There are game changers too

Shanthi Priya/ Chennai

Although the voluntary sector is not popular with media, bureaucracy and politicians, there are many NGOs which have made a change in the society.

Many NGOs in Tamil Nadu have been in news for all wrong reasons. First it was in the case of 2G spectrum allocation case, in which it is alleged that ill-gotten money was routed through an NGO. Later, it was in the case of Koodankulam agitation.
South India has not dearth of NGOs. After the tsunami waves lashed Kerala and Tamil Nadu costal areas, there was a spurt in the number of NGOs in the region.
NGOs are not popular with the media, the bureaucracy and the political class in India. There is a general suspicion about the activities of NGOs as they lack transparency. We rarely find a favourable mention about any NGO in the media. They are believed, perhaps uncharitably, to be private pocket boroughs of some individuals who are supposed to be experts in making commerce out of service. They care only for their foreign donors and the Central home ministry. These and many other popular suspicions and notions about the NGOs were confirmed recently when six of them were blacklisted by the government for forging the signatures of district collectors to draw money illegally.
There are, however, some honourable exceptions as in every field. Some NGOs are run by dedicated persons with missionary zeal. They are doing great service. Listing good NGOs is hazardous for obvious reasons. But not taking note of the tremendous good work done by some NGOs would tantamount to refusing to see the reality. Andhra Pradesh, like any other state, can boast of a host of NGOs which are rendering exemplary service. Organisations like Rayalaseema Rural Development Trust at Tirupati, Village Reconstruction Organisation at Guntur, Bhagavatula Charitable Trust at Visakhapatnam, Arthika Samatha Mandali at Vijayawada and Samskara at Nizamabad are some of the well-known NGOs working in the state.
Mrs. Shanta Sinha of MV Foundation was given Magsayssay Award for the excellent work she has been doing in the areas of literacy and child labour. Mere mention of the name of the organisation headed by Mrs Sinha evokes respect. MV Foundation has, to its credit, a number of achievements in rescuing the child labourers and running bridge-schools for school dropouts. 'Asmita' is another NGO which appears in the media often. It is run by a team of dedicated persons under the able leadership of Ms. Vasantha Kannabhiran. It would be interesting to know the nature of work, which is representative, done by three distinguished organisations in the three areas of Telangana, Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra Pradesh.
'Social empowerment for sustained development' is the theme of 'MARI'(Modern Architect for Rural India), which is very active in Warangal district. There is a first small step for every long journey. Murali, the founder-secretary of this organisation chose Panikara village of Nekkonda mandal in Warangal district where he launched an education project in 1990. He successfully enlisted the co-operation of Adivasis to establish 'Swayamkrishi' schools where a nominal fee is collected from students. MARI has expanded its activities and it is now working in about 200 villages in 20 mandals with emphasis on the social empowerment of dalits and adivasis. Besides the education programme, MARI has also been taking up other projects like desiltinging the tank beds, micro-financing to help rural women towards economic empowerment, improving aids-awareness and encouraging the use of natural manure in cultivation, etc. MARI has been receiving project-specific financial aid from France, USA, Netherlands and Switzerland. MARI has so far desilteded twelve tanks involving about 1,400 farmers in the process. Murali has been the moving force behind the organisation. He travels all over the district, studies the lives of the poor and evolves schemes in order to empower them.
Bablu and Mary came from two different parts of the country and converged in a drought-stricken district of Anantapur. Bablu (Choitresh Kumar Ganguly) is a middle-class Bengali, with Che Guevara beard, inspired by Naxalbari movement who came to Andhra Pradesh to teach dialectical materialism to the farmers and farm labourers. While doing so, Bablu read Masanobu Fukuoka's 'One Straw Revolution', a book that had profound impact on him and lead him into becoming a farmer taking up sustainable agriculture. Mary is a Roman Catholic from Kerala's Idukki district. A post-graduate in social work, she worked in Anantapur, Nalgonda and Srikakulam districts for several years before running into Bablu in 1982 at the Southern Collective of Action Groups.
They started living together in the late 1980s. Work on Timbaktu, a utopian communer at Chennekothapalli (CK Palli) near Penukonda in Ananthapur district. They had dreams and the courage to realise them. They started recruiting volunteers and working on fields. The experiment of Timbaktu Collective in natural regeneration has been replicated in several villages in CK Palli, Roddam and Ramagiri mandals. First it was a 160 acre hillside in Mushtikovila village where they started building a seed bank of indigenous trees. They learnt the local lore and age-old wisdom of having drought-resistant species. The beauty with the Collective is that Babloo and Mary never make the decisions. The villagers were encouraged to take decisions on their own. Timbaktu Collective has also started a thrift group in CK Palli. The Adishakti Mutually Aided Thrift Cooperative Society which had an initial membership of 967 and pooled a capital of Rs. 5 lakh has spread to two other mandals. The membership has grown to 7,500 and the turnover to Rs.2 crore. Timbaktu's philosophy of work is based on three R's-Regeneration, Rejuvenation and Revitalisation. All the activities undertaken by this organisation is aimed at achieving these three objectives.
Resolution of problems faced by rural people has been the main agenda of Sodhana, an organisation floated by Dr. Pemmaraju Durga Kameshwara Rao in 1979. Dr. Rao who did PhD in Physics in the US and was working as a teacher of Physics in an American University gave it up and travelled to Cheepurupally, a remote village in Vizianagaram district, to take up social work in right earnest. He was influenced by Vinoba Bhave and Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan whom he met and shared his concerns. He selected a village called Appanna Valasa which had dalits in large numbers (70 percent of the population) and started an organisation called 'Sodhana', meaning search. Literacy, women empowerment, health, resolution of land disputes and spreading awareness of governmental welfare schemes among the poor people are some of the areas in which this organisation has been working. Whenever villagers meet the volunteers of this organisation and narrate their problems, the volunteers accompany the villagers and study the problems and evolve solutions. Rao's selfless service is acknowledged by the villagers.

