Dear All, India has around 230 million children currently in age group 6-16. In the next decade, all these would cross 16 years of age, and reach a stage where more formal education is practically impossible. Of these, around 30 million would get a chance to study in reasonable to good to excellent quality schools, some in a few good Govt. schools, but mostly private fee charging schools, including those for upper income and elite groups. Remaining 200 odd million, if ASER and other such official and non-official reports are correct, would receive very poor quality education in the bulk of average government schools or low cost private schools. With RTE provisions and criterion coming in force, it would not be legally feasible for low cost private schools to exist as recognized schools, so the bulk of responsibility of educating these 200 million children will be of Government Schools. Most of us know, and agree, that average quality of education in most Government Schools is very bad, which means that 200 million of today's children will become adult without receiving a minimum quality school education, which will not only keep them poor and under-developed, but also lead to poor development of the country. The only solution is to significantly improve the quality of Government schools, with 3-5 years. I request and invite forum readers to give no more than 5 suggestions that would improve the quality of education in a time bound 3-5 years, so the improvements in learning levels of children can be measured in  concrete manner, by ASER or NCERT studies. I hope this exercise of sifting through various actionable ideas would not only show a way to move forward, it will also make "Improvements in Govt. Schools within 3-5 years', a declared and formal policy agenda of the Government. Pankaj Jain Pankaj

 

