Scroll.in Though the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE Act) has refocussed attention on school education in recent years, some fundamental problems continue to plague the system. Despite the constitutional and legal obligations of governments, education budgets have remained modest and woefully inadequate to requirements. While there has been a reasonable expansion of coverage and enrolment in schools, the fundamental issue of poor learning outcomes, especially...

-The Telegraph Citizens’ participation in policy-making is an important factor in assessing the quality of democracy Within five days of the announcement of Agnipath, the scheme had been amended 10 times, raising the larger question concerning consultation in policy-making. The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government has taken a number of policy decisions without public consultation — from demonetisation, which saw 60 changes in 43 days, to GST, which has been...

-Press release by Azim Premji University dated October 13, 2022 New Delhi & Bangalore, October 13:  About 39 percent of all jobcard-holding households interested in working under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 did not get a single day of work in the Covid year of 2020-21. Also, on average, only 36 per cent of households that worked received their wages in 15 days, showed a survey of...

-The Telegraph Over two dozen petitions have challenged the legal and constitutional validity of DeMo A five-judge constitution bench headed by Justice Abdul Nazeer will on Wednesday start hearing a batch of petitions challenging the Narendra Modi government’s demonetisation of high-value currency notes in November 2016. Over two dozen petitions have challenged the legal and constitutional validity of the demonetisation and the short window offered to citizens to exchange the demonetised notes. A three-judge...

-The Telegraph Bench says matter will be taken up along with similar pleas pending before SC The Supreme Court will on October 18 take up a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, which critics say is being increasingly used by parties in power against political opponents and journalists. The bench of Chief Justice U.U. Lalit and Justices S. Ravindra Bhat and J.B. Pardiwala,...