-The Telegraph Chief minister Mamata Banerjee will not know Pushpa Tudu. Neither will state election commissioner Mira Pande. Such an assertion can be made because Pushpa Tudu does not want her real name to be published - a wish that tells the human story behind the stand-off between the Bengal government and the state election commission. Early last week, Pushpa Tudu (name changed), a probable CPM gram panchayat candidate, was addressing a small...

-Deccan Chronicle Bengaluru: Today, the deadline for compliance with the infrastructure requirements of the Right to Education Act expires, but astoundingly, only 7 per cent of schools across the country meet the eligibility criteria. This means that over 3,00,000 private schools across the country are looking at closure once the deadline has passed, according to the Act. This means that nearly five crore students will be out of school. According to...

-The Hindu   Success stories from the right to education law give no joy when assessments show that children are ill-versed in the 3Rs and classrooms remain discriminatory Three years ago today, India, for the first time in history, made a promise to its children. With the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education coming into effect on April 1, 2010, every child was guaranteed the fundamental right to eight years of...

-The Telegraph Ranchi: Jharkhand today logged on to a national grievance redressal system that gives voice to the citizen unable to shake up a lethargic bureaucracy, empowering him with the tools to ensure he is heard by none other than the governor or chief minister. From his office in Raj Bhavan, Governor Syed Ahmed launched "jharkhandsamadhan.nic.in", a new portal developed by National Informatics Centre (NIC) under the Centralised Public Grievance Redressal and...

-Down to Earth They turn a blind eye to laws overriding tribal rights, complains national commission GOVERNORS of states with sizeable tribal population have come in for indictment over not performing their special administrative roles. To ensure partial autonomy in tribal areas, the Constitution entrusts governors with immense powers to supervise the administration and governance in such areas. They can allow or disallow any law or development programme in tribal areas to...