Tags:
Journalism of Courage
It was a staid, sober return to his ministry. The TV cameras hovered around him but Murli Manohar Joshi, who returned to his third floor office of the Human Resource Development Ministry, would not be dragged into any political conversation. He spoke in monosyllables and disappointed mediapersons looking for controversial sound bytes.
A load of files were carried in for his perusal. Then Joshi summoned his officers over. Of the education officials, the two senior-most 8212; secretary for elementary education and the secretary for higher education 8212; were away. Joshi was briefed by officers of joint secretary status.
The Minister reviewed the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, was told which state had drawn or spent how much on the school enrolment campaign during the two weeks he had abandoned his ministry. Joshi told officials that for states lagging behind, there was need to work in coordination. He also inquired into the level of enthusiasm being shown by the states in the National Programme for Education of the Girlchild at the Elementary Level.
Tomorrow being Gandhi Jayanti, Joshi waved the green flag for the launch of the 24-hour Ekalavya channel, a channel to be a part of the DD bouquet, which focuses on vocational and technical education. Then, the HRD Minister is off to Paris to participate at the UNESCO general conference.
