From the officials mouth we now know that the government has deferred the introduction of Right to Education Act (REA) in the current session of the parliament. Apart from the criticisms coming in from different corners of the country, the state itself finds difficult to mobilize the ambitious Rs one lakh crore required for the free and compulsory primary education for all. Just for the heck of popularity and to show the fulfillment of the Common Minimum Programme of the United Progressive Alliance in paper, the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) tried to introduce this act in this parliament session. Without any home work and hard work, the ministry tried to clear the act. When opposition arose and financial prospectus was dim, the ministry pulled back. This is another classic case of government’s hushy-bushy efforts of development. Smart way of getting the social issues done is far away from the corridors of Indian power elites.

Without analysing the rationale of past failures, MHRD steps into the same old bureaucratic shoes which are not fitting the common people’s heels. Given the high rate of corruption and lethargy, more government programme means less development. The amount of time consumed in fulfilling the primary constitutional obligation is extremely high. The track record of previous efforts of the state is dim. Fifty eight years and still thirty percent of illiteracy is indeed a very bad performance. The table below shows the dead slow pace of education development in the country.

Table: 1
Literacy Growth in India

Year
Persons
Male
Female
1951 (a) 18.33 27.16 8.86
1961 (b) 28.31 40.40 15.34
1971 (c) 34.45 45.95 21.97
1981 (d) 43.56 56.37 29.75
(41.42) (53.45) (28.46)
1991 (e) 52.21 64.13 39.29
2001(f) 65.38 75.85 54.16

(a) Excluding the population of Jammu & Kashmir, Pondicherry and the then NEFA, Dadar & Nagar Haveli and Goa, Daman and Diu.
(b) Excluding Goa, Daman & Diu, and the then NEFA.
(c) Paper 2 of 1983 series I.
(d) Excluding Assam.
(e) Excluding Jammu & Kashmir.
(f) Census of India -2001(Series 1) Provisional Population Totals (Paper 1 of 2001)
Source: National Literacy Mission
http://www.nlm.nic.in/tables/scenario.htm

If India keeps on thinking about the ways and means for elimination of basic literacy, it will be pushed to another major literacy divide – digital divide which is going to be the decisive factor in the future. It is important to analyse the past mistakes. After deeper introspection of the past mistakes, the government should not repeat the old flaws. It should get the future calculations correct. For this, novel ways and means should be discovered and implemented.

With all due credit given to the state in the educational development so far, it is high time to create competition in the provision of education. Allowing more players to enter the education field will naturally ensure quality and cheap price. This is evident from the engineering colleges in Tamil Nadu, Andra Pradesh, Karanataka and Maharastra. Initially everyone pitched in tents to start an engineering college. With one room set, an engineering college started functioning to milk money from the poor and rich alike. But that was a minor hitch in the major revolution in the engineering education. When the days passed by, poor performers got automatically eliminated. Like this, new streams of education can take off in the right direction. Just government need to create competition by allowing private organizations to open up schools and colleges for profit.

When the competition is high, the education service providers cannot impose fees of their desire. Recognising the contributions of people and allowing them to enjoy the benefits of their hard work will eliminate this unwanted problem. In simple words, the government should remove restriction on education - not for profit. It is high time that the government removes the mask behind its real face. Money making in the name of education provision is a reality around the country. Big sharks escape from the government net because of their sheer size of wealth and political clout. But only the poor small fishes which wanted to survive get caught. To save these small fishes from the bureaucratic hassles and allow quality to play the best role, education should be given an industry status. This will boost up the literacy development in a quicker pace and help India to achieve the ultimate ambition – fully educated nation.

It is nothing but natural for people to write off Lalu Prasad Yadav after he lost majority to his archrival National Democratic Alliance in the just concluded Bihar assembly elections. Only few can break this euphoric environment and look at the reality logically.

Given the hidden fissures in the NDA coalition and splitting talents of RJD supremo it is difficult to give five years guarantee to Nitish Kumar government. Factionalism is higher in the NDA camp than in any other groups. This is evident from the everyday revolt against the Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand and Rajasthan. Even the national level setup is shaken by the serious camp troubles. L.K. Advani, Murali Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharathi, Venkaiah Naidu and Arun Jaitley are spending sleepless nights to chart out their course of action to defeat the other camp. George Fernandes’s explicit anger against Nitish is another teething trouble spot.

The entire world is aware of the political poaching skills of Lantern carrying Lalu Yadav. Systematically Lalu devastated Lok Jan Shakti Party of Ram Vilas Paswan after the last assembly election. Soon after the majority members of LJP joined hands with NDA, Lalu broke in to Paswan’s camp so easily. Giving the possible ascend of NDA into the throne as a threat, he convinced Sonia Gandhi to advise P.M to do the necessary work to dissolve the assembly. In the middle of night, Lalu had the last laugh after President Abdul Kalam signed the proclamation dissolving Bihar assembly from Iceland.



