HIGHER EDUCATION UNDER THE UPA GOVERNMENT INCLUSIVE SLOGANS & DIVISIVE PRACTICES – Thomas Joseph

The character of the second UPA Government is substantially different from that of the first UPA Government. The first UPA Government was both supported and guided by the Left parties. The left could rein in the neo-liberal adventurism of the first UPA Government to some extent. It could successfully resist the attempts made by the then Government for disinvestment of profit making public sector units, privatization of the existing pension scheme and establishment of off-campus centres of foreign universities, to mention a few examples. It could also force the Government to implement a number of pro-people programmes like national rural employment scheme and waiver of agricultural debt. The Congress owes its electoral victory mainly to such initiatives it had undertaken at the instance of the Left. But the new Government has misunderstood the mandate of the people. It tends to interpret the mandate as a mandate for neo-liberal reforms. It seems to think that a few popular programmes and inclusive slogans could cover up the grossness of the anti-people reforms sought to be implemented by the Government.

The reforms being implemented in the educational sector are characteristic of this outlook of the second UPA Government. Despite serious draw backs like the non-inclusion of the children from 0 to 6 and 14 to 18, the Right to Education Act would bring about positive changes, if implemented meaningfully. At the same time, the Central Government appears to treat the Right to Education Act as a camouflage for the cancerous reforms being introduced in other sectors of education. It is this self- assurance that is reflected in various steps being taken by the MHRD to privatize and commercialize secondary education and higher education. Kapil Sibal, the Minister of Human Resources Development is on record as having stated that he would do to the education sectors in 2009 what Manmohan Singh did to the financial sector in 1991. The statement is surprisingly candid, coming as it is from a distinguished lawyer like Kapil Sibal. He has told the truth not necessarily because of a Gandhian  commitment to truth, but because has found it politically expedient to tell the truth. While Manmohan Singh had to introduce neo-liberal reforms in 1991 almost stealthily, Kapil Sibal could now do it openly, despite the negative impact of the policies on the vast majority of he people. At least two factors are responsible for this new development.

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