Category Special Initiatives

E gram Swaraj

E-Gram Swaraj, 2020

eGramSwaraj is a flagship digital governance policy initiative of the Government of India launched under the e-Panchayat Mission Mode Project (MMP) on 24 April 2020. Developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) and spearheaded by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR), the policy aims to strengthen Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) by bringing planning, financial accounting, monitoring, audit and reporting onto a single digital platform.

Sanchar Saathi mobile app

Sanchar Saathi Mobile App, 2023

The Sanchar Saathi mobile app is a citizen-centric cybersecurity initiative developed by the Government of India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to strengthen mobile security for subscribers nationwide. Launched via a web portal in May 2023, the mobile application version was introduced on 17 January 2025 to make services more accessible to smartphone users.

Scholarship

Fostering Inclusivity in Technical Education: Saksham Scholarship Scheme (2014)

The Saksham Scholarship Scheme is a significant initiative by the Government of India, aimed at providing financial support and encouragement to specially-abled students to pursue technical education. The scheme was officially launched in the academic year 2014-15. It was introduced under the then Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), which has since been renamed the Ministry of Education. The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the statutory body for technical education in the country, was tasked with implementing and managing the scheme.

India-Israel

India–Israel Agri-Tech Innovations and Start-up Exchange: A Partnership for Sustainable Growth (2025)

The economic relationship between India and Israel has evolved strategically, moving beyond the traditional defence-centric ties to encompass high-technology sectors like cyber, water management, and most significantly, Agri-Tech. This partnership leverages Israel's cutting-edge agricultural innovation and India's massive scale, diverse market, and vast talent pool, creating a powerful synergy for sustainable and inclusive growth.

Renewable

India’s Renewable Push: The Perils of Taking Shortcuts

The Adani group is entering the battery energy storage system business, with an initial planned capacity of 1.126GW of power, capable of delivering that power for around three hours. This solves two kinds of problems, but creates two larger ones, of supply-chain dependence on China and significant indirect emissions of the kind green energy is supposed to avoid.

Macaulay

Macaulay and English Education: Where PM Modi’s Account Falls Short

Prime Minister Narendra Modi gets it wrong on Macaulay. Give the devil his due. His introduction of English language education in India is one of the good things colonialism did for India. It paved the way for Indians to enter the world of modern knowledge, to savour the fruits of the scientific revolution that swept across Europe and turned the world of scholarship upside down in the 16th and 17th centuries, and for the oppressed castes of India to enter the world of learning, from which Indian tradition had excluded them, and for the enrichment and growth of India’s regional languages and cultures. English education introduced Indians to the concepts of liberty, equality and fraternity, totally alien to monarchy and the caste system.

Unions

It’s Time for Unions to Work the Talk

The four labour codes long in the making have finally been notified. The good thing is that a legal framework now exists for a company inclined to provide social security for the gig workers it employs to actually provide it. Uber, for example, says it has been waiting for such a legal framework. Any labour law is only as good as its enforcement. Where workers and their unions are strong enough to compel enforcement, laws are complied with.

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