- The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy Aadhaar's principal goals were to end fraud and reach welfare to the poorest. But in practice it has achieved neither. The claimed elimination of bogus cards has been found to be exaggerated. On the other hand, the insistence on the Aadhaar card has led to the brutal exclusion from welfare of the very poor and the homeless — for reasons such as...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Centre is examining Finland's school education model, focused on each child learning at her own pace, to see how much of it India can emulate. The Prime Minister's Office sent a note to the human resource development ministry this month asking it to study Finland's system, highlighting the 100 per cent government funding, flexible curriculum and teaching methods, and the high salary of and rigorous training for...

-The Indian Express Study indicates that gender disparities and lack of skills to match aspirations could upset India’s demographic dividend The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), released on Tuesday, is significant for several reasons. In looking at the age group of 14-18, the survey — to begin with — offers insights into the performance of the Right to Education Act, eight years after it made elementary education a fundamental right....

-The Hindu Many States have initiated ‘reforms’ of the public distribution system that are hurting millions of people India’s public distribution system (PDS) is in danger of being derailed in several States across the country. Recent disruptions of the PDS have taken different forms, from compulsory biometric authentication to so-called direct benefit transfer (DBT). The consequences are alarming, but tend to go unreported. Biometric mix-ups Jharkhand is a prime example of this problem. By...

-Livemint.com The committee’s suggestions on major reforms include an overhaul of the Union agriculture ministry New Delhi: In a detailed action plan for doubling farmers’ incomes, a top government panel has proposed major reforms to the existing administrative structure. This includes an overhaul of the Union agriculture ministry, setting up a three-tier planning and review mechanism through district, state and national level committees and an annual ease of doing agribusiness survey. The committee on...