Press Releases Archive

Lok Satta Party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan today called upon like-minded groups of youngsters in colleges to adopt a primary school or two in their neighborhood and take up mentoring of students. “It will be a win-win deal for students in both colleges and schools.”

Dr. JP said that college students rendering such service as part of NSS (National Service Scheme) could be given credits in college and weightage in admissions to institutions of higher learning.

Addressing the media on the Right to Education Act, effective from April 1, Dr. JP said the Lok Satta welcomed the Act wholeheartedly although it had not come a day soon. As the Prime Minister himself recalled, Gopalakrishna Gokhale had requested the Imperial Assembly to confer the right to education on Indians 100 years ago. Japan had become prosperous and powerful because it conferred the right to education 110 years ago.

Dr. JP said India had a surfeit of laws made by well-meaning people. “Unfortunately, we are always long on intent and short on execution.” If the Right to Education Act were to serve its purpose, the Government should straightway increase the allocation of funds from Rs.25000 crore in tune with the requirement of enabling a crore of children to attend school. “After all, the Union Governments and State Governments are squandering tens of thousands of crores on giveaways in the name of serving the poor. While such giveaways make people dependent on Government, education makes them stand on their own feet with dignity.”

Dr. JP underscored the need to build infrastructure as the Government implemented the Act. The Andhra Pradesh Government, for instance, spends Rs.2300 crore on scholarships and fee reimbursement but does not bother to spend less than Rs.50 crore on providing toilets and drinking water facilities in schools.

Dr. JP said that more important than allocation of resources and provision of infrastructure is delivery of services. Going by the Annual Status of Education Report, 30 to 40 percent of seventh class students cannot read and 60 to 70 percent of them cannot do a simple arithmetic sum like division. The Act will not serve its purpose if it succeeds in merely enrolling children in schools. Institutional mechanisms like district and city boards to monitor and improve teaching standards should be made. The boards can provide incentives and promote competition among schools. Fifty percent of members of such boards should be experts in education.

The most vital characteristic of a modern, civilized society is to ensure that every child, irrespective of the accident of the womb, has an opportunity to fulfil her true potential. If that central purpose of politics and governance is forgotten in our quest for captive vote banks, we become traitors to the nation. This is cause beyond partisan politics and parties. This is our national mission.

Dr. JP said education is too serious a subject to be left in Government hands alone. Everybody including civil society organizations, industry and business should strive to improve the quality of education so that India too becomes a super power in the 21st century.

By sanctioning an annual expenditure of Rs.113000 crore – which works out to an expenditure of Rs.312 crore per day -- without any debate, the Andhra Pradesh Assembly had badly let down the people who had elected them, charged the Lok Satta Party here today.

Commenting on the just-concluded budget session of the Assembly, Lok Satta spokespersons V.Lakshman Balaji, Vijayendar reddy and Rajareddy said legislators squandered away precious time in shouting at each other and disrupting the proceedings instead of engaging themselves in a healthy debate and exposing the Government.

Maintenance of public order, ensuring justice for all, and rule of law are the primary responsibilities of a Government. However, Andhra Pradesh Governments irrespective of the party in power have failed on all accounts. The ongoing communal disturbances eloquently testify to the failure of public order. Yet, modernization of police force does not find any mention in the Rs.113000 crore-budget. There are no proposals to constitute an independent crime investigation department or form local courts, facilitated by central legislation.

The Lok Satta leaders said the Government had not focused on fighting corruption. They referred to societies of women workers which look after sanitation in Greater Hyderabad and said there are a large number of bogus societies and benami workers. Officials and politicians siphon off a large chunk of the wages paid to workers.

The Lok Satta leaders said the Government had forgotten that poverty elimination is one of its primary responsibilities. The allocations are meager, systems inadequate and service delivery appalling. “The Government seemed to believe in corporatization of public responsibility and privatization of public exchequer going by its schemes to fund education of certain children in corporate schools and ensure health through Arogyasri.”

The pathetic state of infrastructure is evident in the miseries people and industry re going through because of power holidays and power cuts. Despite drought and floods during 2009-10, no funds have been earmarked for drought or flood-proofing of the State.

The Government believed in perpetuating poverty and turning people into beggars. Political parties believed in manipulating the poor cynically and systematically. “Poverty has become the currency of vote bank politics.”

The Government has failed to use the budget as a tool to restructure governance. Although the State is a huge beneficiary of central funds by way of share in taxes, grants in aid and Union Government-sponsored schemes, the State Government would not devolve powers or resources on local governments and empower people.

They pointed out that Lok Satta Party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan would like to apologize to the people on behalf of all well-meaning legislators and on behalf of the party for betraying them by not discharging their duty as legislators.