This article documents and then examines the various benefits that, it is claimed, will flow from linking the Unique Identity number with the public distribution system and the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. It filters the unfounded claims, which arise from a poor understanding of how the PDS and NREGS function, from the genuine ones. On the latter, there are several demanding conditions that need to be met in order...
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More working hours for primary School teachers
Primary School teachers will have to put in 45 teaching hours per week, instead of the present 30 hours, according to a government resolution (GR) issued on Tuesday. The GR seeks to put into effect a clause in the Right To Education (RTE) Act that came into force last April. The government is in the process of framing the rules for the implementation of the entire Act. “The definition of the number...
More »Allocation for School education up 40%, far below RTE target by Sreelatha Menon
The Plan allocation for School education, especially for Right to Education (RTE), has seen a 40 per cent increase over last year. But the actual allocation is only a third of what should have gone for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan under the funds committed under the RTE Act. The RTE commitment of Rs 2.33 lakh crore to implement the Right to Edcuation was approved by the Planning Commission, by the ministry and...
More »Comics bring about social change in India Unshining by Kim Arora
The children of Khatima village couldn't take it anymore. The headmaster in their government School had been turning up drunk for over five years. That is, when he turned up at all. Last year, they finally took matters into their own hands. Activist Devendra Ojha had held a cartooning workshop with them. The comics produced by the children were photocopied and pasted all over the village: behind rickshaws, near the...
More »Of lucky numbers and others the FM can’t see by Biraj Patnaik
The Italian phrase "lascia il tempo que trova" (it leaves the air it finds) does a better job of describing Pranab Mukherjee's budget than India's corporate media would ever dare to do. To put it mildly, the budget this year, is yet again, an utter disappointment for the food and agriculture sectors. To begin with, flagship schemes like the midday meals and the Integrated Child Development Services did not, unlike in...
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