Latest news with #RamManoharLohia
Indian Express
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Congress opposed Mandal, backed faith-based quota: NDA meet resolution on caste census
With the government announcing that the next census would also include caste enumeration, a resolution passed at the meeting of NDA Chief Ministers and deputy Chief Ministers Sunday condemned the Opposition's 'cheap politics' and targeted the Congress over the issue, while highlighting the efforts to empower deprived sections over the past 11 years. Trying to claim the social justice plank, the resolution stated that 'the Prime Minister's name will be etched in golden letters for fulfilling the vision of stalwarts like Dr Ram Manohar Lohia, Loknayak JP (Jayprakash Nayaran) and Karpoori Thakur'. The resolutions underlined various achievements of PM Narendra Modi-led NDA government such as lifting 15 crore people out of poverty and efforts 'to boost the dignity of those previously denied the same in the name of caste discrimination'. The resolution on caste census, moved by Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini and seconded by Andhra Pradesh Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan, congratulated PM Modi for the move. Addressing the Chief Ministers, the PM said the caste census would do justice to the marginalised in every community. Targeting the Opposition, the resolution stated, 'We are dismayed by the cheap politics of the Opposition on this issue. They had the opportunity to govern the nation for several decades yet they did not do anything on this issue.' The resolution accused the Congress of 'defeating Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar twice (and) denying him a Bharat Ratna… delaying the implementation of the Mandal Commission (and) subsequently opposing it tooth and nail… opposing the OBC Commission (and) advocating faith-based reservations which are against the spirit of Dr Ambedkar's Constitution'. During the last Census (in 2011), it added that the Congress 'had deliberately avoided a scientifically conducted enumeration of castes'. 'Later, whatever the exercise that was conducted beyond the Census of India Act was also flawed and wrapped in needless secrecy,' it said and slammed the Congress for using the issue only for 'political manipulation'. In a post on X, PM Narendra Modi said, 'We had extensive deliberations about various issues. Various states showcased their best practices in diverse areas including water conservation, grievance redressal, strengthening administrative frameworks, education, women empowerment, sports and more. It was wonderful to hear these experiences.' Participated in the NDA Chief Ministers' Conclave in Delhi. We had extensive deliberations about various issues. Various states showcased their best practices in diverse areas including water conservation, grievance redressal, strengthening administrative frameworks, education,… — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 25, 2025 During the media briefing, BJP president J P Nadda said that the caste census issue has been on top of NDA's list of priorities from the beginning. '…Our government in Bihar, Nitish Kumar ji's government in Bihar, which was the first to bring the proposal for it, a resolution related to the caste census was also passed,' he said. Days after the April 30 surprise announcement by the government to conduct the caste census with the decennial census, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi had said in Bihar's Darbhanga that the decision came only because of pressure from a 'vast majority of the population'. Gandhi had referred to the Telangana model as the 'correct manner' in which the caste census should be conducted, and alleged that despite laws providing for implementation of quotas in private institutions, neither the Modi government nor the Bihar government has done it. Nadda also said the campaign against Maoists was discussed and Chhattisgarh CM Vishnu Deo Sai detailed the steps taken to ensure success. Given an opportunity to share the best model practices for the other states to follow, Sai presented the Bastar Model — the development and the innovative initiatives in the state for delivering good governance. During the presentation, he also outlined the success of the Bastar Olympics. Chhattisgarh Home Minister Vijay Sharma, Nadda said, spoke about the rehabilitation of Maoist-affected areas and government schemes aimed at bringing them into mainstream. Then Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke about the strategy behind the campaign to eliminate Naxalism by 2026. Nadda said that best practices related to the implementation of Har Ghar Surya Yojana in Gujarat under the leadership of CM Bhupendra Patel were discussed. Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma gave a presentation on 'CM Connect' programme, in line with PM Modi's vision of a 'responsive, responsible and accountable' governance. This, Nadda said, was acknowledged as a model for other NDA CMs to be considered in their respective jurisdictions. Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath presented a booklet on the success of Kumbh Mela. Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami gave a presentation on the implementation of the UCC in his state, Nadda said. (With inputs from Liz Mathew)
The Print
30-04-2025
- Politics
- The Print
Himanta welcomes Union Cabinet decision to include caste enumeration in census
'The Modi government has always stood for the representation and rights of our backward communities', he said. 'We welcome #Census 2025, which will further strengthen the agenda of social justice and is a tribute to Dr Ram Manohar Lohia, Jan Nayak Karpoori Thakur and several other greats', the chief minister posted on X. Guwahati, Apr 30 (PTI) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday welcomed the Union Cabinet's decision to include caste enumeration in the next census. The Union government on Wednesday announced that caste enumeration will be included in the next census exercise in a 'transparent' manner and slammed the opposition parties for using caste survey as a 'political tool'. The Congress and other opposition parties have been vociferously demanding a nationwide caste census, making it a major election issue, and some states like Bihar, Telangana and Karnataka have conducted such surveys. The government decision comes ahead of assembly elections in Bihar, where several parties including some BJP allies have been coming out in support of the caste census. Announcing the decision taken by the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the census comes under the purview of the Centre, but some states have done caste enumeration in the name of surveys 'non-transparently' which has created doubts in the society. PTI DG DG RG This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
