Education the weakest link in Haryana’s story

THE region that today forms Haryana has held the answers to several fundamental questions in Indian history. Pre-Harappan (3000 BCE) sites that are scattered across the state soundly establish the existence of an advanced society. Vedic texts that were rooted in the region remain the world's earliest guide to spirituality and righteousness, just as dharma associated with region has remained a civilisational testament both for the ruler and the ruled. It was, however, the period of invasions starting with Mahmud of Ghazni (1011 CE) that destroyed the region's spiritual and cultural legacy. Thus, the Haryana that the British took over in 1803 was the result of years of political instability that had attracted looters, adventurers and mercenaries. In the great uprising of 1857, the British faced some of the toughest incidents of resistance in the region. The vengeful colonial system ensured that the region was made to pay a heavy price. Haryana fell back by an entire age compared to western Punjab during the colonial period.

In 1881 the literacy rate was about 2.65 per cent. Female literacy in 1900 was 0.1 per cent in Rohtak and Hisar. In 1870 just 555 girls were enrolled in some kind of school education in all the districts of today's Haryana put together. The region accounted for less than 4 per cent of the canal-irrigated area of the undivided (pre-1947) Punjab. Likewise, till about 1900, less than 2 per cent of the area was involved in trade and commerce. Agriculture was still medieval.

The massive resettlement exercise that followed the Partition (1947) proved a major developmental boom for the region. Moving in from more developed areas, the displaced millions contributed to dramatic progress in agriculture, education, trade, commerce and so on.

The small dynamic state with outstanding infrastructure — the Haryana of today — traces its story to the period 1968-1975. New and visionary initiatives such as lift irrigation schemes, Mandi townships, urban estates, road and electric connectivity to all villages transformed the state dramatically. Education, agriculture and health showed growth figures that the country had not seen. For example, the number of electrified villages increased from 1,251 in 1966 to 6,731 in 1975. The consumption of fertilisers increased by 767 per cent. By 1970, Haryana had a growth figure of 12.7 per cent as compared to the country's 5.5 per cent.

In the years that followed, not only did the state lose the early momentum of development and financial prudence, other issues also crept in. Today, staff salaries, pension heads and interest payments account for about 60 per cent of the state's revenue receipts.

Sir Chhotu Ram was a hugely popular leader of the region, a visionary and perhaps the first activist of right to information. In the Jat Gazette in 1931, he wrote: "The government is always secretive, I want the common man to understand the truth of state expenses." In another article in the same booklet, he noted: "… we must bear in mind that India is an extremely poor country… the crushing burden of a costly administration — the costliest in the world weighs most heavily on a section of the population least able to bear it."

Writing in the Jat Gazette (1929), Chhotu Ram explained how the expenditure of the senior functionaries of the government was not in harmony with the condition of the peasantry. On different occasions, Chhotu Ram drew attention to the expenses of the high court judges, corruption in departments like the police, jails, irrigation, public works and health. I have edited five volumes of Chhotu Ram's writings and speeches and believe that much of what he said applies to the Haryana of today.

But what worries me is not just the financial future or administrative extravagance of Haryana but also its social problems. The issues that we face today are all, in some or the other manner, related to the increasing failure of our education system. Successive governments have treated jobs in schools, colleges and universities as just routine jobs. Merit has been the biggest casualty. The damage done to society by a teacher who has got in through the 'back door' can never be repaired. Countless are the stories of the casualness with which the state has recruited its teachers. There is an ancient Chinese saying: "A society and its virtues are as good or as bad as the quality of its educational system."

From three institutes of higher education — Kurukshetra University, an agriculture university in Hisar and a medical college in Rohtak — in 1966, today Haryana has 14 state universities, 25 private, one central, one NIT, one IIIT and an IIM. Over the decades, governments in the state, without exception, have ignored universities with regard to funding, often leaving more than half of faculty positions vacant. Merit in recruitments has frequently been compromised. The working of the universities over the years has also witnessed serious erosion in academic standards and is a story by itself.

Historically, the state's geographical location — lying as it did on the route adopted by the invaders to Delhi and the fertile Gangetic Doab — was the cause of many of its problems and pains. A defiant peasantry resisted the invading armies by whatever means possible. Villages were repeatedly ransacked and the little agriculture that existed was destroyed.

In more recent times, the fact that the state virtually surrounds Delhi is often seen as an advantage. To my mind, however, this so-called locational advantage has brought along its share of problems. Socio-cultural norms and ways of life so typical of large metropolises, particularly crime, are seriously influencing Haryanvi society. The districts that surround Delhi in particular reveal a deep societal churning. Skyrocketing land prices, for instance, have triggered a dangerous trend of extravagant spending, violence, drugs, alcoholism, defiance of law and institutional structures. The worst-kept secret of the state, thus, is the nexus of political leaders and their henchmen, with the police in particular.

The socio-cultural paradoxes of Haryanvi society should also be of concern. Today's Haryana presents a picture of rapid material economic progress. At the same time, it also presents an impression of social behaviour which appears to go back ages. At the top of the list is gender bias and the resultant sex ratio. Just like most parts of India, caste as an institutionalised set-up is embedded in Haryanvi society. But what appears peculiar to Haryana is the divisive and parochial nature of diktats coming out from caste-based wielders of social authority. This increasing trend does not obviously augur well for the state in a rapidly changing world.

Raghuvendra Tanwar is Chairman, Indian Council of Historical Research.