Life has become miserable for Ramu Naik, even when the whole country is making remarkable progress with path-breaking developments on the economic front. Unable to grapple with the financial problems faced by his family staying in Madhapur, the emerging IT hub of Hyderabad, India, he abandoned his career dreams for a petty job in the parking slot of Cyber towers, thus displaying the hollowness of the argument put forward by the so-called neo-liberal economists who claim that `India is shining'. The above incident brings to light the paradoxical situation emerging across the country. Though the decision to support the family by leaving education halfway gets endorsed by the near and dear ones, it denies social justification. It is not the story of Ramu Naik alone, as we keep finding similar cases in society, depicting the inherent scenario where the school dropouts have become the victims of many socio-economic ills. Call it `marginalization' or `segregation', this is forcing the school dropouts to seek their livelihood in the informal sector as an alternate lifestyle. In this article, an attempt has been made to highlight some issues related to school dropouts by showcasing one initiative taken by Dr. Reddy's.

Keeping aside the validity of brainstorming sessions held by the policymakers and scholars across the world, on how to deal with the typical scenario resulting from the failure of literacy missions, one also needs to look at the humane dimensions. The new `LPG policies', which were found to be responsible for improving the economic fortunes of a microscopic minority in society, were at the same time paralyzing the foundations of rural communities. The school dropout crisis is far worse and beyond one's imagination. So, there is need for a revised framework of outlook towards the system that is emerging.

The fact that India has been able to leverage the market competition in the service sector across the globe by virtue of its skilled manpower and professionally qualified segments of population in the various streams, enables us to identify the potential impact it has on the course of development. The amazing switchover from a poor agrarian economy to a developing economy, though delayed, has been the outcome of a successful pursuit of the educational system in the post-independence era. As such, the critical examination of facilitators in the direction also makes us understand how the optimum utilization of resources in higher education has been dealt with by the active involvement of the rich as well as the middle-class sections of the society. Admittedly, the failure of the state on the issue of primary education has been testified by the alarming rise in the school dropouts. It is not an exaggeration to say that the mushrooming growth of sponsored literacy programs across the country, with the collaboration of the state, NGOs and corporate initiatives, have triggered a kind of passion towards improving the vulnerable sections of the population, often taking help from the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).

policymakers, LPG policies, developing economy, microscopic minority in society, educational system, NGOs, Information and Communication Technologies, ICTs, UNICEF, United Nations Children's Emergency Fund, ILO, International Labour Organization, social enlightenment, economic empowerment methods, Common Minimum Program, CMP, National Literacy Mission.