"The growth of private schools is a manifestation of the healthiest of instincts: parents’ desire to do the best for their children. Governments that are too disorganised or corrupt to foster this trend should get out of the way.” - The Economist on the boom in low-cost private schools (August 1)
“An Outlook investigation reveals that after pumping in Rs.4,200 crore into the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), the biggest beneficiaries are not India’s jobless youth but the fatcats of Indian business.” - Pavithra S. Rangan, journalist, in an exposé of NSDC (Outlook, August 10)
“There are still many honest people in this country whose children have to work for a living. For generations, the family which has dominated this country’s politics, has not worked for a living.” - Arun Jaitley, Union finance minister, criticising the Gandhi family in the Lok Sabha (Business Standard, August 13)
“To keep earning, female workers carry tea leaves in baskets or bags slung over their backs months into their pregnancies. Already weak, and with few public-health resources to draw on, too many of these women die from complications during pregnancy or child birth. As a result, Assam has the highest maternal mortality rate in India.” - Nikhil Kumar reporting from the state of Assam where pregnancy and child birth can mean death (Time, August 24).
“ABCD (English) is not taught in Gujarat’s government schools till class V, by which time it is too late. An entire generation has been denied entry into the middle class through white-collar jobs because of this. The children of the poor in Gujarat cannot harbour dreams of social mobility because of this.” - Aakar Patel, columnist, on the demand of the Patel community for OBC reservations (Times of India, August 27)