Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal on Wednesday turned down the demand from States to provide entire funds for implementing the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act and asked them to contribute to this “national mission.” Replying to a question in the Lok Sabha, Mr. Sibal said several Chief Ministers had written to him seeking between 90 and 100 per cent funds for implementing the Right to Education...

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) is world’s most extensive primary education programme, but is it working? The grim reality that India’s Right to Education is at best working in terms of quantity of schools, and certainly not in terms of quality of education, was first proved in successive Annual Status of Education Reports (ASER), brought out by education NGO ‘Pratham’ through nationwide ground-level surveys. Now a Planning Commission evaluation report confirms most...

It is not uncommon for private gynaecologists registered under state government-run Chiranjeevi Scheme to ensure institutional deliveries and refer beneficiaries to government hospitals. But the latest trend is of Chiranjeevi doctors referring cesarean cases to doctors registered under the Central government-run Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY) in order to save costs. Even as doctors registered under Chiranjeevi Scheme have repeatedly complained of the low remuneration package offered by the state government...

JHABUA, India — Inside the drab district hospital, where dogs patter down the corridors, sniffing for food, Ratan Bhuria’s children are curled together in the malnutrition ward, hovering at the edge of starvation. His daughter, Nani, is 4 and weighs 20 pounds. His son, Jogdiya, is 2 and weighs only eight. Landless and illiterate, drowned by debt, Mr. Bhuria and his ailing children have staggered into the hospital ward after falling...

The employment guarantee scheme has resulted in a big spurt in not only wages but also household income in the rural areas, an analysis of the data since the beginning of the programme in 2006-07 show. While rural wages have risen 38% since 2006-07, household income saw a 74% increase in the four years up to 2009-10. This is despite the fact that just 13% of the 5 crore beneficiary families...