Economic Times Story on 08.11.12 : Poke Me: Why India's minority political leaders should emulate Obama
Comments of MILAN K SINHA (PATNA)
08 Nov, 2012 07:08 PM
Your instant piece of writing is quite thought provoking and well placed. it is really a proud moment for all the citizens of America to showcase to the world the unique verdict of 2012 American Presidential election which at least every nation who proclaim to be a democratic progressive one must emulate. The right to equality, though enshrined in our constitution and talked every now and then by our political leaders not only from the ramparts of red fort but also from every important forum, is still to be the order of the day in reality in our 65 years old Sovereign Democratic Republic. Right from the beginning, the divisive forces under the umbrella of one or the other political party tried successfully to practise the old nefarious game of divide and rule by keeping the majority masses from all religion, particularly minorities, poor, illiterate, unemployed and relatively scared. Nevertheless, a handful of leaders from minority community could make their mark on national scene, but due to lack of internal democracy and also meritocracy within major political parties in our country, we failed to see the making of an Obama sofar. We sincerely hope, the Obama wave would show its impact in Indian politics too in coming days. Anyway, 2014 is not far away to spring some suprises for the better, who knows?
Comments of Milan K Sinha (PATNA) in
The Times Of India dt. 08.11.12
Dear Reader,
Your comment on the article ''Education reforms not on backburner: Shashi Tharoor'' is now displayed on timesofindia.com.
''It is heartening to note what Shashi has said. There is no denying the fact that education is very necessary for cultural, social & economic development of diverse sections of society like ours. But, despite the constitutional provisions regarding Right to Education & Govt. declaration for providing basic education to all its citizens, our performance is still dismally poor. The power that be do reiterate publicly that education is one of the most important tools of empowering our youth, rich as well as poor, to face the challenges of the changing world, but even this basic need of our growing children is becoming unaffordable with rising cost of education. The private players in Indian education space have been creating a lot of mess by making it no less than a commercial activity. Undoubtedly, this must be looked into very seriously by both central and state governments without further delay. More over, the primary education must be given the highest priority not only in policy terms but also in actual practice. The school dropout rate is another area of major concern as it is still more than 40% which is even worse than that of Bangladesh & Vietnam - countries which got independence more than two decades later. Not to re-emphasise much, the dropout percentage is higher among tribals, economically weaker sections of society etc. It is hoped the minister who has the rare distinction & experience of working as Deputy Secretary General at UN to know & understand what is happening in most parts of the world, would live up to his own assertion which he made just after assuming charge of minister of state in HRD, in these words,"If you get the education and training part right, we would then be able to equip the youths take advantage of what the 21st century has to offer. But if we don't get it right, the danger is something like what we have seen with the Maoists, frustrated unemployed young men picking up the gun".''
Will meet again with Open Mind. All the Best.
