-The Hindustan Times The finance ministry will soon initiate a survey to assess the efficacy of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) and analyse how many accounts have been opened. The report will be sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. About 40 million accounts have been opened under the scheme so far. "We would soon initiate a survey to understand how many unbanked households have been covered region-wise," a senior finance ministry...

-The Hindu In addition to adequate provision of funds for cleaning, sanitation training and maintenance of toilets in schools, the issue of fixing accountability must also be addressed The revival of the issue of toilets in schools has brought to the fore a discussion that has for long existed among educationists, with varying positions occupying centre stage at different times. A couple of decades ago, when the deplorable state of education began...

-The Hindustan Times Soon, motorists caught speeding, driving drunk or jumping red lights may not get away with a light fine and a few stern words from the traffic cop. The punishment would get harsher as the gravity of the offence increases - a Rs. 3-lakh fine and not less than seven years in jail for causing the death of a child; Rs. 5 lakh in penalty and three months in jail...

-Economic and Political Weekly   Through a two-way process comprising text analysis of the policy framework of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan programme and analysis of empirical data collected through interaction with policy implementers, teachers, students, experts, etc, this article puts forth the argument that urban education system has failed partly because of the inability of the implementers to plan, manage and facilitate the programme. Monika Banerjee (banerjie77@gmail.com) is with the Zakir Husain Centre...

-The Business Standard Ministers in the Narendra Modi government have been busy making presentations on their 100 days of work. But what these presentations do not mention is that decisions by ministers have been few, with plenty of papers and files moving to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), which is increasingly emerging as a centralised clearance point, even for routine and ordinary issues. Though policy paralysis was a term used freely...