What’s happened today in Bhopal is worse than what happened in 1984,” says a furious Syed M. Irfan, convenor of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha, referring to Monday’s verdict by a Bhopal court. Twenty-six years after the gas tragedy, just when time was beginning to heal the wounds, the scars have been reopened. The city’s residents, from those directly affected by the disaster to activists and even past...
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Rural households’ earnings up by 45% by Ruhi Tewari
The earnings of India’s rural households increased by 45% in two years, thanks to the Union government’s flagship job guarantee scheme, says the rural development ministry, which oversees the scheme. The ministry says the figures are based on an independent study it had commissioned, but experts claim the scheme hasn’t been as successful on the ground as the study suggests. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, or MGNREGA, promises at...
More »Slow but steady success by Reetika Khera and Karuna Muthiah
Tamil Nadu's success in implementing the NREGA shows its commitment to social welfare, and the way ahead for other states. The share of women in the NREGA workforce has remained high from the beginning and is the highest in the country The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), enacted in 2005, has had a varied record so far. In many states, implementation has been lame (e.g. Bihar and Gujarat) or...
More »The Economy of Knowledge by Sukanta Chaudhuri
In our 63rd year of Independence, the Right to Education Act comes into effect on April 1. On the eve of its launch, the Union education minister has balanced our perspective by another resolve. India’s enrolment rate for higher education is around 12 per cent. He would increase this to 30 per cent, in line with the advanced nations. There is only one snag. Unlike in advanced countries, one Indian in...
More »RTE Act: Private schools as catalysts? by Dr. A Kumaraswamy and Alok Mathur
The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE Act) will be notified on April 1. The Act attempts to address the historical problem of continuing illiteracy as well as the lack of educational opportunities that persist for sections of our population even sixty years after adoption of the Indian constitution. The socio-political, legal and financial aspects of the Act have been much debated and its final form...
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