Why are we wasting time on such stupidities when what we need is for the state to either deliver on the education front or allow someone else a chance. This column has suggested before that if the state cannot run schools and colleges as they should be run then it is time we considered privatising these institutions. Education is too important a subject to be left in the hands of politicians who are more interested in making money out of building contracts than building schools for the sake of learning.

The prime minister likes to remind us that the 21st century is going to be India’s century. With the largest number of young people in the world this is definitely possible, but if there is one thing that will hold us back, it is education. If we fail to build the institutions needed to give Indian children learning that goes beyond basic literacy, we are doomed.

There is a Knowledge Commission report that says this, there are senior officials who say it privately, but for some reason the prime minister and his boss are not listening. Is it because of those dreary old Marxists again? If it is, then it is time that Sonia Gandhi or the prime minister finally told them to shut up and confine their energies to solving their own problems in West Bengal.

Meanwhile, three cheers for the Supreme Court.