Category Archives: Policy

Union Budget and the health of Democracy

I am writing this note after listening to the finance minister’s speech which was accompanied by the thumping of the ruling party on the floor. After listening to the very carefully crafted rhetoric that was put before the citizenry, I (as a citizen of this country) want to present my position vis – a – vis the much-emphasized spending on… Read more »

Indian women work much harder than men – is anyone listening?

All women work. Even those who are not considered ‘working,’ work, and work hard. That is because they are the ones who are usually responsible for all care work in the family. This is true for the entire world but truer for India and other South Asian countries. According to a global report published by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and… Read more »

Supreme Court Ruling on Aadhaar and Right to Education Admissions in Karnataka

On 26th September 2018, the Supreme Court upheld the use of Aadhaar for availing any government benefit or subsidy but made the use of Aadhaar non-mandatory for the purpose of education for those in the age-group of 6-14 years. Prior to this ruling, a number of government departments had made Aadhaar mandatory for availing education and related benefits, which had… Read more »

International Women’s Day 2019

On the occasion of International Women’s Day this year, we would like to raise the issue of Girls’ Education.  With nearly 40% of adolescent girls not being in any educational institution, we cannot even dream of soon becoming a developed and evolved nation where we can pride ourselves with values of equality and freedom that we have enshrined in our constitution…. Read more »

A Cess for Health on Service Tax is a bad idea

Peter Drucker spoke of the bitch goddess growth[i]. Today, this growth is the single minded focus of the Indian Government. To promote this growth, policies are being pursued to encourage investment by the private sector through subsidies and tax breaks. However, for the private sector to succeed in making profits, it needs a trained, healthy labour force. This the government… Read more »