IN the run up to last year's general elections, BJP had promised the country a government that would have natural empathy towards the underprivileged and work for their empowerment as it would be run by a "poor chaiwala". However, three major steps taken by the BJP-led government within one year of assuming office make it clear that its policy is to ensure that the children of "chaiwalas" across the country never get a chance to go to school. As part of the "achhe din" policies of the Modi government, the education sector witnessed a budget cut of more than Rs 13,000 crore.

SIGNS are evident enough; West Bengal is in resistance mood.Four and a half year after the change of government, the bitter experiences of the people are now getting crystallised. The all-out attack on opposition voices has spread to wider sections of the people. The state is ruled by the ruffians of the ruling party, from the grassroots level to the top. Economic condition of the state has gone from bad to worse with a completely rudderless government. Anarchy has become the rule of the day in education.

OF late, news headlines have been hogged by the continuing struggle by the students of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII).  The students’ protest was in opposition to imposition of Gajendra Chauhan as chairman of the institute and three other members in the governing council.  The outrage has, of course, gone far beyond this exalted institute and shared by large number of film professionals and the creative community.

RALLIES and demonstrations were held in many areas across the country to protest against the Trinamool Congress government’s highhandedness and police brutality on a peaceful march of peasants and agricultural workers to Nabanna, the West Bengal state secretariat, on August 27 demanding remunerative prices for farm produces, work for the rural poor, payment of wages for work under MNREGA and relief for the flood-affected people.Protest rallies were held in many areas in Delhi, Tripura, Jharkhand and Assam among others.

THE belated release of census data on religion has been followed by predictable reactions from sections with a motivated interest in promoting sectarian divisions on religious lines. Judicious interpretation of census data can be a powerful tool for planning as demographic trends are good indicators of underlying socio-cultural and economic factors that determine changes in the trajectory of populations. India is perhaps the most culturally diverse country in the world and disaggregated census data provides information about social, cultural and economic trends in different communities.