azad, is there any hope for well-meaning routine calls for “dialogue” and “peace talks”? What can the "civil society" do as a serious, real intervention? It is reported that the decades-old talks with Naga insurgent groups has made some progress recently (See “Differences ‘narrowed’,” Times of India, July 19, 2011). One reason why talks have a chance in these cases is that separatism comes in...

A rare praise for the UPA government in the 743-page CAG report on the Commonwealth Games was courtesy Railways. Applauding the work done by the state-run transporter, the government auditor mentioned that all the major activities relating to the makeover of New Delhi Railway Station were completed before the Games and within the budget. Though the CAG in its initial review of rail projects in January-February 2010 revealed substantial delay at every...

The State's public education system faces the threat of dilution from several quarters. WHEN a national law is finally in place to ensure that not a single child is out of school, there is a growing concern in Kerala, which already has a well-established, though languishing, public education system, about the United Democratic Front (UDF) government's moves to sanction a large number of private, unaided schools. The decision to issue no...

Classrooms give shelter to cows and buffaloes, while students sit outside in the compound. Children carry their own plates to school for mid-day meals and later rush back home on the pretext of washing the dishes, but never come back for classes. School management committees are told by teachers that no one has the right to seek any information from the school authorities. The scenario gets worse if the panchayat facilitators...