Thought for the day
"The English have all the material requisites for the
revolution. What they lack is the spirit of generalization and revolutionary
ardour."
-
Karl Marx (German, 1818-1883)
Word for the day
Ardour (adj)
Great warmth of feeling; fervor; passion:
(Source:
Dictionary.com)
Teaser for the day
Ajay Maken: Erapalli Prasanna sent
in to bat against Malcolm Marshall without any protective gears!
Reset the counter to zero
In past six months we heard Prime Minister giving inspirational
speeches around the world. His diligence, zest and devotion to work are already
part of folklore. He has taken noble initiatives like adoption of villages by
elected representatives and cleanliness drive. More admirably, he has
successfully skirted controversies. He has earned accolades from many
adversaries and established remarkably friendly relations with heads of states
of Japan, Britain, Australia, and US.
But could we say this about his team of ministers also? Besides
random stories of punctuality and business friendliness, we have not heard much
of a "Plan".
The business and investing community is waiting for the budget
with great hopes. The expectations are running sky high leaving Nil margin for
any disappointment.
However, if I were to assume that union budget prepared and
presented by finance ministry is an aggregation of the plans and ideas of all the
operating ministries of the government, I do not get a sense of any
revolutionary ideas coming through on February 28th. A few tax concessions here
and there, some procedural easing, and tons of rhetoric is all I would
anticipate.
Please note that so far not many ministers of the Modi
government have shown ability or willingness to take risk and make a fresh
beginning. All their proposals, ideas and plans are incremental in nature and
therefore not likely to usher any radical reforms.
Moreover, some of them appear constrained by their dogmatic and
parochial mindset. This may rake in frequent and avoidable controversies and
friction. Waste of valuable legislative time and energy due to this rhetorical
approach cannot be ruled out.
Now consider this. the primary function of HRD ministry is to
create and provide adequate infrastructure for development of human resources
and create an enabling environment that facilitate equitable access to such
infrastructure. It is not and should not be a function of the government to
decide what children should study. The government should focus on providing
facilities in schools to teach all relevant subjects and let the children
decide what they want to study.
Instead of engaging in meaningless rhetorical debate about
making Sanskrit and Yoga compulsory subject in schools, HRD minister should
focus on improving the standard of teaching in schools so that the middle class
parents could be saved from spending ridiculous amount of money on fee for "coaching
classes".
Another major reform could be get over colonial mindset
("schools are factories to produce obedient servants for the crown")
and eliminate the degree requirement for all jobs. Anyone who passes the
pre-employment qualification test should be eligible for the job irrespective
of his formal education.
In next few days, I would highlight my wish list of reforms in
various that government should focus on.
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