Inside Track

One of Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee’s first statements on assuming office was to call for immediate improvement in the much-neglected Navodaya schools for rural communities and for providing incentives for primary education for girls. There is an apprehension that such long overdue educational reforms might, however, be side-tracked by populist gimmicks such as indiscriminately changing school syllabi and downgrading English.

Already there are unconfirmed reports that the RSS is pressing to make the study of Sanskrit and Yoga compulsory in schools. More than twodecades ago the BJP, in its earlier avatar as the Jana Sangh, had as part of its Sanskritisation platform recruited a large number of Sanskrit teachers for Delhi’s government-run schools. Consequently, until today, most children in the Capital’s government schools have perforce to opt for Sanskrit simply because of the huge contingent of Sanskrit teachers. Opting for Sanskrit puts the children at a major disadvantage if they want admission to a better Delhi University college. Almost all the colleges for their humanities courses will accept only one language in the selection of the four best subjects and the acceptable language is either English or Hindi.

From West Bengal’s Marxists, to the cowbelt’s Hindi zealots from the BJP and the SP, to regional parties like the Shiv Sena which swear by Marathi, politicians continue to play with the future of our children simply to highlight their blinkered ideological views on language. At the same time, the offspring of all these senior politicians conveniently studyat English-medium private schools or in faraway Australia and England.Just as there is mounting pressure for all ministers to declare their assets there ought to be a public campaign to demand that politicians who call for Sanskritisation of the syllabi and teaching in the vernacular at the school level, should first come out publicly as to whether their own children and grandchildren follow their precept.

Maverick minister

George Fernandes’s elevation as Defence Minister was greeted with some derision by the armed forces who feared his crumpled kurta-pajamas, missing shirt buttons and disheveled hair would set a poor example for them, since they take pride in their smart turn-out. But there is another aspect of the maverick minister which also sets him apart from his predecessors. Fernandes turns up punctually at his office in New Delhi’s South Block by 8.30 a.m., the right time by army standards. But the civilian defence ministry bureaucrats, who are used to sauntering in much later, are takenaback by Fernandes’s early bird routine. During the recent army commanders’ conference, Fernandes did not — as is the normal ministerial practice — leave after the opening speeches but stayed on to listen attentively to the generals who presented papers on tactics and operations.

Mulayam Singh Yadav, in contrast, was seldom to be seen in the defence ministry. One of his few contributions to his ministry, apart from trying unsuccessfully to impose Hindi in the files, was to interfere in the selection process of four senior appointments. He succeeded in two cases and was thwarted in two others. Because the army chief dug in his heels over one appointment, promotions to the post of lieutenant general for the entire panel of officers was held up for eight months. Incidentally, all the officers whose cases were being pushed by the minister’s office were from the Jat heartland of Meerut.

Double standards

Senior DD officials attempted to explain the problems of the the staff concerned with newscoverage at a recent meeting of the Prasar Bharati Board. The board members were bored; Chairman Nikhil Chakravartty suggested that bureaucrats should not repeat themselves. The CEO, S.S. Gill, who has formed a committee to look into employees’ demands earlier has already indicated that salary hikes are not possible because of over-staffing. Even the number of free newspapers supplied to each correspondent has been reduced because of an economy drive. Those working in private TV channels are paid at least five times what Prasar Bharati employees in comparable jobs receive, but board members still expect DD to be on par professionally with the competition. Abid Hussain urged employees to think in terms of job satisfaction and not monetary incentives.

Despite such high-minded sentiments, the board members are certainly concerned about their own creature comforts. Scientist U.R. Rao at every meeting stresses that he should be booked only in a five-star hotel during his Delhi visits. Leftist writer RajendraYadav constantly complains that he has still not been provided “decent accommodation ”. S.S. Gill has bent the rules to allot himself an air-conditioned Esteem, something that not even a cabinet secretary is entitled to. The cash-strapped board was made to buy a similar luxury limousine for the Marxist, Chakravartty.