“Over the past 12 years, the Modi government’s education policy has been driven by the communalisation, commercialisation and centralisation of education, resulting in a weakening of public education and a crisis in examinations, recruitment and employment…  The struggle is larger than one minister or one government; it is about defending education as a public good, a constitutional right and a means of nation-building rather than ideological control.”

D. Raja, General Secretary, Communist Party of India on students protesting for education reforms (The Indian Express, July 21)

“A city that makes walking difficult quietly prescribes sedentary living. Footpaths, therefore, are not decorative strips of cement added after roads have been designed. They are preventive medicine laid in stone. A usable pavement allows children to walk to school, office-goers to use public transport, older adults to remain mobile and women to move safely.”

Chandrakant Lahariya, practising specialist in ‘preventive and cardiometabolic medicine’ in an essay titled ‘Reclaiming footpaths, taking cities back from cars’ (The Hindu, July 21)

“No amount of exam vigilance, investment summits or eight-lane highway networks will make up for a failure to invest in people. That is what deserves maximum effort. We need productive jobs for the population. Not just fancy jobs for a labour elite.”

Parikshit Ghosh, professor, Delhi School of Economics, on how the NEET student protests mark a deep socio-economic grievance and fractured employment system (The Economic Times, July 23)

“…isn’t it unconscionable that we not only fail to provide decent jobs to our youth, but also brand most of them as meritless. Is the selection process about merit? No. It is about the need to filter, chopping away millions as unsuccessful.”

D. Shyam Babu, senior fellow, Centre for Policy Research, on how competitive exams are gamed to make the vast majority lose and then be pronounced as lacking merit (The Times of India, August 4)