122. Why is there a Right to Education if there is no Right to Living? P S Remesh Chandran

122

Why is there a Right to Education if there is no Right to Living?

P S Remesh Chandran

Editor, Sahyadri Books & Bloom Books, Trivandrum
 Article Title Image By Carol Austin. Graphics: Adobe SP.

What is the relevance and usefulness of passing a right to education bill if there is no right to living for the common man? When an administration fails in protecting the right to live, it is easier to pass bills of lesser importance to escape from the accusation of administrative impotence than initiating express measures to ensure that the price of essential food articles and petrol are affordable for the common and poor citizens in the nation. Here we see that when immensely rich corporations and companies are soon to crush people with another unbelievable price hike, the political leaders in the ruling parties and the elected representatives in the administration hasten and crowd together to pass yet another bill, the benefits of which will never be enjoyable to the common man. There will always be conditions. They once boasted that all girl students will get free education and at another time declared that the only child in the family, if a girl, will not have to pay any kind of tuition fees. The condition was that it would be applicable only to the government schools. After permitting the opening of 1000 private schools for 10 government schools, where did in India the economically backward one child girl students get the benefit of this boasted about bill? For a nursery admission, one has to pay 25000 rupees, plus 2 admissions will cost 75000 capitations and the present rate for MBBS admission is 50 lakhs. Where is this free education, our mighty kings? Government boasts about the opening of a million new class rooms and posting a hundred thousand teachers and making possible immense infrastructures. Where it not in the private owned posh educational institutions, inaugurated with great pomp by top most cabinet members, inaccessible to 90 per cent of the people of India? It only means that 20000 or 50000 more crores of rupees from the government coffers earmarked under Education Heads are soon to be lavished on the privileged class of India, to speak in plain language. When these new private institutions come into being and begin to run in full force, every Indian citizen knows that, more government schools will be closed the future of economically backward Indian children will become darker than now. Rather than passing such meaningless bills, if the authorities simply declare that they wish to donate such and such amounts from government to such and such heavy contributors in the educational industry as a token of gratitude for favours received, the poor man of India who has now no rice, wheat, sugar, oil and petrol will not protest. He is such weak.

Article Title Image By AkshayaPatra. Graphics: Adobe SP. 

[In response to news article ‘Right to education bill introduced by UPA govt.’ on 23 May 2012]