In India, Ambani has the same number of votes as a worker or a farmer. So, how do you term our's as corporate democracy? If you refer to the capacity of corporate to buy votes and opinions, you are really unreasonably contemptuous of our citizen. Also, remember that for every Anil Ambani trying to buy votes, there is his elder brother, or Ratan Tata, or Sunil Mittal, who too will compete. More important fact is that Shri Lalu Yadav, Smt. Mayavati, Shri Karuna Nidhi, Smt. Gandhi and Mr. Advani are smarter than all these competing corporate honchos, and will defeat them easily. Ours is pretty good people's democracy. Pankaj   --- On Thu, 7/1/10, Feroze Mithiborwala <feroze.moses777@...> wrote: From: Feroze Mithiborwala <feroze.moses777@...> Subject: Re: [Arkitect India] "Is a new, but unannounced, Emergency creeping silently across the nation?" Environmentalists & HR Activists getting arrested! To: arkitectindia@yahoogroups.com Date: Thursday, July 1, 2010, 11:30 AM   The choice my dear is between a Corporate Democracy & a Peoples' Democracy - not a Theocracy.   On 30 June 2010 16:49, Pankaj Jain <pjain2002@yahoo. com> wrote:   Sadanand: Thanks for a very thoughtful response. The problem with a systems analysis is that systems are so complex that every feasible analysis means abstraction of reality through arbitrary categories, which do not and cannot correspond to reality in totality, and hence leave out some critical determinants of systems outcome. That is the reason that equally rational people using different abstraction and model of system dynamics, come to different conclusions. I am, therefore, not sure if we two will ever or easily agree on the framework of social analysis. How then we move forward without rejecting each other? One way is to forget about analysis, and compare the recommendations for system reform/ replacement/ solutions etc. etc. Let us move from analysis to recommendations. When it comes to desired solution, empirically I normally find liberal democracy doing better than any alternate formulation, however well the alternative was justified on the basis of elegant analysis.  I am sure forum members would be happy to read your alternate formulation for Indian society/ nation. I am not sure, how many of us would really welcome permanently being ruled by Naxalites, or Talibans, or other kind of fundamentalists, who believe that theirs is the only solution, and alternatives must be permanently banished. Warm regards. Pankaj      --- On Wed, 6/30/10, SADANAND PATWARDHAN <2Sadanand@GMail. Com> wrote:   From: SADANAND PATWARDHAN <2Sadanand@GMail. Com> Subject: RE: [Arkitect India] "Is a new, but unannounced, Emergency creeping silently across the nation?" Environmentalists & HR Activists getting arrested! To: arkitectindia@ yahoogroups. com   Date: Wednesday, June 30, 2010, 2:13 PM     Pankaj -:   If I understand what you say, you observe that some people slide back into worse circumstances, others stay where they are, and few manage to rise above their circumstances. What differentiates these groups is presumably their abilities or lack of them. After some reflection and consideration you may add availability of opportunities, lucky circumstances, some thoughtful advance preparation, etc as necessary ingredients to the recipe of success. If I have followed you till here correctly, You are not alone in reaching such a formulation. Coming from an individualistic perspective, it not only appears rational & logical (the attributes you appreciate), but also is validated by several anecdotal examples each one of us can quote. About  35 years back Bangars, Dalmiyas, were among the top 10 business families where  as Ambanis, Murthys were not even known. Today, folks in their 20s and 30s will turn this statement on its head – Bangars who? Unfortunately, these marginal movements, whereby ‘Democracy Deficit Losers’ (DDL) move into the ranks of “Democracy Dividend Winners’ (DDW), and sometimes rise to the very top, that create the illusion that everything is fine with the “systemâ€� what needs to be fixed is the individual.   But if one were to document all the failures, who were similarly gifted as the successes, and only successes claim media and our attention, then I am afraid that failures far outnumber the success stories. These failures therefore have to be accounted for by only the misbehavior of our system. The Super30 from Bihar was started by Anandkumar and Abhayanand in 2002 and achieved phenomenal success in demonstrating that (capable) students from disadvantaged backgrounds are second to none (if that needed to be proved) in cracking the IIT-JEE, arguably one of the toughest tests of mental caliber of a type. It also shows that many such children ( 30 x no. of years since IITs were started until 2002) have missed out on this opportunity from the very area which provides the feeder stock for Super30, just because there was no Super30 before. But considering the size of India, A & A are just scratching the surface. At Super30 everything is free for the selected students. But then things don’t come for free, somebody is paying for it, and that is called charity.   While I hold people who have dedicated their lives to improve the lot of others, who are not related to them in anyway, in very high esteem, I still consider the existence of charity as a symptom of a disease.  