Indian Express
25-04-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Opinion More regulation on private schools is bad idea
In 1959, a wonderful essay by Ram Manohar Lohia suggested that powerful people have caste, wealth, and English education. The logical antidote to the problem posed by Lohia was improving India's free K-12 school education. But this opportunity has been sabotaged by flailing government schools; the share of India's children attending a government school has now declined to 45 per cent. This number is 85 per cent in the US, 90 per cent in the UK, and 95 per cent in Japan. Policymakers redirecting the anger at free government schools to self-funded private schools through higher regulatory cholesterol must proceed with caution — the most expensive school is no school. Good K-12 schools not only represent our best bet for improving social mobility but are also imperative in the new world of education, skills, work, and jobs. In the old world of education, Google knew everything. In the new world, AI is learning everything. In the old world of skills, the objective was to prepare, in the new world, the objective is to repair and upgrade. In the old world of work, employment was a lifetime contract. In the new world, employment is a short, intense, and taxicab relationship. In the old world of jobs, policymakers and educators could predict where jobs would be in the next decade; in the new world, all market predictions seem to have the efficacy of palm reading. More importantly, in the new world of work, dangerous, dirty, repetitive, and uncomplicated jobs will increasingly be done by software and machines. The low student enrolment share of government schools was choice, not fate. It was a blind spot for the central and state governments in the first 45 years after Independence, and the next 35 years were lost to tactical changes like smaller class sizes, higher teacher salaries, and higher teacher qualifications. This second miss is a warning against the overselling of randomised control trials by economists — they offer solutions that are often correct but rarely scalable, generalisable, or replicable. Some of the tactical changes were necessary but insufficient without systematic reform of governance and teacher performance management. Performance management is often equated with teacher attendance, yet a teacher needs to be evaluated on outputs (skills and scores) and inputs (competence and classroom management). Scores can be measured based on continuous assessments or end-of-year exams. Skills and concepts are harder in a world where soft skills — being curious, courageous, confident, risk-taking, collaborative and communicative — are also hard skills. Judging teacher competence involves evaluating student interaction, knowledge, planning capacity, communication, feedback abilities, collaboration, and a drive towards excellence. Classroom management needs assessment through observation of teaching and learning (teaching often occurs without learning), classroom setup, instructional differentiation (for process, product, and learning styles), and communication (clarity, questioning, and responsiveness). Governance is mainly about controlling resources, but it should also be about learning, planning, design, responsiveness to students, parent involvement, teacher management, integrity, faculty growth planning, feedback capability (both formal and informal), role modelling, and fair decision-making. Currently, government school governance confuses school buildings with building schools; almost 4 lakh of our 15 lakh schools have fewer than 50 students (70 per cent of schools in Rajasthan, Karnataka, J&K and Uttarakhand). China has a similar number of students to India, but it has 30 per cent of our schools. State governments must consolidate schools (this will reduce the teacher shortage and multi-grade teaching), dump opaque transfer policies (in a system where tenure and compensation are off the table, location is a potent tool for performance management), grant budget flexibility and delegate funds, functions and functionaries away from state capitals. Excellence in government schools requires substantive performance management. In other words, a fear of falling and hope of rising, rather than the current box-ticking best captured by the Tamil aphorism, Naan adducha maadri addikyeren, nee arrara maadri aru (I will pretend as if I am beating you, you pretend as if you are crying). Bureaucrats and incompetent teachers, benefiting from the status quo of government schools, insist that progress requires more patience, time, and money. But the current system will fail our children just like Indian socialism failed its poor. My yearning for better government schools is not an argument against private schools (I attended one). Without this market response to demand, the post-1947 policy errors in primary education would have been catastrophic for India's human capital, the software industry, and corporate India. The notion that the failure of government schools can be overcome by higher regulatory cholesterol for private schools ignores rising costs, including higher teacher salaries, skyrocketing construction costs, and increasing land prices. The cynical confiscation of capacity from private entrepreneurs (RTE takes away 25 per cent) feels like a policy surrender to a tragedy where poor people are paying money to avoid something that is free. It should, instead, be a catalyst for adding quality to what is free. The challenges of government schools are hardly unique to India or new; Abraham Lincoln filled out an election form describing his education as 'defective'. But it's time to take on the vested interests in government schools that steal the future of our young. Children have only one chance to grow up.
