State is simply committing fraud on the rural poor

UP 10th board result declared. Hardly some students were declared failure. We have been working for improving the teaching standard of school. There we found very difficulty to teach students nomenclature of triangle and angle to the tenth class students. My friend Rahul (got 13th rank in IES) got exhausted and finally left the class. But thanks to the government policy for shining paper work declared almost all of them pass with flying color. This simply fraud on education. Getting first division without having any merit will leave them no place. With false dignity they will accept job in farm or labour job in industries and they will easily get tended to crime. 

Today I visited many schools in the vicinity of NTPC Rihand. It is shocking and mockery of education that there is no there is one or two teachers for teaching five to eight classes. 

As I visited many location I found people are living in the lap of nature happily. What kind of education they should be given should be topic of debate. For making bridge their pattern of living and modern way of life enabling them to utilize modern technology in their circumstances should be given more stress rather pushing all of them for elementary education with similar curricula.

Teach as an innovator and not as a teacher

Evening class for underprivileged children have been going in EDC for nine months. Although many children are coming regularly they are not following the rules. Volunteers teaching with dedication pay little attention to those small things but game changer. 

Reading habits which they lack must be founded among them if we desire better result.  Today they are not reading five pages a day, how would they learn things. Repeated inquiry about the number of pages they studied will bring good result. 

Beyond Ideology

Personally I always admired India and loved Bharat as if it is my religion, my faith. I always read about the legends of India and took inspiration from them to work for the betterment of weaker section of society. 

With passage of time I got acquaintance with groups working for the establishment of some ideas. Although they all are demonstrating for the betterment of people, they all are very bitter among each other. 

We must have some principles in our life and we should abide by those principles always. Principle gives strength to work for truth. 

As we are working in social field and we are coming in contact with many people, we should stick with our own principle while working with existing group with their own principles and ideals. 

Empowerment of poor, giving quality education, annihilation of caste the extent possible, developing sense of dignity are some ideas which propels to work in society. Developing mutual trust between poor and rich, lower caste and upper caste, Islam and Hinduism are our peripheral goals. 

Society is multidimensional and so human mind is. Different people have different bent towards some issues. Those who have bent for the poor, must stay united over this topic, how deadly they in oppose for a particular issue. 

Jean&Reetika@Rihand Nagar

29 May 2012 was a great day for Prayas team who started writing its script three years back (15 August,2009 precisely) in Shivaji Nagar, a colony of labourers nearby Employee development center of NTPC Shakti Nagar. Later it was well established with various wings and developmental dimension at NTPC Rihand Nagar (NTPC Mauda is other key center).  Prof. Jean Dreze and Prof. Reetika Khera on invitation of Prayas team visited Rihand Nagar to see the development activities conducted by youth like us. It was a proud day for Prayas and we felt  privileged getting clicked in picture with them.

Sirsoti, the neighbouring village of NTPC Rihand, is the center of activities of Prayas since July 2011. As a part of visits of these eminent professors, a meeting of villagers were organized. More than seventy five villagers were turned up although they were  very shorty informed. During meeting they shared their problems, expectations from NTPC and the benefits they got because of this organization. Jean Dreze took special interest in knowing the conditions of MGNREGA workers and also went with them to their homes to know their family conditions. Many of labourers are not aware about MGNREGA scheme and they thought jobs have been created by Gram Pradhan. After inquiry it was revealed that payment is delayed by months and in some cases by a year.

Jean and Reetika also took special interest in visiting Gandhi Dham, the colony where sweepers, who work in power plant and in the township, have been living since NTPC was established at Rihand Nagar. Within half a hour many of them gathered at one point and as usual started venting out their problems. Both professors, getting emotional and feeling pinch in their heart by knowing their problems, listened them patiently. As villagers are oblivion about making arrangement for sitting, they simply sat down on the ground.  Then some of them brought chairs and implored us to seat on the chair. Jean refused to take seat. One lady asked, "you are good people (specially in officer and powerful term rather generosity), so please have seat." Dreze professed," Do not think us different. When you will start thinking you and us, the same, you will not have any problems in life." Jean and Reetika were deeply moved by knowing that their children were not able to go school because government schools are located at far distance and they are unable to pay fees in public schools. Their cards (Ration card, BPL card) are now dysfunctional as they are declared part of NTPC township and not of Gram Panchayat. Probably their names have also been removed from voter list. There is no light, shortage of water and dismal condition of locality. Later Jean told them to cooperate with  Prayas team who would work for their education and would take care of other stuff. Reetika passionately expressed her desire that NTPC should take responsibility for arranging a vehicle for these children, to enable them to go school. Before leaving the place, Jean made them speak in corus, "Ham sab ek hain (we all are the same)".  

Late night Jean spent one hour with Prayas team and appreciated their work and also inspired them to continue with this always. All teams members were feeling enlightened with him, although none of them except me were knowing his greatness. He promised to be our mentor.

