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.
* * * *
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.”
* * * *
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.
* * * *
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?
* * * *
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.
* * * *
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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