-PTI   Relaxing rules for admission of children of weaker sections in private schools under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, Madhya Pradesh government has directed the concerned schools to provide admission on a first come first serve basis, official sources said today. Under the Act, 25 per cent seats are reserved for children of weaker sections of the society. Despite efforts to fill these seats, there...

It’s been raining “rights” in Indian policy for the last few years — education, work, food, service, healthcare, and much else. This “Diet Coke” approach to poverty reduction — the sweetness without the calories — was always dangerous because of unknown side effects. Commenting in 1790 on the consequences of the French Revolution, Edmund Burke said: “They have found their punishment in their success. Laws overturned, tribunals subverted, industry without...

The Supreme Court is set to deliver a decision on a constitutional challenge by private schools Private schools around the country are waiting for the Supreme Court to issue a judgement in a constitutional challenge to a 15-month-old law that enforces free and compulsory education as a fundamental right, after hearing was concluded last week. The government, through the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, or RTE, had...

-IANS   West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, unveilinging scholarships and sops for the state's minorities, on Saturday accused the previousLeft government of sowing confusion by announcing a "hurried and erroneous" quota in government jobs for Muslims. Addressing a programme organised by the West Bengal Minorities Development and Finance Corporation, Banerjee declared that loans totalling Rs.82 crore will be given this year to the minorities, besides scholarships and stipends worth Rs.122 crore. "This...

HRD Ministry says the seminaries are protected under Articles 29, 30 of the Constitution The Union Human Resource Development Ministry on Friday clarified that madrasas are protected under Article 29 and 30 of the Constitution, and hence the Right of the Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act does not come in the way of continuance of such institutions or the rights of children enrolled there. Madrasas imparting religious instruction do...