One of the most deleterious consequences of neo-liberalism is in the sphere of education, but it is less studied than its more direct economic effects. I shall confine myself here to the sphere of higher education. Some detailed studies have recently come out on the effects of the neo-liberal dispensation on higher education in the United States; and these are of interest to us since whatever is happening in the U.S. is also happening in India at present. Neo-liberalism’s consequences are indeed quite universal.

THE CPI(M) released the second set of booklets – 'The Two India Reality: Obscene Wealth – Grinding Poverty' and 'To Build a Corruption Free India' in New Delhi on March 26, as part of its campaign for the 16th Lok Sabha elections. These booklets were released by CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury. Earlier, the CPI(M) released the first set of booklets – one on Communalism and the other on the Gujarat Model. These booklets were released by CPI(M) Polit Bureau member, Brinda Karat and secretary of the Gujarat state committee and Central Committee member, Arun Mehta on March 24.

EAST TRIPURA: THE campaign programme in support of Jitendra Choudhury, the Left Front nominated CPI(M) candidate in the East Tripura constituency, is picking up pace with every passing day. A number of rallies, meetings and conventions are taking place each day. On Sunday, March 16, the Gana Mukti Parishad (GMP) organised a convention at Chailengta town hall while the Khet Mazoor Union organised another at Manughat town hall, both in Dhalai district. The supporters and workers of both the organisations came from different parts of the division to attend these programmes.

THE Haryana state secretariat of the CPI(M) has appealed to all sections of the people to remain vigilant against the attempts of certain political forces to create caste polarisation for electoral gains in the coming Lok Sabha polls by using the issue of reservations. In a press release issued from Rohtak on March 14, the party’s state secretary, Inderjit Singh, said the Congress party was destroying the jobs and admission opportunities through its policies of privatisation on the one hand while it was seeking to take credit for reservation to a particular caste on the other hand.