The Ideas Page: This overhaul of MGNREGA disempowers workers, demotivates states 9 SATURDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2025 JOURNALISM of COURAGE LUCKNOW, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES ₹6.00 l www.indianexpress.com DA I LY F R O M : A H M E DA B A D , C H A N D I GA R H , D E L H I , J A I P U R , KO L K ATA , L U C K N O W , M U M B A I , N AG P U R , PAT N A , P U N E , VA D O DA R A Happening today OSMAN HADI WAS cRITIc OF INDIA Violence erupts over death of anti-Hasina activist, two dailies torched in Dhaka lPRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi will arrive in Assam for a two-day visit, during which he will inaugurate the new terminal building of the Guwahati airport and perform the bhoomipujan of the Rs 12,000-crore ammonia-urea fertiliser plant at Namrup in Dibrugarh. lINDIA ARE SET to announce their squad for the T20 World Cup, which will be held in India and Sri Lanka. Among the talking points are Rinku Singh’s possible inclusion as a lowerorder finisher; and whether Shubman Gill, out of form, will retain his place as vice-captain. Soldiers fan out, interim Govt calls for calm in run-up to February polls TRACK THESE AND MORE ON www.INDIANExPRESS.COM House Warming Julhas Alam Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra at a tea hosted by Birla at his office after the conclusion of the Winter Session of Parliament on Friday. ANI PARLIAMENT, PAGE 4 THE BIg PICTURE The wrong turn to the Hills pAGE 15 PRADHAN MANTRI KAUSHAL VIKAS YOJANA 11111111111 as account number, shut centres, same photos: CAG on gaps in skills scheme INSIDE Corrective measures implemented with tech and Aadhaar, says Ministry POLITIcS Harikishan Sharma ‘cASH-fOR-qUERy’: Hc SETS ASIdE LOkpAL ORdER AGAINST MAHUA p 6 EcONOMY NET dIREcT TAx cOLLEcTIONS RISE 8%, REfUNdS dOWN 13.5% p 17 implementationoftheCentre’s flagship skills training initiative, Pradhan Mantri Kaushal VikasYojana(PMKVY),inthree phases from 2015-2022. The CAG findings were detailed in an audit report tabled in the Lok Sabha on Thursday. They are significant because PMKVY has been one of the major interventions by the Government to provide skills training to combat joblessness among youth — according to New Delhi, December 19 THE USE of “11111111111” as the bank account number; the same photograph used for multiple beneficiaries; payouts pending for more than 34 lakh candidates; and shuttered training centres. These are some of the glaring irregularities identified by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) in the ‘I felt Hindi would touch people’s hearts… this is an anti-elite era’ available data, the unemployment rate was 15 per cent in the age group of 15-29 years in May 2025. The skills scheme was launched in July 2015 to enable a large number of youth to take up industry-relevant skill training and certification. »cONTINUED ON PAGE 2 GOVT FLOATS AIR PURIFIER TENDERS FOR cLASSROOMS A tale of two cities: Delhi govt schools choke, private classrooms set up air filters Heena Khandelwal Mumbai, December 19 OVER THE years, stand-up comedian Zakir Khan has broken ceilings and defied norms. But when he recently headlined a full-length show at New York’s iconic Madison Square Garden — the first Indian comedian to do so in Hindi and sell out the venue — it became a moment everyone back home came together to celebrate. Speaking at the Express Adda in Mumbai on Thursday, Khan reflected on how standup comedy in India naturally leaned heavily on English initially. “The art form comes from abroad, so everybody was Same photos provided for multiple beneficiaries in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. CAG REPORT Dhaka, December 19 BANGLADESH’S INTERIM government urged people Fridaytoresistviolenceassoldiers and police fanned out across Dhaka and other cities following protests over the killing of a popular youth leader, sparking fears of more unrest ahead of national elections in which he had been due to run. Bangladesh is due to elect a new parliament in less than two months — a transition many hope will help the country recover from nearly two years of instability. Frequent bouts of violent protestsandpoliticalwrangling