Government may finally bankroll Right to Education Bill

New Delhi, Feb 23 The government might take on all the financial burden of the ambitious Rs.12.5 billion a year proposal to provide compulsory education to children all over the country after the states expressed their reluctance to bankroll the scheme.

The Right to Education Bill, 2005 has been on the backburner for two years but may finally be introduced in the budget session of parliament that kicks off next week, said officials in the ministry of human resource development (HRD).

This has already been communicated to the Planning Commission by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

The scheme had been riddled with problems from the start as states rejected the central government's proposal to share one-fourth of the funds for the purpose. Now, however, the union government is considering taking on 90 percent or maybe all the costs involved, officials said.

Concerned over the inordinate delay in getting the plan off the ground, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced last fortnight that the central government would be coming up with the Right to Education Bill "very soon". His announcement came a day after HRD Minister Arjun Singh met him seeking help to paper the differences, particularly after the states made it clear that they could not afford the money involved.

Over the last two years, Arjun Singh had been writing to state chief ministers hoping that they would come on board. But the response was uniform - fund the scheme. This, notwithstanding the central government's willingness to shell out 75 percent of the cost for implementing the scheme.

According to HRD ministry officials, the states had a problem with a particular clause in the bill that makes it mandatory for schools to pay the fees and other expenses of students from Classes 1 to 8. This, officials said, was because under the draft bill all out-of-school children between the ages of six and 14 (including disabled children) would have to be in school and state governments would have to pay for their education.

The central government has earmarked a whopping Rs.850 billion ($21 billion) towards education in the Eleventh Plan, which ends in 2012.

This is five times the allocation for the education sector in the Tenth Plan. A ministry official said once the bill is cleared, the funds would be raised from the budget allocated for the Eleventh Plan.

Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia had earlier stated that the central government could not afford the funds needed for the Right to Education Bill and there was no need for it. He was of the view that the government could widen the scope of its existing flagship programmes like the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and the midday meal scheme to meet the target for free and compulsory education for all.

Supreme Court dismisses plea for early hanging of Afzal Guru

New Delhi, Feb 22 The Supreme Court Friday dismissed a plea for early hanging of Mohammad Afzal Guru, condemned to the gallows for plotting the December 2001 terror attack on the Indian parliament.

A bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justices R.V. Raveendran and Markandey Katju dismissed the plea saying that the apex court has already decided the case.

The bench asked the petitioner, little-known Hindu organisation called Lashkar-e-Hind, to approach the government.

Questioning the delay on a decision on Afzal's mercy petition to the president, Lashkar-e-Hind contended that a convict given the death sentence should not be allowed to frustrate the court's decision.

"A condemned prisoner, waiting to be hanged, should not be having any fundamental right," contended the petitioner.

The organisation demanded judicial direction for Afzal's execution at the earliest, arguing that the courts had arrived at the decision to hang him.

But in case he is pardoned, it would amount to negation of the judicial verdict, the petitioner contended.

However, the bench refused to buy the Lashkar-e-Hind argument.

On Dec 13, 2001, five gunmen stormed the heavily guarded parliament complex and killed nine people before being shot dead. Afzal was awarded the death penalty after being convicted of the conspiracy, a verdict upheld by the Supreme Court.

However, Afzal's hanging scheduled on Oct 20, 2006 was put off after his wife submitted a mercy petition to then president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

Supreme Court to have 31 judges

New Delhi, Feb 21 Litigants can now hope for quicker resolution of their cases with the Indian government conceding the demand of the Supreme Court to increase the number of judges from 25 to 30, apart from the chief justice.

"The government is going to move an amendment to the Supreme Court (number of Judges) Act, 1956 in the winter session of parliament," said Principal Director General (Media and Communications) Dipak Sandhu after a meeting of the cabinet of ministers here.

"The proposed amendment would augment the strength of the Supreme Court judges, excluding the Chief justice of India from 25 to 30," she said.

In 1986 the government had amended the act to increase the number of Supreme Court judges from 17 plus one to 25 plus one.

The current strength of 25 plus one was fixed in 1987. But even the current strength is not fully filled, with three vacancies existing at the moment, said sources in the law and justice ministry.

In the early years the apex court functioned with only seven judges and all would sit together to hear each case.

Noticing the backlog of cases in 1956, the government brought in the Supreme Court (number of judges) Act, 1956 and increased the number of judges from 8 to 11. In 1978, four more judges were added.