Kerala fails to pass the test

Dr S Remadevi/ Kochi

Despite excellent literacy rate and presence of quality institutions, Kerala students are lagging behind in competitive tests. Is it due to declining quality in education?
At a recent seminar at Thiruvananthapuram, the general refrain among speakers was why Keralities, despite having better education avenues, are not figuring in the list of successful candidates for all India competitive exams.
Many speakers said it is myth to say that Kerala is an oasis of learning as there is a steady decline in the quality of education. Experts blamed successive governments for the condition of education in the state.
One of the major reasons is financial constraints faced by the sector. There has been a quantitative expansion of the sector but this has also added to its financial woes. This has hit the efforts on upgradation and modernisation of the sector. The state has not been able to properly take care of the existing infrastructure. Also there has been a dearth of ideas as to how to go about quantitative and qualitative expansion of the sector.
The decline of the quality of education in government-run schools has resulted in the mushrooming of schools in the private sector.
The State has around 13,000 schools of which 4,500 are Government schools while about 7,500 are private-aided and some 800 private-unaided schools.
"About 30 per cent of the children who complete primary schools do not reach the necessary achievement levels in literacy and numeracy," say Dr K.K. George and Dr K.K. Krishnakumar of the Centre for Socio Economic and Environmental Studies (CSES).
According to media reports, the dropout rates in secondary schools are high. This is particularly true for SC/ST students.
“Only about 50 per cent of the students who appear for the examination get through in spite of liberal valuation and provision for grace marks. Only one-third of the children who join the first standard manage to pass the matriculation examination,” they said.
There were reports in the media which showed how even 10th pass students were not able to spell their names correctly.
The large-scale drop-outs in the secondary schools as also the high percentage of failures at the matriculation level, the low average marks scored etc., are manifestations of the low-level of preparation of students and their consequent inability to cope with even the modest sifting procedures.
But a recent study has brought out that the per-pupil expenditure on secondary education is very low compared to other States. The per-pupil expenditure on secondary education in Kerala is only Rs 4,659, as against the all-India average of Rs 5,668.
In higher education also, the situation is not very encouraging. Kerala lags behind other States not only in qualitative terms but also in quantitative terms.

India's literacy level increases

Sopan Correspondent / New Delhi

India's literacy level has increased by 9.21% in the past 10 years to reach 74.04%, according to provisional data of the 2011 census released in New Delhi late last month.

According to the data, literates constitute 74% of the total population aged seven and above and illiterates form 26%. The literacy rate went up from 64.83% in 2001 to 74.04% in 2011 showing an increase of 9.21%.

Interestingly, females literacy level saw a significant jump as compared to males between 2001-2011. While female literacy in 2001 stood at 53.67%, it has gone up to 65.46% in 2011. The male literacy in comparison rose from 75.26 to 82.14%.

Kerala with 93.91% continues to occupy the top position among states in the field of literacy while Mizoram's Serchhip (98.76%) and Aizawl (98.50%) recorded highest literacy rates among districts.

Lakshadweep followed Kerala with a literacy level of 92.28%, while Bihar remained at the bottom of the ladder with a literacy rate of 63.82% followed by Arunachal Pradesh at 66.95%.

Ten states and UTs viz. Kerala, Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Tripura, Goa, Daman and Diu, Puducherry, Chandigarh, NCT of Delhi and Andaman and Nicobar Islands achieved literacy rate of above 85%, the target set by the Planning Commission to be achieved by 2011-12.

The gap of 21.59 percentage points recorded between male and female literacy rates in 2001 census has reduced to 16.68 percentage points in 2011. Planning Commission has set up target of reducing this gap to 10 percentage points by 2011-12.

The other highlights of the Census 2011 (Provisional figures):

* The population of India has increased by more than 181 million during the decade 2001-2011.

*2001-2011 is the first decade (with the exception of 1911-1921) which has actually added lesser population compared to the previous decade.

