-The Indian Express Increasing frequency and intensity of protests reflect a deeper crisis in Indian democracy: the failure of civil society In the last five years, citizens have poured out in large numbers at Jantar Mantar and India Gate (and in many other parts of the country) to ask the state to hear their demands. In 2006, marches and sit-ins forced the state to re-examine the Jessica Lal and Priyadarshini Mattoo cases....

-The Times of India In an alarming indictment of the quality of training given to prospective school teachers, over 99% aspirants failed to clear the Central Teacher Eligibility Test (CTET) 2012. The results of the competency test conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), declared on December 27, 2012, showed that less than 1% of the 7.95 lakh who appeared managed to clear the exam. In fact, since the exam...

-The Hindu The Betul tragedy shows that the state does not consider emotional or intellectual maturity important in a person who teaches children Picture a small boy facing two adult men. They are furious over something they suspect he has done, so they start hitting him. They feel they have the authority to do so because they are teachers. The boy is absolutely helpless. It hardly matters for this picture whether he...

-The Times of India The Right to Education Act (RTE) mandates that every child has the fundamental right to free and compulsory elementary education in India. March 31, 2013, is the deadline set for full implementation of the Act. However, several challenges need to be overcome, especially to provide education for children in areas of conflict.  In the Indian context, three regions experience varying degrees of conflict - Maoist-affected areas, Jammu and...

-The Times of India Crest Cash transfers have been described as the world's favourite new anti-poverty device. As India gets set to implement it, TOI-Crest finds out if the politics will ever be divorced from the cash The UPA government's ambitious plan to introduce direct cash transfers (DCT) by January 1, 2013 reflects both the political desperation of a beleaguered government and the urgent need to reform India's inefficient and corrupt public...