Tag

Education Policy

Education

Private Schools or Public Failure: Why India's Middle Class Abandoned Government Schools

ASER 2024 found that only 43 percent of Class 5 students in government schools can read a Class 2-level text. India has over 1.07 million vacant teaching posts in government schools. Kerala and Himachal Pradesh show what committed public investment can achieve. The Delhi AAP school model made real gains and real compromises. A Finland-level public education rebuild would cost roughly Rs 3.5 lakh crore per year. The political class whose children study abroad is the same class that controls the budget.

Poverty

India's Top 1% Owns 40% of Wealth: The Case for a Wealth Tax in 2026

India's top 1% now owns 40% of national wealth, per the World Inequality Lab 2024 report. The bottom 50% own just 3%. A wealth tax of 2% on net assets above Rs 10 crore could generate Rs 2.5 lakh crore annually, enough to more than double India's education budget. Here is what the evidence from Norway, Spain, Switzerland, and France shows about whether it would work.

Social Justice

The Cost of Caste Census: Why India Must Finally Count Its OBCs

India has not counted its OBC population since 1931. The Mandal Commission estimated OBCs at 52% of the population using colonial-era data. Bihar's 2023 caste survey found OBCs at 63% of its population. A national caste census would cost roughly Rs 6,000-8,000 crore. The cost of not counting is measured in misdirected welfare spending and policies built on century-old guesswork.