-The Hindustan Times   After poverty line, the government and the civil society may converge on bringing crores of workers enrolled under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) under the minimum wages law. The government had earlier rejected demand by civil society members and Sonia Gandhi-headed National Advisory Council of paying wages to MGNREGA workers as per notified minimum wages of states. The reason given was that states could hike minimum...

-The Hindustan Times   A year after its implementation, students and parents from the economically weaker sections of society are still finding it tough to use the Right to Education Act (RTE) effectively. Instances of alleged expulsion, mental harassment and misbehaviour have been reported by students and parents from different corners of the city against some private un-aided schools. In one incident, a Class III student, Sidhartha (name changed), an economically weaker section...

The basic problem with the Approach Paper, as with its predecessor, is that its theoretical paradigm is wrong. WHAT used to be said of the Bourbon kings of France applies equally to the Indian Planning Commission: “They learn nothing and they forget nothing.” The Approach Paper to the Twelfth Five-Year Plan gives one a sense of déjà vu. It is hardly any different from the Approach Paper to the previous Plan...

The Planning Commission's Approach Paper to the Twelfth Plan sticks with the neoliberal agenda despite claims of inclusive growth. INCLUSIVE was one word that came up time and again in the early announcements of the Planning Commission on the Twelfth Five-Year Plan. “Faster, Sustainable and More Inclusive Growth” was the slogan coined for the Plan and there was the promise of widespread consultations as never before as part of the processes...

There are fears that curative health care will be left to the private sector, while the public system will handle preventive and low-quality care. AN issue of The Lancet earlier this year highlighted some of the problems with public health in India, acknowledging that “it is in crisis”. The robust economic growth over the past 20 years has not translated into better health indices; indeed the decline of infant and child...