This disease is the unjust, inequitable way in which our existing economic, political, social order functions. Such order permits concentration of riches, might, governance, knowledge, etc in the hands of few at the cost of  multitude while we have grown accustomed to see nothing wrong in this. You had sought suggestions on how best to resolve the urgency of educating millions of children in India who may in all likelihood be deprived of it. On this forum I have seen anguish at over 47% children in India being malnourished. Now what has deprived these children of a normal childhood, an opportunity to develop in full their genetic potential, an ability to become a full fledged able bodied and able minded member of the community; if not this system of ours, then what is it? The same system at the same time  - to cite just one instance – permits a loot of  over Rs. 12 billion worth of iron ore (illegally mined, illegally transported on forged permits, and illegally exported when it had already been seized by the O/o Lok Ayukta and Dept. of Forests) in a single year (2009-10) in Karnataka alone that rightfully belonged to these lost childhoods. It is not possible to tinker piecemeal with this system to improve. It needs a thorough overhaul. We need to find, discuss, debate, discard, improve, and innovate ways to achieve that and act upon them.   One may certainly save what is important, but before that one should know what it is.   Regards, Sadanand       From: arkitectindia@ yahoogroups. com [mailto:arkitectind ia@yahoogroups. com] On Behalf Of Pankaj Jain Sent: 28 June 2010 21:59 To: arkitectindia@ yahoogroups. com Subject: RE: [Arkitect India] "Is a new, but unannounced, Emergency creeping silently across the nation?" Environmentalists & HR Activists getting arrested!     By being bent on saving what is important to me, and struggling to save, day in and day out, as much as the other side is bent on dispossessing me. Life battle is never won at one time, you win a little bit, and also loose a little bit, every day. My grandfather was a petty trader who had to leave his village due to poverty, and in two generations, his grand children are all over India, and the world. Of course, many have stayed put where they were, and some have regressed too, but that is how the life is. All those who promise haven at the end of their path are simply liars. Pankaj --- On Mon, 6/28/10, SADANAND PATWARDHAN <2Sadanand@GMail. Com> wrote: From: SADANAND PATWARDHAN <2Sadanand@GMail. Com> Subject: RE: [Arkitect India] "Is a new, but unannounced, Emergency creeping silently across the nation?" Environmentalists & HR Activists getting arrested! To: arkitectindia@ yahoogroups. com Date: Monday, June 28, 2010, 5:59 PM   Pankaj,   How do you rationally propose to improve the opposing side that is bent upon dispossessing people of their जल, जंगल और जमिन in “Public Interestâ€� with overwhelming force?   Sadanand   From: arkitectindia@ yahoogroups. com [mailto:arkitectind ia@yahoogroups. com] On Behalf Of Pankaj Jain Sent: 28 June 2010 08:11 To: arkitectindia@ yahoogroups. com Subject: RE: [Arkitect India] "Is a new, but unannounced, Emergency creeping silently across the nation?" Environmentalists & HR Activists getting arrested!     Sadanand: Your position is beyond rational analysis/ argument as it is essentially two para long abusive descriptor of the current system. What do you get by abusing the other side, other than political consolidation of your side behind uncompromising stance and its commitment to destruction of (not improvement in) the opposing side? A standard technique of tribal warfare? Pankaj   --- On Sun, 6/27/10, SADANAND PATWARDHAN <2Sadanand@GMail. Com> wrote: From: SADANAND PATWARDHAN <2Sadanand@GMail. Com> Subject: RE: [Arkitect India] "Is a new, but unannounced, Emergency creeping silently across the nation?" Environmentalists & HR Activists getting arrested! To: arkitectindia@ yahoogroups. com Date: Sunday, June 27, 2010, 12:33 PM   The critical marker of Emergency (1975) then was, it was essentially, though not wholly,  a struggle for power within the ruling elite like the internecine wars (palace struggles) between the claimants to the kingdom. It created a hue & cry, because the rules governing such struggles were violated by one side with impunity. Of course, people’s participation was co-opted by the aggrieved parties on some pretext or the other in their counter attack. Aren’t the fuel prices raised to fund the social sector programmes for the common man as Pranab Mukehrjee said the day before? Or will not they be rolled back so that common woman is spared the burdensome inflation on her pitiful consumption basket?   The situation now is, even if we call it emergency, devoid of any internecine conflict as there is now unity of purpose across the ruling spectrum as to where they want the economy to go. Only differences may be about nuances of how and who gets what. The opposition now is coming from the those who were, are and may will be ruled in future, if around, and are totally opposed to the development paradigm that demands sacrifices of them and only them without any meaningful benefits. With over 35 years of managing the “ruledâ€�, the rulers have gained formidable experience and have refined their skills to such sublime perfection that wars on own people can be waged with abundance while the façade democracy continues undisturbed.   