First time after 1947 planned, time-bound education strategy for poor, backward minorities

By Firoz Bakht Ahmed*
How an efficacious idea is proposed, acted upon and finally accomplished in lime and brick structure, has exemplarily been shown by Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, the Minister for Minorities Affairs after he launched the report of the establishment of educational institutions for educationally backward minorities. Truly, for the first time, it was seen after 1947 that such a planned and time-bound educational strategy for the poor and backward minorities took a practical shape sans 70 years of mere lip service by the previous governments.
Naqvi stated that under the aegis of Maulana Azad Education Foundation as part of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of uplifting the backward minorities with any tag of appeasement with a view to empowering them, an 11 member committee joined the heads together in January 2017 and after a thorough research and interaction with a large number of academicians decided that among the minorities, it was the Muslim community that was found to be most backward and hence needed the state attention and intervention. Disparity was highest in rural areas for both boys and girls. The comparative difference of educational enrollment in all disciplines was alarmingly low.
The members of the committee included Afzal Amanullah, Prof S Iqbal Hasnain, Lt Gen Zameeruddin Shah, Shahid Siddiqui, Prof Talat Ahmad, Sirajuddin Qureshi, Firoz Bakht Ahmed Prof SN Pathan, Qamar Agha, Kulsoom Noor Saifullah and D Madhukar Naik. According to Madhukar Naik, joint secretary, Ministry of Minority Affairs, he 147-page report records the surveys conducted in the country’s densely populated minorities areas to prepare an action plan aimed at the strengthening of the school base of the minorities, to provide skill development courses and avenues of completing graduation to the minority students and to create opportunities for higher education for them. It also contains a detailed demography of the minority concentration areas to the minutest pocket anywhere in India.
According to the recommendation of the committee, christened as, “High Level Committee”, setting up of 211 Central Schools across the country (167 in minority dominant rural areas and 44 in cities ) is on cards. Incidentally, the first school under this plan will be inaugurated in Hyderabad tomorrow. From class 1 to 12, the schools will follow the CBSE curriculum with 30 students in each section. The states like UP and Rajasthan have already offered readymade designer and congenial buildings for these institutions.
Setting up of 25 Community Colleges all over India in tune with the 2012 UGC guidelines has also been started whose clientele will be the drop out students to train them in skills. Besides, those interested in continuing the education will have the option to credit/ non-credit courses in addition to the special option for higher education for degree courses.
Besides, 5 National Institutes of Excellence in the fields of Science and Technology, Health and Allied Sciences, Architecture, Planning and Design, Climate Change and Disaster Management, Renewable Energy and Food Security, will be the model seminaries in the days to come. These will be different from the usual IITs or IIMs based on the university system as excellence will be their watchword. These institutes, to be set up under the act of Parliament, will also offer programs of masters, doctoral and post doctoral levels. These will attract the best talent from within the country and abroad.
Naqvi also felicitated the civil Services toppers coached with the assistance of the Minority Ministry. While speaking about the Maulana Azad Foundation scholarships, Naqvi said that these scholarships will be for students of class 9 onward Apart from the usual scholarships, the girls enrolled under the scheme will also be offered an amount of fifty thousand rupees for their wedding, known as “Shadi Shagun” (wedding stipend). He also said that toilets in madrasas and the schools in the densely populated minority areas too will be built. lll
---

Commentator on social, heritage and religious issues, grandnephew of Maulana Azad

Comments

Importance of Bangladesh for India amidst 'growing might' of China in South Asia

By Samara Ashrat* The basic key factor behind the geopolitical importance of Bangladesh is its geographical location. The country shares land borders with Myanmar and India. Due to its geographical position, Bangladesh is a natural link between South Asia and Southeast Asia. The country is also a vital geopolitical ally to India, in that it has the potential to facilitate greater integration between Northeast India and Mainland India. Not only that, due to its open access to the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh has become significant to both China and the US.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

'BBC film shows only tip of iceberg': Sanjiv Bhatt's daughter speaks at top US press club

By Our Representative The United States' premier journalists' organisation, the National Press Club (NPC), has come down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for recent "attacks on journalists in India." Speaking at the screening of an episode of the BBC documentary “India: The Modi Question,” banned in India, in the club premises, NPC President Eileen O’Reilly said, “Since Modi came to power we have watched with frustration and disappointment as his regime has suppressed the rights of its citizens to a free and independent news media."

Chinese pressure? Left stateless, Rohingya crisis result of Myanmar citizenship law

By Dr Shakuntala Bhabani* A 22-member team of Myanmar immigration officials visited Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar to verify more than 400 Rohingya refugees as part of a pilot repatriation project. Does it hold out any hope for the forcibly displaced people to return to their ancestral homes in the Rakhine state of Myanmar? Only time will tell.

China ties up with India, Bangladesh to repatriate Rohingyas; Myanmar unwilling

By Harunur Rasid* We now have a new hope, thanks to news reports that were published in the Bangladeshi dailies recently. Myanmar has suddenly taken initiatives to repatriate Rohingyas. As part of this initiative, diplomats from eight countries posted in Yangon were flown to Rakhine last week. Among them were diplomats from Bangladesh, India and China.

Natural farming: Hamirpur leads the way to 'huge improvement' in nutrition, livelihood

By Bharat Dogra* Santosh is a dedicated farmer who along with his wife Chunni Devi worked very hard in recent months to convert a small patch of unproductive land into a lush green, multi-layer vegetable garden. This has ensured year-round supply of organically grown vegetables to his family as well as fetched several thousand rupees in cash sales.

Over-stressed? As Naveen Patnaik turns frail, Odisha 'moves closer' to leadership crisis

By Sudhansu R Das Not a single leader in Odisha is visible in the horizon who can replace Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. He has ruled Odisha for nearly two and half decades. His father, Biju Patnaik, had built Odisha; he was a daring pilot who saved the life of Indonesia’s Prime Minister Sjahrir and President Sukarno when the Dutch army blocked their exit.

Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, Ban Ki-moon, others ask Bangladesh PM to 'protect' Yunus

Counterview Desk A campaign has been launched to support Bangladesh-based economist, micro-finance guru and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, seeking signatures from citizens across the globe in order to “protect” his work, life and safety.

Electricity sharing opens up new window for India’s eastern neighbourhood engagement

By Sufian Asif* Today, challenges like climate change, pandemics, energy reliance, economic crisis, and many more are concerning us. No nation can overcome these obstacles without the assistance and collaboration of other nations. Most importantly, many of these problems have international repercussions. South Asia is facing much more difficulty when compared to other regions. In South Asia, we have some regional organizations, but they are ineffective.

Search This Blog