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Educational Reforms:STATES PUT ON ALERT, by Insaf,2 July 2009 Print E-mail

Round The States

New Delhi, 2 July 2009

Educational Reforms

STATES PUT ON ALERT

By Insaf

The unearthing of the ‘capitation fee’ scam in a medical college in Tamil Nadu recently has opened the can of worms in education. Wherein the States have now been put on alert with the Union HRD Minister Kapil Sibal making plain that he would no longer take a benevolent view of those caught violating the law. Talking to Insaf about his short-term 100-day plan and his vision of what he intends achieving in the next five years in the field of education, Sibal showed his intent to freeze all educational institutions seeking ‘deemed university’ status. Importantly, he intends setting up a University Regulatory Commission, on the lines of the SEBI to rein in malpractices in various colleges in the States. The agenda of the Commission would be to ensure transparency in the admission process, fees structure, facilities etc. offered by the institutions. Significantly, those found to be “not above board” would be de-recognized and they would be stripped of the deemed university status. However, to ensure that the students do not suffer, the Union HRD Minister underscored that the students would get their degrees from an affiliated recognized university.

Equally important, the HRD Minister is astonished by some States’ reaction to his sweeping educational reforms proposals, including making the Class 10th Board examination optional  and replacing the CBSE with a unified board for the entire country. Aiming to set the record straight he told Insaf that his reform proposals adhere to schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education and not the State Governments as erroneously believed. According to him, the issue of educational reforms pertains to the implementation of the long-pending Yashpal Committee Report on Education. Towards that end, Sibal has sought the views of renowned educationists, school principals and various parent-teacher associations. It’s another matter that BJP-ruled States like Gujarat and Chhattisgarh have come out in support of the proposed changes, while five Congress-ruled States — Maharashtra, Andhra, Assam, Rajasthan and Haryana have vetoed the Centre’s intentions. Clearly, winds of change are blowing over the much-needed Right to Education.  

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Centre No To MP Conversion Bill

BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh’s bid to tighten the law banning ‘forced’ religious conversions is not going to materialize. The UPA Government has advised the President not to give the nod to the amendments in the MP Religious Freedom Act, 1968. The Act in its original form bans conversion by force, allurement or fraud. The amended bill, MP Dharma Swatantrya Abhiniyam (Sansodhan) Vidheyak, passed by the State Assembly in 2006, however, makes it mandatory for any person wishing to convert to inform the District Magistrate (DM) in advance. Besides, the priest or any other person involved in the ceremony is expected to do likewise, and the DM is to seek a report from the police Chief on the conversion being a result of force or allurement. With a difference of opinion between the State Attorney General and Solicitor General on the constitutionality of the Bill, the Governor sought the President’s advice. The latter will not give assent on grounds that the Union Home Ministry sees the changes as “being misused to harass anybody who intends to covert to another religion.” 

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Muslims, Dalits Demand Sub-quota

The Pandora box of women reservation is bursting at the seams, given the serious reservations expressed by many Muslim and Dalit organizations in various States as also political parties. Whereby all and sundry have stepped up their demand for sub-quotas within the proposed Bill to reserve women 33% of the Seats in Parliament and State legislatures for the fair sex.  Notwithstanding that the 15th Lok Sabha boasts of its first woman Speaker and a higher number of women MPs’. Terming the proposed Bill “unfair,” the representatives at a convention in the Union Capital last week asked its members to take to the streets and stop the passage of the Bill in its present form. Their argument: It would benefit only women belonging to either the upper caste or economic class and would end up being filled by politicians’ wives, daughters, sisters, daughters-in-law et al. Thus, a quota without a sub-quota (of backward classes and minorities) would serve no purpose. Obversly, however, women who came through sub-quotas would have little knowledge about legislatures, so what was the need for their inclusion? Where will the buck stop? Certainly, not this Parliament session.

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Another Blow To Left In Bengal

The Left Front’s 30-year rule in West Bengal is clearly on the wane. The Marxists got their second drumming in just less than two months of the General polls by the formidable Trinamool Congress-Congress alliance. The combine has won 13 of the 16 municipalities in the State, which went to the polls on June 28, as against five (One TMC, four Congress) in 2004. Of the 13 municipalities won, nine were wrested from the Left while four were retained. The TMC-Congress vote-share too has crossed the 50 per cent mark. If this is not bad enough to make the Left sit up, then there is worse news. The CPM has lost Asansol, South Dum Dum and Dum Dum  municipalities, which it had ruled for the past 48 years and 30 years respectively. Clearly, the writing is on the wall for the Left: the people are unhappy with its governance. For the rout in the General elections, it has passed the buck on to policies at the Centre, what is their excuse this time?   

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Two Firsts For Mumbai

Mumbaikars finally have something to rejoice about after 26/11. Their city can boast of two firsts—the country’s first sea bridge and the first city to have a NSG hub. In fact, the two put together have given enough reason to the Congress-NCP combine to get into the election mode for the Assembly polls. Well, that’s what it looked like on Tuesday last, with the Congress President Sonia Gandhi inaugurating the engineering marvel with senior Union and State Ministers in tow. Plus, the Rs 1,600 crore 5.6 km eight-lane bridge which took nine years to build is going to be flagged as ‘Rajiv Gandhi Setu’. Though the sea link is expected to drastically cut down driving time, it wasn’t the case on day one, casting doubts on tall claims made. The NSG, with 250 trained commandos is expected to make the citizens “feel safe” as the elite force would be in a position to respond within minutes in case of another terror attack. Only time will tell.      

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J&K On the Boil

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah may have bitten more than he can chew by demanding the scrapping of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, which gives security forces sweeping powers to arrest and raid. In a series of meetings with Home Minister Chidambaram and Defence Minister Antony, Abdullah has been asking for amending the Act or repealing it or withdrawing it in a phased manner. Under pressure, the Centre is considering a phased withdrawal of the Army and CRPF in case of decline in violence. However, this past week the signs are not encouraging, the Valley is on the boil again. The CRPF has been withdrawn from Baramulla following violent protests against killing of two persons in police firing. Curfew and prohibitory orders are being defied and the Army has had to stage a flag march. With the police unable to control the situation, Omar should rethink about wanting the local police to be in the forefront of the all anti-militancy operations. He shouldn’t be in a hurry.---INFA

 (Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

 

 

 

 

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