among disparate groups including Islamist hardliners have marked the wake of student-led protests that ousted powerful leader and long-time Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024. It has also exposed the limitations of the interim governmentheadedbyNobellaureate Muhammad Yunus, analysts said, raising questions over his grip on governance. Hasina's party, the Awami League, which has been barred from the February 12 vote, has threatenedunrestthatsomefear could derail the election itself. Youth leader Sharif Osman »cONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Flames engulf the office of the Prothom Alo newspaper after it was torched by protesters in Dhaka. AP Delhi worry: Anti-India current, will violence derail February polls? Shubhajit Roy New Delhi, December 19 WITHBANGLADESHwitnessing a fresh round of turmoil in which the Indian High Commission in Dhaka and its Assistant High Commissions across Bangladesh are facing threats, NewDelhi’sconcern is deepened by the imperative that its interests are linked to Bangladesh’s elections in February next year. The spark for the latest violence is the December 12 shootingof32-year-oldSharifOsman Hadi who had participated in the movement against Prime Business as Usual By EP UNNY E. MinisterSheikhHasinaleading to her ouster from office on August 5, 2024. »cONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Sophiya Mathew & Drishti Jain New Delhi, December 19 Stand-up comedian Zakir Khan at the Express Adda in Mumbai on Thursday. AMIT CHAKRAVARTY INTHEnurserysectionofaprivate South Delhi school this week,theheadofJuniorSchool conferred urgently with a class teacherwhosestudentshadleft the room for a few minutes at the change of periods. “WhatarethePM2.5levels?” she asked. “How can the CO2 Since November 1, the Capital’s average AQI has been below 300 on levels be so high?” she de- only three days in November and two days in December. FILE PAGE 4 mandedtoknow,hereyesonan air quality monitor. “Did the around200micrograms/cubic slightly ajar. At the school, a close and metre. The class children just leave teacher told her the constant watch is kept on flucthe room?” reason: yes, the 30- tuations in air quality and polThe carbon diodd children had lutantconcentrations,theJunoxide level had just left just a few min- iorSchoolheadtoldTheIndian crossed the safe DEATH utes ago, and yes, Express. All the classrooms are limit of 1,000 parts the classroom door in a “YOGa Clean Air Bubble”, per million; the »cONTINUED ON PAGE 2 had been left PM2.5 reading was »cONTINUED ON PAGE 2 by breath l GRAM PANCHAYAT UNDER WHICH VILLAGE FALLS ONE OF THE MOST AFFECTED BY THE CHITTA MENACE IN HIMACHAL PRADESH The night’s watch of Laghat: Women form squad, take on rising drug problem in a Himachal village PAGE 1 anchor Saurabh Parashar Laghat (Himachal Pradesh), December 19 EVERY NIGHT, as the rest of LaghatvillageinHimachal’sBilaspur district gets into their warm beds, a bunch of bobbing lightsappearonalinkroadconnecting it to the state highway. ThewomenofLaghatarebraced for the cold, dark hours ahead, wielding their mobile phone torchlights, lathis, and a resolve l NDPScasesinHimachal Year Cases 2020 2021 1,537 2022 Gobind Sagar 1,538 1,517 2023 Laghat village Bilaspur 2,147 2024 1,714 2025* 1,689 *(up to November 30) Himachal P ra d e s h to stop a rising drug problem. Laghatvillagefallsunderthe Barmana gram panchayat bor- Shimla dering Punjab, which is one of the234panchayatsidentifiedas highly affected by the chitta (an A group of women out on patrol in Laghat. SAURABH PARASHAR intoxicant)menaceinHimachal Pradeshbythegovernment.Recently, the 22-member Laghat Mahila Mandal took the task of controlling it in its hands, starting with patrolling the newly constructed link road that the women believe has brought the problem to their doorsteps, between 9 pm and 1 am. Over the years, with several big cement manufacturing plants coming up in the area, Laghat is no longer the quiet village it once was, with its 36oddhousesandapopulationof around 550. The coming up of the 500-metre link road has further disturbed that quiet. Suman Kumari, 32, who is a »cONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Lucknow