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Punjab’s distorted priorities

IN less than a month the Punjab Government has initiated two moves which are baffling and need to be challenged.

Punjab’s distorted priorities

Looks bleak: The shutting down of schools, mostly in kandi area, caused no outrage.



Nirmal Sandhu    

IN less than a month the Punjab Government has initiated two moves which are baffling and need to be challenged. It plans to shut down 800 primary schools across the State — to save money — and enter into liquor trade — to make money. An official announcement has described the proposed closure of schools as education reform, “a novel plan aimed at ensuring a conducive academic environment”, and claims that it would not affect the legal right of children to free and compulsory education. If such are reforms they have in mind, education and other areas they propose to improve should better be left unreformed.

Instead of nurturing educational institutions back to health with the infusion of additional funds, the Congress government has chosen the easy option of closing them down on the ground that there are not enough students. The government is walking away from a basic duty towards the citizens. The decision-makers need to ponder why parents don’t send their children to government schools.  

Administrative neglect and denial of funds over the years have resulted in the crumbling of government educational institutions. For 15 years government colleges have got no regular teachers appointed by the Punjab Public Service Commission. The recruitment process stopped after the 2002 infamous PPSC scam, which surfaced when, as Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh was intolerant of corruption. Since then temporary staff hired at abysmally low salaries have been contributing to whatever goes in the name of education. 

Abandoned government institutions being in disarray, well-off and even not-so-well-off parents have turned to whatever alternatives are available, leading to a thriving private sector education business. Private sector participation in education and health is unavoidable since government resources are limited and demand is huge, but an effective regulatory mechanism needs to be in place to ensure quality and curb malpractices. The government cannot, however, withdraw entirely from these areas since families with modest means cannot meet the high costs of the private sector. 

Fund squeeze has also hit the quality of education. It has hurt the poor as they need quality education the most to pull themselves out of their state of deprivation. Substandard education has held back Punjab youth from realising their aspirations. Some of the top educational institutions established in the State are of no use to most local students because they can’t compete at the national level for admission. The number of Punjab students is less than 10 per cent in the PGI, Chandigarh; IIT, Ropar; NIT, Jalandhar; NIPER and IISER, Mohali, and the Central University at Bathinda.  

The sorry state of education has not sufficiently agitated the government, the Opposition or the public at large. The closure of 800 schools, mostly located in the kandi region of Hoshiarpur, Ropar and Gurdaspur — the areas where profit-minded private schools won’t go — has triggered no political storm. The political class has occupied itself with other issues. They are busy running one another down. The winter session of the Vidhan Sabha has come and gone, without taking note of this and other crucial issues.

The second official announcement that has gone almost unnoticed is about a decision of the Cabinet sub-committee on finance, headed by the Chief Minister, to explore the possibility of setting up a corporation to distribute liquor in Punjab. This comes from a Chief Minister who had once held a holy book in hand and vowed to end the drug menace. The committee of wise men at the helm, including Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, has dredged up this brilliant idea to earn money for a bankrupt State. 

The idea of shutting down schools and opening thekas does not seem to weigh on their conscience. With wild election promises Congressmen have tied themselves in knots. There is a poverty of ideas. Punjab already has more boards and corporations than it knows what to do with. Many are non-performing and unwanted, and can be wound up without any loss to the public. These are kept alive to accommodate political loyalists. Schools obviously have no such use. 

A liquor corporation would add to the costs and breed corruption and inquiry commissions. None in the government or the Congress party seem to realise the absurdity of government officials selling liquor. None have uttered a word in public against it. IAS officers, who know better, also know when to keep quiet. They have trained themselves to be on the right side of the political leadership. Maybe some see in the liquor corporation another opportunity of a lucrative posting.

Recently an orientation course was held for first-time MLAs about the rules of procedure in the Vidhan Sabha. The ministers and MLAs would do themselves and the State a great favour if they organise for themselves similar classes on issues like development, governance and leadership. Experts can teach them what their duties and responsibilities are other than enjoying a lavish lifestyle at the taxpayers’ expense and what role the State plays, or does not play, as they seem to have limited their work as elected representatives of the people to spending and earning money.

Lack of a visionary leadership has landed the once number one state in dire straits with no hope of a rescue. Instead of playing the leadership role, politicians in Punjab, including that elderly gentleman who claims to be a PhD in politics and who has contributed the most to bringing Punjab on its knees, allow themselves to be led by vote banks. Politics of appeasement has done the State incalculable harm, crippling in particular institutions providing education, healthcare, power and justice. Resources have been diverted for short-term political gain. Election manifestos of all political parties promise freebies to the deserving as well as the non-deserving. None have a credible plan for arresting the State’s decline and reviving the economy. 

The State focus on human resource development has produced wonders elsewhere, particularly Himachal Pradesh and Kerala. Haryana is excelling in sports and setting up education hubs. If Punjab has lagged behind, the political leadership is to blame since it has strayed from the familiar path of development, followed in the country post-liberalisation.

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