Sanskriti schools to open across country
Sanskriti School, the exclusive preserve of children of officers of all- India services and central services in Delhi, will now go national, as the Centre is planning similar educational institutions all over the country.

The entire concept of such schools is a consequence of the stranglehold of the elite on education. Such, schools maintain the chasm between schooling for the masses and schooling for the classes. Unequal access to quality education at the primary and the secondary school level result in unequal access to economic opportunities in the later stages of life. While this chasm is even unacceptable in the current private and public school education system, with the later being so poor in quality that it handicaps the children of the poor for rest of their lives. Poor quality of education and linguistic disadvantages make it difficult for public school educated children to compete for certain prime jobs. While at least, the private un-aided and aided schools in the current system do not get such largesse from the government as the kind Sanskriti school gets for the wards of the bureaucrats. Thus, they are by and large private funded other than the land allotment for the physical infrastructure that may be provided by the government. The Kendriya Vidyalaya system was precisely to address the needs of bureaucrats’ children to allow for residence transfer and continuum. This does not seem to be good enough now, and they want better. Wish such an aspiration was also reflected in the quality of the government schools, which remains quite poor.
The political and the bureaucratic elite capturing such huge handouts is a regressive step. The opportunity cost should be measured in terms of the possible improvement in government schools or the strengthening and expansion of Sarvodaya and Pratibha Vidyalayas. To add insult to injury one of the proposal is that these schools may go against a key provision of the Right to Education Act that mandates 25 percent reservation for children of economically weaker sections in the neighbourhood. The new Sanskriti schools, as per the draft, will have only 15 percent of seats reserved for poor children while 55 percent will be for children of officers belonging to all-India services or central services. Ironically, the beneficiaries of this quota system will cry hoarse when such quotas/ privileges are extended to SC/ST and other backward castes in Central Government services as well as in higher education. If quotas are bad then logically, these quotas are bad as well. This kind of quota based entitlements just leads to competition for quotas resulting in a society that feels insecure in the absence of the same and undermines merit. However, as is the case of all subsidies this too will be cornered by the middle-class.

India infrastructure at crossroads
Infrastructure in India is key to realising the country's potential but bureaucracy, tough financing and hesitant overseas investments have slowed development in the sector.

Policy flip flop, and implementation issues such as land acquisition, environmental clearances, shifting of utilities, shortage of manpower, lack of capacity for designing and vetting of projects have delayed many infrastructure projects. Government-industry nexus, is also resulting in foreign investment shying as the domestic players are more “comfortable” with the system and FDI finds the transaction costs way too high.

GoM approves draft mining bill
The draft bill HAS proposed that miners share 26% of their profits with local people who get affected by their projects and a fund -- District Mineral Foundation -- be created.

Akin to universal service obligation levy, this step can make economic development and equitable growth more compatible. However, one can argue on the profit share number, as it should not discourage investment.

Most 2G licences given by Raja illegal: CAG
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has, in its latest communication, told the department of telecom (DoT) that a vast majority of the 126 licences controversially issued by the government in 2008 are illegal.

My low faith in the Indian institutions such as the CBI will only be revived if A. Raja goes. Democracy and its strength is not measured by the largest voting population and regular elections, but precisely by the strength of its institutions, which are impartial and makes everyone accountable to law. It may be naïve to expect, that however.

Govt reworking open access proposal
The Union power ministry has decided to rework a Cabinet note on hastening the implementation of open access, where large consumers of power will be allowed to choose their supplier.

It seems I have seen this before, there was a committee that had given its proposals and a draft note was circulated. The committee has been asked to reconvene and send fresh proposals and it goes on… but no open access! Electricity Act 2003, deadline of January 27, 2009, for grant of open access to all consumers with electricity requirements of above one MW, no open access…. A never-ending saga of the mendaciousness of the government.

CCI gets an upper hand over Appellate Tribunal for probes
The Supreme Court has held that the Competition Commission of India can ask for investigations into unfair trading practices by companies without being challenged before the Competition Appellate Tribunal.

A landmark judgement as it defines the role of an infant institution and provides it with teeth. Competition watchdog with no canines would have been not a watch dog!

Govt moves to correct discrepancies in numbers
An embarrassed government swung into damage control mode after economists pointed out that its latest numbers for economic growth in the first quarter of the current fiscal were inconsistent.

Panel defers call on key education Bill
This decision is a setback for HRD minister Kapil Sibal who is facing some problem with the standing committee.

Games chaos exposes India infrastructure challenge
The chaos surrounding the Commonwealth Games exposes how far India still needs to go in executing on big-ticket projects and building infrastructure of the kind that helps make China an economic powerhouse.

Losing the way
Fate of the ambitious Ganga Expressway project of the UP government hangs in the balance for last three years due to delay in environmental clearances. Even land acquisition for it is yet to begin.

Study finds large diversion of rice, wheat from PDS, welfare schemes
The leakage of foodgrains under public distribution schemes and for development programmes ranges from 40 to 100 per cent across a cross-section of States, a Government sponsored research study has revealed.

Stick to competitive bid rule for power supply: CERC
From January 2011, state-owned companies like NTPC and NHPC may have to compete with private firms for distributing power, a move that could lead to lower consumer tariffs.

Free pricing of urea to rationalise use: Panel
A committee set up by the government has suggested freeing the prices of urea and inclusion of the fertiliser in the new nutrient-based subsidy scheme to discourage its excessive use, stem soil degradation and reduce government subsidy.

Govt cuts PDS foodgrain price after SC rap
In response to the Supreme Court order on rotting foodgrain, the Centre has decided to distribute wheat and rice to poor families at Rs 2 and Rs 3 per kilo, respectively.

NHAI's land-for-VGF plan for developers goes off road
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has dropped its plan to allow developers to use land along expressways for commercial purposes instead of seeking viability-gap funding (VGF).

PSUs to get 42 percent gas for power sector
The government has finalised a gas allocation policy for the power sector under which 42 percent of the domestic gas would be reserved for companies controlled by the Centre and the states.

CERC proposes month-ahead contracts on power exchanges
To address the issue of uncertainty in getting power on exchanges on a daily basis, an advisory committee of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has proposed introduction of monthly contracts on the exchanges.

Govt clears draft Bill to give FMC more teeth
The Union Cabinet has approved long-pending amendments to make the Forward Markets Commission (FMC) an independent regulator and allow the launch of options in the commodity market, among a host of other changes.