Although Lalu lost his kingdom which he ruled without any development his vote share was intact. Really none of the political parties lost their vote share heavily. Only the number of independents was reduced this time and vote for non political candidates were minimized. The success of NDA lies in the efficient coalition management and excellent co-ordination. Early start of the election process is another plus point of the NDA which gave a majority despite every media group predicting a hung assembly.

After this setback, Lalu’s all time joking abilities will be reduced now. As a pragmatic politician, Lalu will reach out to his bitter enemies like Ram Vilas Paswan to reclaim his lost bastion. This is crystal clear if one compares Lalu’s approach to Paswan in the pre and post election scenario.

Entertaining the people around him was the hobby of Laluji. All time tamsha maker, Lalu was not serious about any development issue. While the rest of India and Indian politicians were changing to the circumstances, the RJD leader refused to learn. Till the last vote counted, he was asserting the irrelevance of BSP equation (Bijali, Sadak and Pani) in the electoral politics. For him only one issue which mattered was caste. Although he was cracking jokes before the final election results, he was aware of the possible ouster. . Taking advantage of the poverty and innocence of the Bihar populace, Lalu lived in 1. Anne Marg for fifteen years. Now he realizes the heat of public anger and caste miscalculation.


Defeat is not that consequential for Lalu now. If he is not the union minister, he might have faced tremendous trouble and embarrassment. God is in his side at this critical moment of his overthrow from the Bihar dynasty. He can circle the world with same pomp and show. But that’s not the only criteria for a politician to be powerful. To survive successfully in the Indian politics and reclaim his lost dynasty, Lalu needs to reorient his approach to politics and development. His talents can be utilized for better results than just spitting one-liners.

Finally the official man accused in the Oilgate scam is gone. The former external affairs minister, K. Natwar Singh who refused to resign after the Paul Volcker committee report pointed finger at him had to bow down to the pressure building in the Congress party to drop him from the cabinet. As the chairperson of Congress Party Foreign Affairs Cell, Natwar Singh led a delegation to Iraq in 2001 to see the humanitarian crisis created by the American invasion. P. Shiva Shankar, A.R. Antulay, and Anil Matherani were the official accompanies of Natwar Singh. Unofficially his son Jagat Singh and Andaleeb Sehgal (Jagat’s cousin) also joined the delegation. In the name of moral booster to Iraq, Natwar used his position to provide business prospectus to his son to the tune of eight million barrels of oil

Natwar jumped in to advocate Iraq’s cause when Saddam Hussain was desperately looking for supporters across the world after America started bombing the streets of Baghdad. Sonia Gandhi and Congress were convinced by Natwar to support Iraq to regain the lost minority votes after Babri Masjid demolition. His point struck chord with Congress leaders as they were looking for the right avenues to corner BJP. That was the heydays of NDA. So without much hitch Sonia said yes to Natwar’s proposals. More importantly nobody had the guts to question the clean short man’s credibility. Everything passed without any censure or debate. Finally this had landed the party into a major embarrassment and trouble

Charges against Natwar Singh indicate the amount of power abuse even in the matters of humanitarian assistance. This also shows that even opposition party members can earn in millions. Nothing is more horrific than to take a share from the funds meant to assist common people at times of crisis. Iraq which got devastated first by the misrule of Saddam Hussain and second by the bombings of America. To rub salt in the wounds of Iraq, Natwar misused his office to help his son’s business ambitions. Tragically they had the heart to exchange oil coupons for money instead of food without even thinking about the tender babies who were dying without milk. All the ill gotten wealth went to the banks in Jordan. Instead of digging these bank accounts the enforcement directorate is after the lives of those who gave supportive evidence to Oil scam. This happens with every government cutting across party lines. For political reason they save the sinner and punish those who tell the truth.

Ample examples can be citied. Dinesh Goswami in Bihar floods, George Fernandes in the coffin scam, corruption in the relief material sent to earthquake, cyclone and tsunami hit area sent shockwaves across the spines. It is a pity to hear these petty minded people who wreck havoc during the period of human suffering created by nature.

Unfortunately those who expose these humanitarian scandals are victimized. The Indian institutions by the order of political masters target those who dare give evidence about corruption. Tehelka group was harrased beyond the limitations by the NDA government soon after it brought the coffin scam to common knowledge through sting operations. Satyendra Dubey and Manjunath just remain martyrs for blowing the whistle. No extra action to punish the criminals apart from one minute mourning after their murder.

Public is also bored of the boomeranging scams everyday. They know very well nothing is going to come out of the political uproar against these scandals. Only the functioning of parliament gets disturbed quite often due to the new scams. It gives enough ammunition to the opposition to weaken the moral of government. Once the parliament session is over, no effect is seen around that issue.

What is required at this crucial junction is to restore the public confidence in judiciary. For this investigating agencies and judiciary should be given enough autonomy. Prime Minister or Home Minster appointing a lame duck judge to investigate a sensitive case must be abandoned. Sincerity of purpose of the judicial commissions should be shown. Otherwise public disrespect for these institutions will keep growing and that will lead to anarchy in the society. Corruption in humanitarian matters should be checked immediately to assure people of some institutional effect.