Mr.M.M.Pallam Raju’s tenure as HRD Minister!
How it would turn out?
Prof.Yogendra Yadav’s letter to the minister!
It raises some disturbing questions!
We seem to be living in India in some troubled times, right?
Yes, there seems to be much undesirable trends in Indian polity, why, even in the Indian mindset! There is so much so much revenge-taking, much hardened feelings towards members in the Opposition ranks, be they political rivals or opponents and there is no sense of fairness or fair play when it comes to public life and public good!
Indian polity is much degraded and much devalued by those who are active practitioners.
There are very serious deteriorations and only those with some unique foresight can detect and even diagnose the illnesses.
Indian democracy is fortunately functioning and we have survived as a practising democracy.
Is this all to our claims to be a great country, a great society and even a great civilised society?
No, not at all. There is so much corruption, so much toleration of corruption and what does this mean?
The Prime Minister’s high office is never so devalued in the country, in the scheme of things. Do Indians feel proud of the goings-on in the country, before the Supreme Court, in the doings of the CBI and in the very attitudes towards corruption, need for fairness and transparency?
See the latest developments in the various ministries.
Not one minister has so far been indicted or removed. In the USA, in UK and even in China we see very many positive developments.
Only in India, we see the doings of the leaders, be they party leaders, or heads of government or the ministers.
No one comes before any accountability commission as such. Every branch of the government feels helpless. The CBI wants autonomy from bureaucracy to conduct its investigations, as for instance, in the Coalgate corruption. But the government doesn’t want the CBI to be independent. The bureaucracy seems to hold the upper hand.
So, where do we go from here?
The Prime Minister comes back from G-20 summit and on his way back shoots a statement saying he welcomes Rahul Gandhi as the new Prime Minister and he, the incumbent PM, is only too willing to serve under Rahul Gandhi!
Are we to laugh or cry?
We have to really to cry!
Why we have so degenerated?
On the other hand, we see many of Sonia Gandhi activities, be it the nomination of Rajya Sabha members or state Governors or even such things like keeping tainted faces away from public view. She just does the opposite!
So we find certain wounds, so to say, the list is long, we have to keep reminding ourselves, they stick out in the public view and remind us every time we see how the Congress party functions these days.
The AICC appointments?
The rationale of appointing the I&B minister as the party spokesman?
The resort to government ads as party propaganda for the elections? Already so much tax funds put to this grossly misuse?
Or the party’s approach towards the many public causes like RTI act covering the political parties, the Supreme Court judgement disqualifying criminally indicted politicians?
Why, what about the so many criminally charged MPs, MLAs and many others. So, there is no need for any introspection on the part of senior leaders inside and outside the party?
Is what we are conducting as politics in India is fair principles of politics, as we know them? As other countries know and practising them?
Is there any freedoms left in the country? Is there any press freedom?
Is there any freedoms in the autonomous institutions?
On September 5, the teacher’s day, there was the discussion on the NDTV. The participants was the minister of state, Mr.Sashi Tharoor, Prof.Yogendra Yadav, a very decent person and an activist of the Aam Aadmi party and member of the UGC and of course the VC of Delhi university and one or two others.
What emerged from the discussion was the state of the HRD ministry under Mr.M.M.Pallam Raju. It was sad to find so much petty politics, pettiness in fact!
Yadav looked sad from the outset and only when things hotted up, we could see why. The minister’s parliamentary constituency, Kakinada was chosen to site an Inter-University campus for establishing a teacher’s education research unit. It looks Prof.Yadav had questioned the wisdom of the site, a god-forsaken remote place.
Of course, we all know how the ministers sometimes become so crazy to locate some big projects in some unviable locations! Oh, the list and projects are too many. It is like locating some huge projects in Sonia Gandhi’s own constituency!
Poor Raju, he got caught in the controversy. And now Yadav had shot back a letter to the minister why he was served with a show cause notice why he should not be removed from the UGC. Oh, the UGC?
Only those who move around in the rarefied circles of the VCs and other petty educationist could relish the good many petty acts and mindsets. To cut the story short, we are now in the education sphere in India, a sphere where so much unethical acts are done and perpetuated and everyone seems to be guilty in the functioning of our higher education institutions, from old and new, deemed universities.
So, there is no surprise in finding India nowhere in the international ranking of universities.
We thought when Mr.Raju was chosen (chosen by whom else, by Sonia Gandhi herself) as the new HRD, he might be an exception. No, this can never be, it seems. You choose often the ministers for their poor performance in their previous portfolios!
Our name abroad, our name inside, inside the country, inside the party itself is bedevilled by such arbitrariness, such whimsicality, such dangerous emerging authoritarian trends and mindset. This is not good for the country, for India and for the Indian people’s aspirations and dreams!
Education must be an enlightening force. Let us, at least some of us, wake up!