  Jean Dreze who came India for one year for his educational purpose, decided to stay here after seeing prevailing acute poverty. He had conceptualized and drafted the first version of the NREGA. His co-authors include Nobel laureate in economic Amartya Sen, with whom he has written on famine, and Nicholas Stern, with whom he has written on policy reform when market prices are distorted. He is currently an honorary Professor at the Delhi School of Economics and was a member of the National Advisory Council of India in both first and second term. Reetika Khera is professor at Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. 

25 percent seats in private schools for poor children

After enlightenment followed by American Independence war and French Revolution for establishing the idea of liberty, justice in society developed notion in intelligentsia about education being a public good. Later socialist idea made state responsible for ensuring free and compulsory education for all and legitimated constitutionally right to education. In democracy ensuring people to be educated is compulsion for making it successful as government is decided by universal franchise. 

Today Government is incapable of giving quality education to all. Riches of this country ensure education to their children by paying hefty fees to private institutions. Because of this private institutions government officials pay little attention to improve the dismal condition of government schools and hence these institutions are now not meant for students, but for teachers and upper officials for getting salaries making them incapable of sending their children to government schools.

Because of this aloofness poor students can't dream of getting better education. A country with socialist outlook can't ignore this fact and it has right to interfere in institution for pursuing the idea of equality. So now 25 percent seat in each class in each school including private ones except the minority schools are reserved for poor children. 

Besides many critics by capital class, one basic idea was discussed that poor children would become victim of inferiority complex while sitting with rich children. I believe many problems would come, but while staying together, studying together they would overcome all these feelings and with time they would start developing sympathy for each other. Today in cities because of lack of poor people or middle class personnel, children of rich class would not like to go mediocre malls as they thinking mediocre people are coming. This sense of divide, alienation from ground reality must be eliminated, then only we would be able to develop responsible future leaders. 

Chance of getting students poor as well as rich children together, would address this problem well.  

Gandhi Dham

Gandhi Dham is a slum in Bijpur separated by boundary wall from NTPC Rihand Nagar Township. It is a locality developed as engineers started living in township. As engineers started living in township, they started giving job like sweeping, cleaning, washing clothes to the poor people. Traditional sweeper class (almost all of them belonged to DOM caste, the most downtrodden caste of Indian society) swarmed here and got regular job on meager wages. As they have no proper place to live and also they are not earning much without any hope for earning more in future, they temporarily made their home in the open place in the vicinity of NTPC. They used wood planks; tins etc for raising four walls and somehow covered their roof and started living. They also reared pigs as their traditional job. What is the most ironic situation for which they are own responsible is that they are not keeping their own home and locality clean. There are heaps wastages and collected water near their homes giving foul smell. Pigs are roaming here and there making the environment even worse.

Seeing their condition, I just interacted one sweeper who used to come in my room for cleaning. He started telling no one is helping them. I suggested him, but only you can change yourself. He understood my point. I suggested him to gather people, so I would address them. I reached in their locality on time. But there were none to receive me. Later I talked some other persons and they were also very confused. I again made them think that only they could change themselves. I again told them to gather people at some other time, so that we could address them for starting some educational program. Again no one turned. My friends became frustrated. I understood that if I wanted to change their life, then I myself had to go door to door for making them aware about better life.

My Observation:

Lack of confidence and hope for better life

Lack of cooperation

Unable to organize themselves in groups for implementing development work

Victims of many vices like drinking,

Having mindset that someone will come and distribute food, clothes etc. to them, but they themselves don’t want to put their own effort

No better schools for their children

Hardly any engineers interact with them. They are silent workers. They are coming, cleaning floors and went away without uttering a single world

They are treated badly by their contractor, they cut their salary on any small complaints

Ideas for their Improvement

Regular interaction and spread awareness about the importance of cleanliness in their own life and show them the vices of drinking, smoking etc. A small video, showing better family life, may work.

Provision for better school for their children with all academic facilities

Stressed on inculcating culture to their children

Provision for reserving some seats in schools like St. Joseph, DAV Public School running in township for better students and whose parents show some sign of improvement in their daily life. If these students got chance to stay with better students, they might start dreaming big in their life as well.

Provision for building a locality with better homes: This should be included in township planning. As the age of township (about 25 years) and the age of this locality (about 25 years) indicate that they are complementary and should be included in township planning.

Distribute better clothes to good students regularly (based on attendance in school)

Crux: the way of living and the living condition, opportunity for progress in life of working class has not changed at all in India. What could be its solution at policy level?

Rani Lakshmi Bai : Warrior queen of Jhansi during 1857 War of Independence - Heroes of Bharatiya War of Independance | Hindu Janajagruti Samiti

Rani Lakshmi Bai : Warrior queen of Jhansi during 1857 War of Independence - Heroes of Bharatiya War of Independance | Hindu Janajagruti Samiti