*Uttar Pradesh (199.5 million) is the most populous State in the country followed by Maharashtra with 112 million.

*The proportion of Child Population in the age group of 0-6 years to total population is 13.1 percent while the corresponding figure in 2001 was 15.9 percent. The decline has been to the extent of 2.8 points.

*Overall sex ratio at the national level has increased by 7 points to reach 940 at Census 2011 as against 933 in Census 2001.

The Book scam of Chhatisgarh

EDUCATION

Books meant to be distributed free of cost to students, found lying at scrap dealers and rot in store rooms.

Avdhesh Mallick / Raipur

To boost school education and reduce the drop out rate of students in schools, the state government has launched various schemes including free distribution of books in schools under Rajeev Gandhi Sarva Siksha Abhiyaan (RGSSA), a scheme funded by Central Government). To ensure that students will get their books on time and no shortage prevails, the state Government has also formed an autonomous body Chhattisgarh Text Book Corporation (CTBC) having funds of more than Rs crore per annum which supply books to schools on demand so that there is no misuse of public funds.

Ironically, even after this, a large number of books are dumped in the schools’ store rooms, scrap dealers shops and godowns of CTBC. Students living in remote and naxal affected area do not get books on time to continue their studies.

Recently books were lying at a class room of Naveen High School in Durg. These 50,000 books have become unusable and are meant for classes 1-8. These were supposed to be distributed in the schools of Durg free of cost. To lift the books and keep them in a safer place, the block education officer has written a letter to General Manager of CTBC and other officials.

The Block Education Officer also wrote to the District Education officer Durg complaining that excessive number of text books of educational session 2007, 2008, and 2009 had been supplied to their block office and are now rotting in a store room of Naveen School Durg.

The details given were book of class 3 part-1, part-2 sixty bundles, book of class four 20 bundles, books class five to eighth 20 bundles. Hundred bundles of text books are lying in that store room without any proper protection. Most of the books become obsolete and unusable. Despite the letter, nothing concrete came out.

In 2010, in the month of December, local media also highlighted the issue that text books costing lakhs of rupees have been sold to the scrap dealers. Subsequently, police raided the shop of Nanu Kabari in Durg and recovered two matadors full of books costing more than Rs 10 lakhs. After investigation it was found that the text books which were found in scrap, belongs to district Mahasamund, Durg, Raipur and sold to Nanu kabari at the cost of Rs 7.50/Kg.

Police also recovered a large consignment of books in Jagdalpur area from a scrap dealer. In the police interrogation it was revealed that books were sold to them by the education mafia. It has been revealed that this illegal trade is flourishing in Chhattisgarh for more than five years.

According to the government scheme, textbooks have to be given free of cost to school going students including girls and reserved category students. Hence the government has assigned CTBC for the work. Up to the eighth class text books got distributed in school on massive level. As per the rule, block wise demands of text books were put before the board of Chhatisgarh Rajya Madhyamik Siksha Mandal (CGMASIM) and after the approval of CGMASIM, the district project coordinator official of Rajiv Gandhi Siksha Mission, Sarva Siksha Abhiyaan (RGSMSSA) sends the requirement of books for printing, publication and distribution.

After getting clearance, CTBC orders printing of books against the demand. But district education officer, Durg put forwarded the demand of books for academic session 2007-08 for 466,125 students and later sent another amended and corrected demand of books for 466,734 students. The CGMASIM requested for cancellation of the previous order and to comply with the order last placed.

Instead of cancelling the earlier demand, CTBC asked for the printing of both the orders leading to publication of twice the number of books which were needed.

For one student, an average of eight books is required. The final request order was for 466,734 students i.e. 466734x8=37,33872 books but the books got published were (466734+466125)x8=74,62872. In this way 37,29000 number of excessive books had got published, leading to a huge outflow from the state exchequer.

The printer charges more than Rs 20 per book and the exchequer lost Rs3729000x20. Unfortunately while the state exchequer is losing crores of rupees every year in the name of book printing, poor students do not get them on time in remote and naxal affected villages.

When Sopan-Step team enquired the matter, the books lying in the Naveen School Durg were shifted to the CTBC Book Depot. But the questions remain un-answered. What about the real culprits, their negligence and loot and wastage of public money.

Former Chhattisgarh chief minister Ajit Jogi demanded a CBI inquiry to nab the real culprits. He said the central government has given Rs 1200 crore to the state government under SSA and for SSA state government has a budget of Rs 1768 crore but due to massive corruption, the outcome is not satisfactory. He alleged that the state government was protecting and giving shelter to corrupt officials and leaders.

School Education Minister Brijmohan Agarwal said, “I have received complaint and ordered for an enquiry. Police is investigating the matter and how such a number of books were found in scrap. Stern action should be taken against the culprits”.

While the onus of this wastage is on Subhash Mishra, General Manager of CTBC, he said no mistake has taken place from their side adding that “allegations of printing of excessive books and supply is false”.
avdhesh1mallick@gmail.com