CONTENTS

January 4-11, 1997 Investment Gaps in Primary Education Though systems of non-formal schooling are valuable, universal education and mass literacy cannot be achieved without the establishment of universal formal schooling. However, the costs of getting every child in India into school in the next five years are very large and vary across states, depending on current achievements. While resources alone cannot transform conditions without appropriate socio-political changes and commitments from governments, teachers and parents, a financial allocation of the order of 3 per cent of GDP is required to make the policy of universal primary schooling meaningful. 39 Nation under Siege It is only by separating the two interrelated issues of civil society- modernity and political society-democracy that we will begin to see the dimensions of power and political strategy without an awareness of which the proposals to 'move beyond the nation' are quite likely to strengthen inequalities and defeat the struggle for democracy the world over. 30 Puppets on the Periphery A sensational libel case in the year 1862 in Bombay, the then emerging centre of education and commerce, and involving a religious leader and a social reformer, each supported by major sections of society, brought out the complex elements underlying 19th century Gujarati society and the tensions generated by efforts to change them. 46 Planning for Empowerment Despite the acclaimed advantages of decentralisation of planning and repeated commitments made in support of it, the planning process in India has remained highly centralised. Against this background, the all-round support received by the People's Campaign initiated by the Kerala State Planning Board to empower panchayats and municipal bodies in the state to draw up Ninth Plan schemes within their respective areas of responsibility has far- reaching implications. 53 'Third' Factor In the current polarisation of political forces in UP, the kurmis and koeris constitute a floating votebank, forming as they do sections within the backward castes which have fallen out with the backward castes' traditional representatives but are not going the BSP or BJP way. But whichever way this 'third' factor tilts the balance of social forces, politics in UP is moving away from the liberal centrist tendencies of old. 22 Idle Land In a metropolis starved of land for housing, commerce and recreation, the continuing indecision about the land belonging to the textile mills in Mumbai has hurt the city, the poor and rich alike. 24 Indian Languages Press The changes of the past 20 years in Indian languages newspapers are obvious but largely unstudied. A new series examining developments in the press in the major Indian languages begins with a review of Malayalam newspapers. 18 Monetary Puzzle The complex phenomenon of expanding liquidity, high interest rates and low credit offtake is both the cause and the consequence of the slowdown of the economy, especially the industrial and service sectors. 11 Elusive Scholarship In many of our mofussil centres of learning there is an odd coexistence between starry-eyed reverence for foreign learning and a sort of drugged incuriosity and intellectual paralysis. 26 Diminishing Returns The case for dispensing with unilateral trade sanctions is strong on grounds both of principle and the enlightened self-interest of the countries concerned. 29 Hidden World The immense secret economy of narcotics, making and breaking governments and political leaders and filtering funds through half the world's banking system, is also a collection of permanently warring crypto-states. 27 Founder-Editor: Sachin Chaudhuri All for Foreign Capital 3 Medical Research: Sidelined Ethics Child Labour: Compulsory Schooling - Maharashtra: On the Defensive Pakistan: