16
4–10 May 2012
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Do It The Right Way
ast week we carried the cover story on the Right To Education – It Must Be Right. Even the Supreme Court has weighed in on a point that cannot be disputed. Every Indian citizen must have a right to be educated. The Supreme Court has had to step in, in the arena of the executive, from time to time – and probably increasingly so. The Court does not really have this mandate; or dare we say, the expertise. But the intention is of course noble; and perhaps comes more out of anguish and frustration with the nonperformance of successive governments, in areas that impact the common person.
EDITORIAL Atul Sobti
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
I
have fallen in love with Gurgaon. This 16th March,’12 was my first ever visit. I did not know many people or places. I had called on two conglomerates of “Pepsico” and “Wrigley” of India. Where (in Wrigley’s) I got hold of one copy of your esteemed weekly and with keen interest I was gulping down all news and views. I took interest in reading most of the pages and I developed feeling to write to you to say you are building a great city and your city has tremendous potential to become one at par city (within cities) like Manhattan in New York. I don’t know your city fathers and unaware of their planning and ambitions. But I would like to know them intimately. Please get me to know them and I shall try to call on them in my next visit sooner or later. By the way, I read your 1st page coverage of the latest social happenings and I hope you will come out successful in fighting out the menace right from the beginning. Hoping for the best development of Gorgaon I remain for today with best compliments. A F Rahman CEO, Liberty Group, Bangladesh.
Comment
The noble Supreme Court direction has significant implications. But before that, what of the core issue - that of non-delivery by the govt., for a role that it was constituted to play? The responsibility and accountability is squarely at the govt’s door. It is not in the charter, but in the process, the implementation, that it has gone horribly wrong. It is the Central and State Govts. who are charged with providing education to the masses (and who collect taxes for this). Surely these govts. need to be strongly taken to task; and not allowed to change course or even the charter - by asking others who are not mandated, to chip in. And that too with little offer of support, for the cost or the process or other challenges. There is not just a lack or deficit of schools and infrastructure; there are severe teacher shortages. And where appointed, they are mainly absent. Where present, they make little difference. Even the underprivileged shy away from govt. schools, at the first opportunity. Can there be a bigger indictment! The Court interjection has perhaps allowed the govt. to feel vindicated in its prescription, rather than accepting accountability as the chief culprit. This manner of walking away from accountability will only embolden the govt. to walk out of all the disasters. The plan seems to be to put the onus on everyone, make it such a ‘khichdi’, that no one will specifically be accountable. Just announce something big and new, knowing that it is not implementable. Like they did for corruption. Made a big noise that the Lokpal Bill put up by civil society was not encompassing enough. Innocently questioned whether it would really stop all corruption. Asked that everyone should come under the Bill – though knowing well that 80% of the problem and malaise is at the door of the govts. (maybe 99%, as far as the common person goes). It is all obfuscation and smoke screens. The govts. continue to live in denial. Why has no Education, Health or Food Minister been chastised by the Supreme Court, for not ensuring an effective PE (Primary Education), PDS (Public Distribution System), PHC (Primary Healthcare Centre) system? Why has none resigned, if there has been negligible change after decades, and after thousands of crores have been spent? Has even the most Supreme of Courts also given up on the ability of the govt. to deliver? To fight corruption? To govern?
health – without any private sector help. But what does the RTE tell them, and their citizens? And the private sector there? Fortunately, different parties rule these islands of excellence. What works there can surely be tried elsewhere. At least every party HQ can be held accountable for States where they hold a clear mandate, and have their own CM. Let the Congress start with their bases/States (unfortunately just a few), and shame the BJP. They can even shame the Left, the messiahs of the proletariat. Why is the Congress not able to take care of effectively implementing their programs even in the few States they rule? If you cannot deliver where you rule, why talk of coalition issues. Why use coalition partners as excuses for non-implementation, or lack of decisionmaking. It seems just a lack of leadership; or maybe two much leadership. And now, the implications. The failure is not just in Education – among services (some even more basic) for the common person. If this is the way forward for ‘Rights”, then surely, with the PDS and PHCs failing us on Food and Health, all private food companies and establishments must start serving 25% of their food to the under-privileged; and all private clinics and hospitals should ensure 25% of their patients are the under-privileged. It can even get better and bigger. Consider Housing. Tomorrow, all organized builders would need to provide 25% of their houses and apartments for the under-privileged (never mind that hundreds of EWS apartments in Gurgaon lie vacant and rotting). Or maybe even in Security – with the police unable to do the job. Which would lead us then to jobs too. Finally, it may be back to the courts - with private law firms mandated to have 25% of their clients from the under-privileged. Look at the pendency of cases in the courts. There are many land cases, impacting the poor. Unfortunately, the only Right that the UPA has probably succeeded in, and helped institutionalize, is the Right to Corruption. What about a common citizen’s Right to Governance – to be Rightly Ruled? It is time the govts. first own up their inadequacy, their failure; accept the enormity of the problem; ask for help and solutions, from the outside; ask for partners, through a delegated PPP model; adequately share their resources (taken from the citizens) with the partners; and make it worthwhile for all – the partners, the teachers, and the taught. Thrusting a solution on private schools is not the answer. Even within them, there are distinctions – so where, and for whom, would we draw what line? We cannot experiment for 65 more years. Those years will come and go fast – and we may still be among the world’s worst on human and social parameters. The population is not stopping soon. And the solid additions thereof continue at the poor end.
Religious schools have been kept out of the ambit of the RTE. Somewhere our India view on secularism, social strata, and poverty do not seem to merge. Minority religion and caste rich always win versus the majority poor. It seems under-privileged also has a context.
Meanwhile, the RTE bandwagon is on a roll. It will not stop. More than the physical infrastructure, we must pay attention to the interactions at school. Between the teachers and the 25% to be taught; between the new 25% and the 75% students. Our privileged children will behave the way we show them – by our talk and action. They will look to us for clues and answers. We should not let them down.
The silver lining, and the path of light, is that there are clearly villages, towns, cities, even States that are doing a commendable job on education, food, and
Should we expect different in the land of Jugaad (and Quick-Fix and Band-Aids) ? We just fix it even if it is broke – till the next broke. u