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Journalism of Courage
The government has truly painted itself into a corner. Another year rolls on and it is unable to implement or to scrap legislation to regulate admissions to pre-primary schools. The two year-long controversy over the Maharashtra Pre-school Centres Act proves that you cannot win all the people all the time which is what the government is evidently trying to do without success. If it implements the act in toto it risks alienating minority school managements and particularly Catholic-run schools as well as large number of MLAs, many of whom may have helped pass the bill in the first place but have had second thoughts since. If the act is scrapped, the government is bound to upset another section of people, other school managements, educationists and members of the public who are convinced that the only way to eliminate the noxious and inequitable practice of donations is by law. The government8217;s method of resolving its dilemma is by doublespeak: for two years consecutively it has permitted admissions on the oldbasis and for two years consecutively it has kept the act alive. If someone were to seek and win a writ of mandamus from the courts, the government would pretty well have to implement the law and take all the unpopularity that comes with doing so. But it has not come to that yet and the government enjoys the luxury of indecision. If it imagines indecision is the way to win votes it is terribly mistaken because both pro-regulation and anti-regulation wallahs are unhappy. As for the rest of the population, it is not going to be persuaded that governing is the art of doing nothing.
What is the alternative to sowing confusion in pre-primary schools year after year? Amending the act to leave school managements some freedom in making their own admissions has run up against Catholic schools which are adamant about scrapping the whole act. Few have the courage to challenge that absolutist position because Catholic schools are usually the most sought after by parents. The government could try to evolve a compromiseformula if it could rebuild confidence among minority school managements. But it may be too late for that already. Can the government summon up the political will to stand by its convictions? Unlikely. Outcome: gridlock. One can only hope for an answer after the polls.
