काउंटरव्यू

By Moin Qazi* The true teachers are those who help us think for ourselves. – Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan The building blocks of a nation are the citizens of its tomorrow. The way these seeds will sprout will always depend on the way you choose to water them. India’s education sector is one of the largest sunrise sectors in the economic and social development of the country. India’s education sector has expanded rapidly in the last decade but the quality of learning remains pathetic on account of unimaginative and misguided policies. The purpose of education has to be, to inspire and develop children to think creatively, reason systematically and release their potential to shape their own future. The latest Annual Survey of Education Report (ASER) 2018 – the most authentic barometer of India’s educational health – shows that its findings are not inspiring, and in some cases quite dismal. The fragile foundation of basic education augurs a dim horizon for India’s future human capital. The

By Venkatesh Nayak* The dawn of 2019 saw the filling up of five vacancies in the Central Information Commission (CIC). Serving Information Commissioner, Shri Sudhir Bhargava was appointed Chief Information Commissioner. Four retired civil servants were appointed Information Commissioners. The Gazette notifications of these appointments were published on 1st January, 2019. Two days ago, the nodal department for the implementation of The Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act), the Department of Personnel and Training has uploaded documents comprising the file notings and correspondence relating to these appointments. I thank Adv. Paras Nath Singh, of The Leaflet for alerting me about this proactive disclosure over the weekend. Click on the hyperlinks to access the correspondence and file notings relating to the latest appointment of the Chief Information Commissioner. Click on the hyperlinks to access the correspondence and file notings relating to the latest round of appointme

By Moin Qazi* The Indian economy has made rapid strides in recent year but its abysmal health system remains an Achilles heel and has impeded millions of people from sharing the gains of India’s new prosperity. India has a laggardly record in its healthcare coverage. In per capita terms, adjusted for purchasing power, the public expenditure on health is $43 a year, compared to $85 in Sri Lanka, $240 in China and $265 in Thailand. European Nations spend ten times more and the United States spends twenty times. According to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), the Indian Government’s contribution to health insurance stands at roughly 32 percent, as opposed to 83.5 percent in the United Kingdom. India’s high rate of out-of-pocket expenses for health stems from the fact that 76 percent of Indians do not have any health insurance. The country has a similarly low ranking on several important health indices. The dwindling budget allocation for public health care in one o

By Gagan Sethi*  We received good news recently that India had climbed 23 points to the 77th rank (out of 185 countries ranked) in the Ease of Doing Business index. The World Bank ranking however, only looks at issues related to corporate experience with government regulations—such as ease or difficulty in starting a business, obtaining a construction permit, getting electricity, registering property, enforcing contracts, trading across borders, getting credit, paying taxes, resolving insolvency, and protecting the minority investor. As the World Bank admitted about its own index, its assessment precludes a crucial factor: the rankings in this index do not “measure all aspects of the business environment that matter to firms or investors”. These other ‘aspects’, as noted by Kaushik Basu, an Indian economist and former chief economist of the World Bank, could in fact be “bad for growth”. He warned about the damage that the recent spate of lynchings may have done to the country’s goal of