-The Telegraph New Delhi: School education secretary Vrinda Sarup today voiced concern over the reduced allocation in funds for the midday-meal programme, saying she hoped the finance ministry would restore the budget for something that has helped bring back children to school. "Dialogues are on. We hope the MDM (scheme) would be protected," Sarup told a media conference organised to present the achievements of the human resource development ministry over the past...

-The Times of India AGRA: The Uttar Pradesh mid-day meal authority's decision to extend the vital service to students of 58 drought-hit districts even during the summer vacation has hit an unlikely roadblock: teachers. This in essence jeopardizes the well-being of lakhs of school-going children in districts declared 'drought-hit' in 2014. Many of these regions also bore the brunt of unseasonal rains in March, sparking a spate of suicides. The opposition, if...

-Hindustan Times A dominant feature of the first year of Narendra Modi's leadership is the quiet dismantling of India's imperfectly realised framework of welfare and rights, covertly, by stealth.   A declared pro-corporate agenda, such as the land acquisition ordinance, proved politically messy and costly. Therefore, the government resorted instead for an enfeebling of the welfare architecture of the country through a combination of fiscal withdrawals, ignoring even legally mandated obligations.   But this attracted...

-The Indian Express The debate on the land acquisition bill and the tragic suicide of a farmer in Delhi compel us to reflect on a theme of enduring significance: the role of agriculture and farmers in development. What has the historical experience all over the world been? How is India’s agrarian narrative different — or identical? What can India learn from international experience? Many years ago, I wrote a book, Democracy, Development...

-Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Human Resource Development The Education of All (EFA) Global Monitoring Report (GMR) 2015 states that India made marked progress, increasing its net enrolment ratio significantly as Gross National Product (GNP) per capita improved, suggesting a more equitable distribution of economic gains. The report states that there was particular improvement in reducing gender disparity in primary enrolment in South and West Asia, where the regional Gender Parity...