One man’s fiscal problem is another man’s lifeline. Trigger happy bureaucrats and economists may love shooting down subsidies because it bloats the fiscal deficit and burdens the government but the simple fact is that in a one billion strong nation, in which nearly one in every three live below the poverty line, one needs an effective and efficient method through which privileged tax payers can support the poor. Last week, finance...

-The Pioneer The Planning Commission will constitute an expert group in three months to revisit the methodology for estimating poverty amid demand for removal of its Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia for pegging the poverty line at Rs 28.65 daily per capita consumption for cities and Rs 22.42 in rural areas. “The Government had taken a decision to set up a technical group to revisit the methodology for estimating poverty in a...

-The Telegraph A comment attributed to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar that government schools breed Naxalites has sparked a furore, forcing the spiritual guru to issue a clarification today. Speaking at the 25th anniversary of a private school in Jaipur yesterday, Ravi Shankar had said: “Government ko koi school nahi chalana chahiye. Aksar paya jata hai ki government school se padhe hue bacche hi is tarha naxalvad me hinsa ke marg me chale...

Poor utilization of funds and irregular disbursals have been cited as the reasons for India’s school education system failing to show desired improvement even as the government has more than doubled funds for education programmes in the past two years. The government has spent just 70% of the funds allocated for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (education for all) and Right to education in 2010-11 compared with 78% in the year earlier, according...

Madrasa managements across the country are keenly watching the budget session of Parliament. No, they are not looking forward to the kind of budget that will be presented by the Finance Minister. Their anxiety is to see the promised relief coming in the Right to education (RTE) Act for minority institutions. The government has promised to bring amendments to certain sections of the Act seen as having a ‘negative impact'...