ASER survey
“This scenario is pretty staggering and makes you think what’s going on and what should be done?” chief economic adviser, Arvind Subramanian, said, referring to the survey’s finding that 40% youth have no role-models for the professions they aspire to join. “The learning outcomes of boys and girls are similar but in the age group of 14-18, the wedge is opening up between boys and girls. It’s important to address it,” he said. “The school education system is in a bad shape. It’s not today’s story. It has been happening over a period of time. Skill India and start-up India cannot happen without having the basics in place.”
Even as the number of children in India who have studied until class 8 has doubled in the last decade, the skills acquired by them remains low, the report says. It is no longer engineering (11.6%) but the Army/police which is the most preferred job for male students (17.6%), while females preferred teaching (25.1%) and medicine or nursing (18.1%).
“The report has serious implications for what we are doing as skilling in school is what is required. We need to completely change the direction in terms of creating skilling capacity. We need to create it within schools. As part of the survey, most students either want to get into defence or the Army whereas we don’t focus on that part,” said Dr KP Krishnan, secretary, ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship who was present at the launch.
“Even though we have passed the RTE Act, there has not been much improvement in education. We need to go for a complete overhaul. Even private schools, other than a few high-end ones, are not doing well. Ultimately, the government is responsible for the education ethos as ultimately it comes up with policy decisions,” said Annie Namala, executive director of Centre for Social Equity and Inclusion. She was also a member of the national advisory council for the implementation of the RTE Act in 2010.
About one-fourth of those surveyed said that they could not pursue their studies for want of money. There is hardly any difference between boys’ and girls’ enrolment at age 14, but at age 18, at least 32% young women are not enrolled compared to 28% men.
In terms of daily tasks, some simple activities were picked up for the survey, such as counting money, knowing weights and being able to tell the time.
About 2,000 volunteers from 35 partner institutions visited more than 25,000 households in 1,641 villages.
The report said 86% of those between 14 and 18 years old are still within the formal education system, either in school or in college. More than half of those in this age group are enrolled in class 10 or below. Another 25% are either in classes 11 or 12, and 6% are enrolled in undergraduate and other degree courses. Kumbh on which the latter spent ₹3,400 crore. The Karnataka government is giving ₹20,000 to each Hindu pilgrims for Char Dham. So is this not appeasement of the majority?” he asked.
Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said the government had withdrawn the subsidy four years ahead of the date prescribed by the Supreme Court and added that his party hopes that the government would also follow the second part of the judgement. Azad was referring to the SC’S recommendation that the money should be used to provide modern education for girls from minority communities.
Bihar Rashtriya Janata Dal spokesperson Ejya Yadav said the Centre’s decision to discontinue subsidy in the Haj pilgrimage was an “unfair decision” as, he said, it would deprive a large number of lower income group pilgrims of an opportunity to visit the Mecca.
There are two main categories of travel. In the so-called Green category, the top tier, a pilgrim pays ₹1,81,200 plus ₹37,800 towards personal expenses, which works out to ₹219,000. In the next category called Azizia, the charges are ₹1,47,200 plus ₹37,800 towards personal expenses, totaling ₹185,000. Of this, nearly ₹38000 is a deposit of sorts and is refunded to pilgrims.
The previous UPA government had constituted a committee headed by the Cabinet secretary to go into the issue of an alternative financing option for Haj. The then Rajya Sabha deputy chairman K. Rahman Khan led a team that had proposed that India adopt Malaysia’s Tabung Haji model as an alternative.
Under the Malaysian model, each prospective pilgrim contributes money for future Haj travel in a Shariat-compliant fund, something like India’s Public Provident Fund. Malaysians therefore fund their own Haj travel.
“It was at the time widely alleged by Muslims that although arrangements remained shoddy, the subsidy actually went towards bailing out Air India. For a long time, Air India was the only carrier. I personally feel the withdrawal is a welcome step,” said Masoom Moradabadi, former member of UP Haj committee and an invitee to the All-india Personal Muslim Law Board.
In April 2008, Imam Ahmed Bukhari of Delhi’s Jama Masjid had submitted a memorandum to the then PM Manmohan Singh, demanding the Haj Act be amended to end Air India’s monopoly.
Moradabadi said the Quran made it clear that Haj was obligatory only for those who could afford it. “There was also a growing view among Muslims that the subsidy brought the charge of appeasement, while facilities were inadequate,” he said.
Naqvi said the withdrawal is “part of our policy to empower minorities with dignity and without appeasement”.
The Haj Committee of India, the nodal agency empowered to make arrangements for pilgrims, will continue to exist. Many pilgrims also travel privately.
The Haj subsidy is reflected in the budget of the civil aviation ministry.
Apart from imputing the existence of so-called “bench-fixing”, the spat threatened to derail key judicial appointments that are made by the CJI and some of the senior judges.
Senior advocate Sanjay Hedge welcomed the move by the CJI to break the ice. “It was needed as every effort to regain and preserve the unity in the institution must be welcomed. We must trust the judges. They are all learned wise men and in the absence of specific facts set out through official channels, it would not be fair to comment further.”