The Planning Commission's laughable estimates of the ‘poverty line' follow from a mistake in method that it made 30 years ago and has clung to ever since. The affidavit that the Planning Commission recently submitted before the Supreme Court stating that a person is to be considered ‘poor' only if his or her monthly spending is below Rs.781 (Rs.26 a day) in the rural areas and Rs.965 (Rs.32 a day) in...
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State frames regulations for implementation of RTE Act by Swati Shinde Gole
The state government has defined regulations for the implementation of the Right to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, in all schools in the state. After a cabinet decision earlier this month, the state government had decided to extend primary education up to std VIII, to allow 25 per cent students from economically backward class in to private schools, etc. Minister of school education, Rajendra Darda, said, "The rules have...
More »Govt has to bear Rs 3,800 cr to implement 25% quota under RTE by Sruthy Susan Ullas
The finance department wanted to know what would be the extra burden to the state to implement the 25% quota in private schools under the RTE. It got a mind-boggling figure of Rs 3,800 crore. The state unit of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan furnished this exact figure to the government on how much it would cost the government to reimburse private schools ( ICSE/CBSE) if the 25% seats are reserved for...
More »No revision in poverty line cap by Plan panel by Nikhil Kanekal
The Planning Commission’s latest affidavit to the Supreme Court in the right to food case reveals it has not taken the court’s advice to revise the thresholds and spending that determine the poverty line, although the commission admits to spiralling food costs and inflation. The affidavit was filed in a public interest litigation being pursued by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties, which wants the government’s threshold of Rs. 12 and...
More »‘Missing Girls is About Femicide’ by Nitin Jugran Bahuguna
India has been ranked the fourth most dangerous country in the world for women, but the widespread practice of selectively aborting female foetuses may make it the most hostile to the female gender. In the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, where the child sex ratio (0 - 6 years of age) has dropped to 886 girls per 1,000 boys - according to provisional data in the 2011 census - a strong civil...
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