The Trinamul Congress, a key ally of the Congress in the UPA, has joined hands with several state governments headed by the BJP and others to block the human resources development ministry’s proposal to set up a National Textbook Council. Besides the TMC and the BJP, the BSP, JD(U), AIADMK and BJD oppose it. The move aimed to create a body that would monitor the content of school textbooks, including those...

Indian public policy often short-circuits because there are too many crossed wires: one agency trying to do another’s work, and arguments being invoked in contexts in which they are inappropriate. There has been much speculation about the Ministry of Home Affairs’ objections to Aadhar in its current form. But it will be a travesty if the project of identification is moved from its current service delivery-oriented paradigm to a security-oriented...

How our dismal education scene is linked to our intolerance What’s common to the Salman Rushdie episode, India’s dismal educational scenario—as underlined by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and Pratham’s 7th Annual Survey of Education Report (ASER)—and its appalling ranking on the Global Hunger Index (GHI)? It’s clear even on the surface: a deep disconnect between India’s claims on democratic superpower status and its grim reality. If you probe...

The government, the largest owner of landed property in the country, is preparing a comprehensive land sale policy to raise revenues and check corruption in government-owned property deals. The finance ministry will shortly move a cabinet note for bringing in a new uniform policy on 'land alienation' by government agencies, with an eye on removing discretionary powers of individual ministers and bureaucrats, said a government official. In big cities, large tracts...

In what could raise the hackles of women's rights activists, the Law Commission has recommended to the Centre that the strict law dealing with dowry offences be made compoundable - a move that will allow an accused to escape a jail term by paying a fine. The recommendation to alter the tough provisions of Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code comes in the backdrop of Supreme Court suggesting it may...