Sadanand   From: arkitectindia@ yahoogroups. com [mailto:arkitectind ia@yahoogroups. com] On Behalf Of Sukla Sen Sent: 26 June 2010 07:48 To: arkitectindia@ yahoogroups. com; concern4each@ googlegroups. com; IHRO; issueonline; indiathinkersnet; bahujan; mahajanapada; invitesplus@ yahoogroups. com; greenyouth; chhattisgarh- net; national-forum- of-india@ yahoogroups. co.in; INSAANIYATBOMBAY; ecological-democrac y; international- peace-festival; mihre Subject: Re: [Arkitect India] “Is a new, but unannounced, Emergency creeping silently across the nation?â€� Environmentalists & HR Activists getting arrested!     The Emergency had a quite a few markers. We're to first ask ourselves what are these?   Obviously, the most defining one is the Presidential proclamation suspending all Fundamental Rights on account of some extraordinary situation arising - caused by external threat or internal danger. Evidently when one talks of "unannounced Emergency", the very first element - the Presidential  proclamation, is admittedly missing. But nevertheless the use of the term Emergency would denote that one is presented with the consequences of declaration of Emergency.   What were these consequences? What are experiences of 1975? Thousands were put behind bars including the leading oppositional figures, quite often in undisclosed locations. No Habeas Corpus. Media gagged. Pre-censorship in place. Even hints of criticism of the regime were much too difficult. Who tried had to either close shop or come out with blank spaces on the printed pages. Recourse to legal actions against the regime was effectively blocked. No protest demo/meeting/ memorandum. An all-pervasive atmosphere of fear and panic.   Open opposition driven underground. If 1974 railway strike was one of the highest points of anti-regime turbulence under the highly repressive regime, but without unaided by Emergency; the most, and perhaps only, visible case of opposition during the Emergency that soon followed is the Baroda Dynamite case. That, however, came to be known only when the regime could get to know before its execution and charged the accused.   So, under Emergency, the only option left is underground resistance. Other options are just not available.  Otherwise, under repressive regimes, (open) mass mobilisation and protests. The larger the better. This e-mail exchange  is evidently a part of that.   Sukla   On 25 June 2010 01:20, Kabir Arora <kabirkhan1989@ gmail.com> wrote:       Press Release                                                                               June 23, 2010   Stop the Undeclared Emergency and Witch-hunt of Social activists & Human Rights Defenders – Statement by Civil Society groups and concerned citizens   [Speakers at the Press Conference held at IWPC, New Delhi – Jst (Rtd) Rajendra Sachar, Kuldip Nayar (former MP and veteran journalist), Shabnam Hashmi (social activist – ANHAD), Tapan K Bose (Director, South Asia Forum for Human Rights), Indu Prakash (Member, EC - Shahri Adhikar Manch), Anil Chowdhury (INSAF), & Tanveer Afaque (Haq) ]   Under the garb of anti-Maoist operations and close on the heels of the Home Ministry directive, the Central and State Governments are now unleashing a witch-hunt on rights’ activists and civil society groups in India. Added to this, the fishing expedition of Gujarat police has now reached Delhi. After having arrested 13 trade unionists, forest rights activists and ordinary workers of Gujarat against the omnibus FIR number 1-37/2010 Police station Kamrej, Surat range, dated 26th of February, u/s 120 (B), 121(A), 124(A), 153 A& B of the IPC, and sec 38, 39 and 40 of the UAPA, 2004, Shakeel is the new catch, the 14th person arrested in this FIR on 17th April, 2010.   Abdul Shakeel Basha, for the last six years had been working with homeless and street children with organisations like Aman Biradari (2004 to 2008) and since 2009 with Haq (World Faith) & Shahari Adhikar Abhiyan. His work with Aman Biradari also took him to Gujarat several times as the work related to justice to the victims of the 2002 Gujarat genocide was carried out through the ‘Nyaya Grah’ project of Aman Biradari.   Other than him, the Gujarat government has recently incarcerated 13 trade unionists, forest rights activists, and ordinary workers – all demanding that the Constitutional rights of the people be restored – and all under a single omnibus FIR (number 1-37/ 2010) filed in the Kamrej Police station, Surat range, dated 26th of February, under serious charges of sedition, waging war against State, conspiracy, being members of and supporting a banned organisation. The West Bengal government has similarly prosecuted members of a Fact Finding Team; trade union leaders and human rights activists have been quietly arrested in Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and many other States. The charges are such that all those arrested can be imprisoned for up to 3 years without bail. On the 35th anniversary of the notorious proclamation by the Indira Gandhi government, it is appropriate to ask, “Is a new, but unannounced, Emergency creeping silently across the nation?