Page 18 - EW 1-156 May 2024

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Having experienced life as an Those who grow India’s food re-
agriculturist and as an industrial- main half-fed and hungry, especially
ist, your feature provides a realistic agricultural labour who constitute
view of the problems and ailments of the majority in rural India. Rural
rural India. But your support of laws labourers who migrate to urban In-
that the Central Government tried dia to construct houses, bungalows,
to push through are misguided and apartment complexes leave their
ill-informed. families in their villages to live and
In the Union Budget 2024-25, suffer in thatched huts.
the allocations of the ministries of Children of farmers who supply
rural development (Rs.1.60 lakh milk and milk products to urban
crore), agriculture and farmers India are malnourished, anaemic
welfare (Rs.1.23 lakh crore) add up and underweight. Maternal and
to Rs.2.83 lakh crore out of the total neonatal mortality has not declined
budget expenditure of Rs.45 lakh significantly even after 77 years of
crore — 6.2 percent for 69 percent of independence. All fundamental
APRIL 2024 the population. Other expenditure rights including health, housing and
through other ministries’ allocation education for rural citizens have
compounded generously, would remained dry, drab promises and
Overdue recognition add up to about 15 percent of total policy declarations.
CONGRATULATIONS FOR publish- budgetary expenditure. Allowing for Equity, justice and equality
ing the comprehensive EW India debt repayment (22 percent) and mandates standardisation of basic
Higher Education Rankings 2024-25 defence (5.6 percent), the remaining facilities, services and conveniences
(EW April) to help school-leavers 57 percent of the budget expenditure across India. The India-Bharat divide
make informed college choices. I was is for urban India. can be bridged only when values
pleasantly surprised to learn that my For 75 years agriculture has been of liberty, equality and fraternity
low-profile alma mater Govt. Holkar fettered by adverse economic and are absorbed by urban Indians and
(Model Autonomous) Science Col- administrative laws. There isn’t a extended to our rural brethren.
lege, Indore has been ranked among single non-politician, non-industrial Dr. A.S Seetharamu on EMAIL
the Top 10 government autonomous farmer in the league table of 50 most
colleges for the past three years by wealthy Indians. The three new laws
EW. propose to liberalise agriculture. Stressful experience
Many thanks to Dr. Silawat and That is to say that fattened urban bil- YOUR KARNATAKA Education
his team for doing a commendable lionaires and millionaires could walk News (EW April) rightly sympathises
job and integrating entrepreneur- into agriculture and compete with with students and parents caught in
ship, employability and skill develop- the long-chained farmers hobbled by a government created controversy.
ment in the curriculum. Thanks for pathethic infrastructure. As parent of a class V child caught
the overdue recognition. Anil Thakore in the ‘board exams imbroglio’, I
Prakash Gupta on EMAIL BENGALURU have shared the stress experienced
by thousands of children and parents
Rural development expenditure is during the month-long flip flop over
Inverted telescope substantially of state governments conduct of exams. Now after the
YOUR SPECIAL Report feature — Editor exams are over, there’s uncertainty
India’s Colonisation of Bharat (EW over the results with the Supreme
March) addresses a very important Court having stopped the govern-
subject that is sidelined politically Inequality within inequality ment from making the results public.
and obscured by captive media. YOUR SPECIAL report feature titled: As Dr. Krishna Kumar writes in
But, it is a view from the top India’s Colonisation of Bharat — his Expert Comment essay (April)
through an inverted telescope. The Liberating Rural India (EW March) board exams evoke fear and anxiety
urban-rural divide requires a view is a significant, serious and empa- in young children. By re-introducing
from ground zero. Somewhat like thetic warning to the powers that them for classes V and VIII, Karnata-
what Prof. M.S. Swaminathan and the great divide between urban and ka has pushed the evaluation system
team did in their National Commis- rural India — a striking example of several steps backwards.
sion on Farmers (NCF) report in inequality within inequality – should Ananth Gowda
2006. be urgently addressed. MYSURU

18 EDUCATIONWORLD MAY 2024