The concept of a “parallel” school for children from “weaker sections” of the society evoked strong words of reproach from the Delhi High Court on Wednesday as it pulled up Sanskriti School, primarily catering to children of senior bureaucrats, for making sub-classes even in education. “What do you mean by a parallel school?” a Division Bench of Chief Justice A P Shah and Justice S Muralidhar asked. “The children of...

Rajasthan had emerged as a model for transparency and accountability in NREGS implementation. Tragically, entrenched interests have been allowed to hijack the process.  Through the second half of October and for most of November this year, Rajasthan was engulfed in an unusual form of protest, spearheaded in the main by gram panchayat officials. Joined in some places by elected MLAs and MPs, and backed covertly by a section of District...

Wajahat Habibullah’s new job as Jammu and Kashmir’s chief information commissioner has run into rough weather even before he has taken the oath of office. Jammu and Kashmir High Court has admitted a writ petition that challenges his appointment as the state’s first CIC. Wajahat recently quit as chief information commissioner (CIC) of India to take over the fresh assignment at chief minister Omar Abdullah’s request. State officials say Wajahat, an old...

FIVE HOURS’ bus ride from Kolkatta, just past the railway crossing at Beldanga, is a dilapidated concrete structure covered in half-torn posters variously advertising a Marxian utopia, films for red-blooded adults and bedroom advice for couples intent on children. Inside, in a tiny, dank room behind a desk, sits someone the Queen of England knows by name – and you should too. Lanky, awkward and at 16, the possessor of...

The recession is a promising moment to expand NREGA with greater emphasis on building social capital in a big way.  Soon after assuming office, the first UPA government took an impressive step for the alleviation of rural poverty by launching the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. It was, indeed, a wise move to insulate the programme from the vicissitudes of electoral politics by enacting the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act...