-The Hindu A large-scale vocational education system would help raise the productivity of individuals and the economy Basic education has slipped in priority in the national policy matrix over the decades. The Census and several other data sets have pointed to various dimensions of the problem. Recently, the Annual Status of Education Report (Rural) 2017, published by a non-governmental organisation and containing data from 26 districts in 24 States, has some national-level...

-The Financial Express Budget 2018: The government claims that this is the Budget for a “new India”.However, this vision excludes rural workers, small & marginal farmers and the unorganised sector. Many claims are being made about the farm sector. The fact is even the “optics” only partially meet these. The substance of this Budget shows how little it caters to farmers, and the economically & politically marginalised. The demand of farmers agitating...

-TheWire.in Why has India chosen the path of expanding medical insurance instead of a more comprehensive approach to health? The concern with rising inequities in access to medical care, rising out-of-pocket expenditures and unmet treatment needs have been addressed with yet another targeted medical insurance scheme for poor households. The idea of a targeted medical insurance is not new. Several southern states like Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka had introduced such schemes many...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The CPM has challenged in the Supreme Court the constitutionality of the recently introduced electoral bonds, alleging that it is a "ripe way" of ensuring all kinds of quid-pro-quo arrangements by the ruling party with entities whose identities will not be up for public scrutiny. The matter came up for hearing on Friday and the Supreme Court issued a fresh notice to the Centre. The bench, headed by...

-HowIndiaLives.com/ Livemint.com The number of government employees under UPA I fell 2.7% and under UPA II rose 3.4%. In the four years of NDA, their count is projected to increase 7.2% by 2017-18 For a government whose stated calling card is “minimum government, maximum governance”, for a government battling to create jobs, its own house paints another picture: in four years under this Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the number...