child labour and sathyarthi

In his article, “hero or persona non grata” (17.10.14) in the Hindu, Abhimanyu Singh exposes certain facts in support of the non recognition of Kailash Sathyarthi’s commendable service in the filed of child labour. The fact that, Satyarthi  “has marshaled facts and figures to show that the extent of unemployment of able bodied adults in India is directly related to the number of children below----the age of 16 year,” at the international level would have irritated the government, the bureaucrats  and the unethical employers and led to the non recognition of his human service .If the present government is really in an urge to remove the cobwebs in our economy, it  should take efforts in the direction of the removal of child labour, at least , after the media's exposure of the severity of child labour in India in the discussions  which followed  the award of Nobel Prize to Satyanath .It is because ,child labour  harms the society in two ways i.e.,  in the continued  illiteracy of poor children and poverty of adult unemployed persons.

On toilet constructions

The  “building toilets  is the necessary but easiest part , bringing about behavioral change  is the more daunting challenge”, the  editorial of The Hindu says.  If India has to achieve better health indicators , the government and private efforts are to be directed towards   preventive and promotive health care measures . The local administrative units are to be equipped with men, material and money (the three “M”s ) so that, they  can concentrate on spreading  health literacy related to toilet usage. They should   ensure sufficient supply of water for enabling people to adopt  better hygiene practices and maintenance of toilets .They are  to be made accountable for the maintenance of public toilets in tourists spots, high ways and in other public places which are now in deplorable condition and spoiling  the image of India in cleanliness aspects among the tourists.

Quality of teachers in iNdia

The Report on the pass percenatage in the teachers eligibility test as reported under the caption “ teachers tests throws up low scores” on 13.10.14  in The Hindu   causes worry about the  pathetic condition of our elementary school education and it’s effect on the quality of our future generation   This situation again confirms the findings of the various committees on education  that, in India ,the education sector does not attract the best minds towards the teaching profession  .Hence the teachers lack the desire and the efforts to understand the specific needs of Indian students and the need to upgrade their skills periodically . As long as promotions give weightage only to seniority, non recognition of good performance continue and concentration is only window dressing efforts while organising the various programmes meant for enhancing teachers quality such as ,the orientation and refresher courses, revamping teacher training curriculum  etc., the teacher’s quality will surly remain low.  

On an article in the Hindu

The article by Arun kumar(10.10.14), inThe  Hindu  “For a place in world space” has  broken many  myths related to the   tall  claims made about our three “D” , role of FDI  in the growth process, the benefits of centralised   power ,  the media’s projection that suggests that “India is being wooed by the major economic powers “after the visit of PM,  Modi  to china, Japan and USA. If the last claim is true why would President Obama make a statement immediately after  Modi’s departure from USA that, “USA is the best country for investment than China or India?”  Is it not wiser to use our demographic dividend by  encouraging  young and  technologically savvy man power  towards  agricultural entrepreneurs , use their brain in the industrial sector by accelerating it’s growth than exporting them, and by strengthening the  small and medium sector to cater to our growing demands of the middle and poor class  buyers than flooding our country with low quality  Chinese products ? Won’t  democratising the functioning  of our political parties attract young persons into active politics and  remove leadership vacuum atleast for the future?.

If it is true that , everyone is equal before law , why then it is repeatedly argued in the case of Jaya  lalitha that , she should not stay in prison for along period because, “if at the end of the appeal if she was found to be innocent , how should she be compensated for the time she spent in jail?” Is  not this argument  applicable to every political and non political persons holding  responsible positions in public life ? Moreover , even in the case of ordinary citizens  thousands of the prisoners languish in jails as under for many number of years and then released as not guilty . Don’t we know that, thousands of Muslim youth were arrested on suspicion of link with terrorist activities , kept in jails for nearly 4-7  years and then released as not guilty? Who had compensated for the loss of their education and productive years and damage to their future life? .

Tamil Nadu incidents

How can the lawyer members of the AIADMK not respecting the principle that , ‘all are equal before law and justice can be obtained only through courts? What can they achieve  through street demonstrations and resolutions  condemning the court verdict  and sending petitions to the President, ruling party leader and Human Rights Commission and sitting in dharna in Delhi ? There is nothing wrong in showing solidarity with their leader in their party’s  hour of crisis . But , causing inconvenience to the public of  Tamil Nadu and Karnataka and creating panicky situation and vying with one another to get noticed by their leader by their acts of loyalty ,is nothing but demonstration of high degree of sycophancy. The chief minister of Tamil Nadu should act fast to restore peace in the state. 

decision to close private schools and colleges in Tamil nadu

The news regarding the closure of all the private  schools and  engineering colleges in Tamil  Nadu caused in support of  release Jays Lalitha caused mental disturbance to neutral citizens . Why are the teachers, parents , students and principal’s associations cooperating with the order or  threat or request from some where ? What have the students and teachers to do with a  court verdict ?. Let at least the education sector remains  free from political gimmicks . It looks as though Tamil Nadu has lost sense of rationality , logical reasoning power and lacks the basic knowledge, “ that everybody is equal before law” and that a court verdict can be challenged only through the legal route and not in public places causing enormous inconvenience to every one .Spreading fear of occurrence of  violence at any place and any time sends a message that  currently Tamil Nadu is not under rule of law and governance has come to a stand still .