â€�   Is the judiciary also complicit in this assault on democracy? The trend is such that courts are not questioning these framed up cases and trials that go on endlessly. Not only are charge sheets bulky with a large number of witnesses, but when the prosecution’s case appears to be weak, the police file even more charge sheets. In this it is evident that the Gujarat police is following the precedents set by their Andhra brethren in uniform. Thus the only remand paper available in the case of Avinash Kulkarni, a pioneer in implementing the Forests Rights Act in the Dangs area of Gujarat, and who was arrested through a long chain of suspects in Orissa, is one in which he stands accused of “instigating tribals to start violent agitation through CPI (ML) Janshakti Party". It should be noted that not only is CPI (ML) Janshakti an overground party which has been fighting elections for the last seventeen years, but that every Indian has the Constitutional right to follow the politics of his or her choice. But even when applications have been filed with the National Human Rights Commission in such cases, the police have pre-empted the Commission by filing charge sheets in court.   What is even more revealing (and distressing) is the behaviour of the media. The story of Basha’s arrest was published by most of the newspapers on June 19 based on information provided by the police. The PTI story and several others seemed to just gobble up the police version, without any independent enquiries about the person, his involvements or activities. These not just reflect badly on the independence of the media, but also talk a lot about the lack of basic journalistic integrity & ethics.   Earlier, during the month of April, 2010 Delhi police arrested four persons on charges of being associated with CPI Maoists - Sunil Mandiwal, Ajay Singh, Gopal Mishra, and his wife Anu Mishra. Sunil Mandiwal was an Assistant Lecturer in the Hindi Department of Delhi University, while Gopal Mishra was working for a trade union in Shahdara but was alleged to be a “commanderâ€� of the CPI Maoist. All the newspapers, which published the news of the arrests of these persons, provided detailed accounts of the charges against them and the police versions of the “criminalâ€� activities they were allegedly involved in as members of the CPI Maoist. But none cared to follow the basic tenets of journalism in carrying the version of the accused or the arrested persons. When Mandiwal was subsequently released as the police could not find any evidence against him, the newspapers did not bother to talk to him and report what he had to say about his arrest and the “investigationâ€� that the police carried out.    On April 11, media analyst Partho Roy read in The Sunday Times of India, a special article by its investigative reporter which carried details of how the Maoists raised huge amounts of money, nearly Rs 1,500 crore, through extortion, selling drugs, ransom, and robbery. On the same day he read the same article in a Bengali newspaper Ekdin that also claimed that it was written by its staff correspondent. The article also appeared on April 11 in Asian Age under the name of a well known correspondent. And it further appeared in “Central Chronicleâ€�, an internet news portal from Madhya Pradesh, but this time it was attributed to agencies. Such a rare instance of cooperation between newspapers raised the interesting question of who did the “investigationâ€�. The cat was let out of the bag by the Mumbai Mirror when it published the same news report on the same day but attributed it to Intelligence Agencies.    We all know that Operation “Green Huntâ€� is on. According to the Home Ministry a 70,000 strong force is being raised to smash the Maoists. The United “Progressiveâ€� Alliance government has sanctioned Rs 14,000 crore for buying arms for this new counter insurgency force. The votaries of Neo-conservatism who are in power have clearly declared that they believe in “economic growthâ€� at the cost of all those people who oppose the massive plans of industrialisation in the central Indian forests, or the acquisition of immense tracts in the plains for Special Economic Zones, or the conversion of middling Indian towns into “world classâ€� cities, or the channelling of snow-fed rivers of the north into tunnels to meet the hunger for “powerâ€�.     It is within this context where capitalist development considers the working people to be redundant, and the defenders of human rights as impediments to progress, that we need to view the arrest and prosecution of activists like Shakeel Basha. It is also within this context that we stand by such individuals to reclaim the democratic space, to restore the Republic to the People, and to challenge the neo-Goebbelsian trend in which the media has become the embedded hand-maiden of those who ruthlessly use power against the people. We declare that we shall not let this neo-Emergency pass.   And finally, we need to ask ourselves especially when we are on the eve of emergency day, 26th June, thirty five years later, whether we are going to surrender our Constitutional rights of dissenting and holding and expressing views, to the police state that India is becoming.   Endorsed BY: Haq, ANHAD, Aman Biradari, Peace, Insaf, Delhi Solidarity Group, National Alliance of People’s Movements – NAPM Delhi, National Forum of Forest People & Forest Workers, (NFFPFW) Hazard Centre, South Asia Forum for Human Rights (SAFHR), Human Rights Law Network (HRLN), New Trade Union Initiative (NTUI), Shahri Adhikar Manch, The Other Media, Saheli, IGSSS, Update Collective, Campaign for Judicial Accountability & Reforms, People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) and other concerned groups and individuals   -- Peace Is Doable     -- Feroze Mithiborwala Â

