Rifts, Fissures, Cracks, Gaping Holes

Re: # 29

soy:

``We are like a beggar who found a 10 rupee note in the street and suddenly felt wealthy. ``

better than the beggar getting his tattered clothes robbed in the name of ``common good`` :)

Re: # 31
[...But the Indian way is to shove it under the rug or call the person sore loser....]

Nope - indian way is to get whiners out of the way so that you have a chance to implement the solution....

and commies are whiners because anytime you come up with a solution - they whine, talk big and block the solution... the result - the nation is poor, uneducated and deprived.....

examples - they seek to block and/or blocked - city restructure, airport reform, PSU privatization, FDI in insurance, infrastructure, banking..... heck even you pakis have better ratings on FDI facilitation[even though nobody goes there] - you know that right?

So that`s what the whiners have done to this country.... my simple message is - stop your bullsh!t and get out of the way.... you have done enough damage already....

India – strident, chaotic, often anarchic – has always been more than the flavor of the season, and perhaps the world has finally come around to simply recognizing it. (Being a large market helps, too.)

Some of the social problems and evils that you mention are legitimate causes for concern and have been that way for a while – but I believe one reason such problems have stuck around is because of the lack of focus on them. Human beings being human and selfish will always have limitations and will not reform out of pure goodwill and certainly not because of any particular ideology. (Because of religion? Thanks for the laugh!) But most people do care about their image.

Therefore, publicity is a good thing.

There is nothing like daylight!

#36 (Addendum)

I forgot to say, sorry to get here late!

Labelling people / ideas as ``commie`` or ``fascist`` won`t help.. Only ``pragmatic`` ideas work.. I don`t think the policies of the last 60 years resulted in complete disaster.

It is true that govt. schools are a disgrace for the most part (other than a few shining exceptions). But the solution is not to disband the sytem but to reform it. Govt`s goal should be to provide Quality primary education for all at minimum cost to the public..(it would be better if
there are schemes like the mid-day meals to entice children to stick to school)..

Question to the author:

classrooms that are all-inclusive are practically non-existent in the villages of India. They in fact, perpetuate caste, keep Dalit kids out of the reckoning. ..

Do you have proof for this??.. We have reserved seats (22%) for Dalits in higher academic institutions (colleges) in every class for the last 60 years and a lot of people make use of it.. it implies that all those who got benefited have studied in cities / towns..
Maybe there needs to be a special category for ``rural Dalits``.. I am interested to know if there was any research behind it.. If the above statement is to attract westrern audience, ignore my question.. :-))

I`m thinking of making money some day by claiming how a lower caste guy like me got discriminated and came out successful after overcoming a lot of hardships to a ``receptive`` audience.. :-))

mohar11
Haven`t you flogged this particular dead horse enough already? Your commie strawman was funny for a while but now it`s getting boring. Commies are you kafirs or what?
China consistently understates its trade surplus. Nothing like we exported 200 b dollars worth more than we imported from the US, etc. Except perhaps with the japanese, china doesn`t go around telling everyone how big they are.

I see that we have another pakistani socialist advising us on how to improve india. Usually these guys tend to be rich and well-connected. Naturally, they feel they can lecture us coolies on how to improve themselves. They can also make reference to extremist publications like Frontline (home of Prafool Bidwai, N Ram and other comrades).


What these paki socialists forget is that indians have lived with socialist politicians for a long time. We have seen how they pamper their own constituency and how little interest they have in genuine change. We see them encourage privileged workers at airports and hospitals to demonstrate and destroy.

I agree that the issue is a practical one. It needs practical methods for solution. Why cannot we double the number of private schools? What is the constraint? Why cannot there be neighborhood groups that check everyday on the goverment schools? If the teachers are absent, why cannot there be a protest?

There are so many practical ways of making progress. I see NONE of them mentioned by Revathy. She may be well intentioned but nothing in her article suggests she has done anything more that complain. Sorry, that just isnt good enough...

Of course, rich hypocrites like HP are in a totally different category, a category inhabited by Arundhati Roy and the like....

Re: # 38
[....I don`t think the policies of the last 60 years resulted in complete disaster....]

There are silver linings of course.... but after 60 years of self-rule, if you still have something like 500 million unwashed poor roaming around - what do you call that? Most people will call that a ``disaster``....

we can count the blessings - even though some people accuse you of bragging, fantasy-land and such - but we have to move on.... the obstacles are many and they have to be removed, old failed ideologies have to be discarded....

Funnily tho mohar11, it`s the commies of china who are making a difference.
Chinese official: communism will succeed only when people are tired of bourgeoise, hence we are trying to create as many bourgeois as possible :)

Re: # 27
Netizen... I don`t think any private school in India would prevent Dalit children from joining if they could pay the fees. However private schools are expensive as we know. When my son attended school in Bombay I was paying something close to Rs 18,000 a year for a reputed ICSE school in kindergarten. Contrast this to me spending about Rs 120 per annum in a convent school in the same city 20 years earlier. ergo, not many Dalit children can attend these schools.

So who`s going to subsidise them? Many middle class people struggle to send their children to private schools so that they will have a better future. They go without little luxuries themselves. They will not subsidise the Dalit children and it would be unfair to ask them to.
So then who will?? The government. No school private school will permit that. It will mean government interference in the running of the schools.

So do you ask Industrial houses to set aside money for these children. They might , but then they might demand their pound of flesh. Admission quotas for their employees , kids etc....

I have friends who run a school in India where village children are taught. It`s in a place called Arasavanangkadu in Tamil Nadu. They depend on donors and they are doing quite well. However their teaching style is a little different but it is successful as they`ve been able to help kick start similar schools in other areas like Pondicherry etc..

That said I`m still not sure that Ms.Gopal is a leftist commie etc etc etc..........She wrote and article where she hasn`t blamed anybody. Just asked a few questions.

Re: # 39 soy

I was talking about individual chinese...... they brag when they get a chance and why shouldn`t they?....

if you think commie-issue is a ``dead horse`` - then I don`t know what to say.... obviously we have totally different read on the situation...:)).... and I would be happiest person if you were correct...

Re: # 43 sw
[....So then who will?? The government. No school private school will permit that. It will mean government interference in the running of the schools....]

A voucher program could work.... 60% paid by govt, 35% paid by the private schools [ some tax credits??], 5% [or a nominal fee] paid by the students....

At the same time - govt schools must be improved with massive infusion of funds with required change in delivery structure....

A holistic approach has to be taken.....

The author might be a `commie`, but the problem she raised is real.

Caste discrimination is still real and present in every walk of life. We have made some progress since Independence, but a lot more to be done on this front.

People blame Commies and Socialists for the rot in the country, but these very policies created a means for backward castes to progress. The Public sector and massive Buerocritization in the last 50 years have definitely held back the progress of India, but through the reservations in these Govt. controlled insititutions, generations of backward castes have managed to move up the social/economic ladder.

Now as we move away from Socialist economy to a Capitalist economy with all it`s accompanying features of Meritocracy, Flexible Labour laws etc. , this problem takes on a new dimension and becomes more acute.

How do we continue the make the path easier for Backward castes? We need to have an active policy (I prefer a non mandatory one) to increase the representation of Backward castes, while not endangering the competitiveness of our economy. Let`s not postpone the problem like some of the East Asian countries who ignored the social inequalities till a sufficient level of economic development had been achieved.

Thanks,
Avkrishna

Re: # 43

Sorry that should read ``wrote an article`` ,,,, used a conjunction instead. My bad......to use an Amrikanism

what is the efficacy of RSS run schools in tribal areas? there was a big stink a while back that they were raising a core of hindutva brigade.