 

Do you really believe that PCAPA has nothing to do with the Maoists??

Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone

---

From: "SADANAND PATWARDHAN" <2Sadanand@...>

Sender: arkitectindia@yahoogroups.com

Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2010 11:40:01 +0530

To: <chhattisgarh-net@yahoogroups.com>; <bharat-chintan@googlegroups.com>; <arkitectindia@yahoogroups.com>

ReplyTo: arkitectindia@yahoogroups.com

Subject: [Arkitect India] Express way to verify news!

 

 

Everyone wants the perpetrators of the ghastly deed - the derailing of Jnaneshwari Express -  not only to be nailed in a court of law, but also to be handed down exemplary punishment for murdering over 140 innocent lives. The Bengal police have arrested People's Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA) member Bapi Mahato, who they claim is the maser mind behind the heinous & gory sabotage. Investigations are still on and the police are yet to file a charge sheet. Indian Express's points person for reporting on this important investigation is Madhuparna Das. S/he posted following report dated 24th June as an update to her/his earlier reports on the investigations into this horrific crime.

S/he begins her report on a very cocksure note thus : "On May 29, a day after their act of sabotage derailed the Mumbai-bound Jnaneswari Express and killed 148 people, pro-Maoist PCAPA member Bapi Mahato organized a party in a village in Manikpara in West Bengal to celebrate the "Successful Operation". She has  "prejudged the case" on 4 counts in a single sentence; (1) Bapi Mahato is a member of PCAPA, (2) PCAPA is a pro-Maoist outfit, (3) He led the sabotage operation, and (4) He partied to celebrate it's success. Then she goes onto reproduce a conversation taped by the police in which Bapi reportedly says, "Kaaj Hoyeche to? Etai sab, Aar kichi bhavar darkar nei". These sentences in Bengali are inserted probably to impart "authentic flavour" to the report. But she is not satisfied with this authentication and adds gravitas to her story till now based on police sources (?) by looking for corroboration. And whom does she turn to for verification? Who else but to the chief of police in West Bengal, DGP Bhupinder Singh. Isn't it logical that the police version should be verified from the police themselves? After all they alone would know what is the "truth" in the story put forward by them. DGP is obliging. He not only confirms the veracity of what she has learnt from his force, but manages an expansive generalization : "Generally after every successful ambush or operation, they celebrate".

When & if the truth about the Jnaneswari derailment ultimately comes out, it may happen that the police, Bhupinder Singh and Das are eventually vindicated. But until then what should one make of this embedded journalism of courage which credulously mouths the police version without any doubts? There is luckily a precedence which may help decide the matter for the moment. On 1st October last year Indian Express put out a report in the wake of the arrest of PCAPA leader, Chhatradhar Mahato.

West Bengal police had then claimed that PCAPA leader has an insurance policy worth Rs. 10 Million, a house at Mayurbhunj in Orissa, and an ancestral home in Lalgarh. DGP Bhupinder Singh had said that they were looking for people who paid the premium on the policy. So the police had not an iota of doubt about the veracity of the story they were putting forward. Yet just 10 days later IE reported, "But we are yet to get any confirmation of Chhatradhar Mahato’s insurance policy worth Rs 1 crore and his property in Mayurbhanj. We do not have any concrete proof. He must have got the property and the policy in fake names, said state DGP Bhupindar Singh". There is a climb down but the insinuation continues. Even after nine months the WB police have still not managed to locate any of those assets allegedly possessed by Chhatradhar Mahato.

O O O O O O O

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Posted By Sadanand to Searching Alternate Narratives at 6/29/2010 08:12:00 PM

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Class 1 should be dedicated to teaching children their mother tongue.[through mother tongue]

B.K.Passi

i can see nice points here in questions like --- Let us suppose this 5% reaches 50% in the near future and they all move to urban centers. Will it be sustainable? Who is to invest to provide JOBS for a half a billion youngsters?

i am worried about the nature of our questions like [given IS / desired SHOULD]  or education for JOBS or WORK

B.K.Passi