Fixing a minimum qualification for aspirants will help public representatives implement Central and State Governments developmental schemes more efficiently. This will also trigger a chain reaction ultimately raising Rajasthan’s educational profile and human development index
Should education be compromised for politicsIJ An Ordinance issues by the Rajasthan Government fixing minimum educational qualifications for political aspirants for berths in the three-tier Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) prods many to debate this point. It makes it mandatory that a contestant for panchayat samiti and district council election must have passed Class X; gaun sarpanch, class VIII; and in Scheduled Areas, Class V. Opposition parties have cried foul. The debate has also made headlines in the national media. What ideally must have been a welcome initiative, rational and modern India has seen the educational Ordinance conservatively through tunnel vision.
Politics has always dominated the grass-roots matters that bring reforms and social awakening in India. Political parties get divided and use these as their forte for vote banks. The same is being noticed with the Ordinance. Essentially, universalisation of basic education is a constitutional mandate. And Rajasthan is one of the least literate States in India. Given this background, having minimum educational norms for any political aspirant must be non-debatable in a 21st-century society.
The case of modern India is different though. Parties, intellects and media have seen the spectrum of education from political prism and have overlooked the necessity of it. The merits of education must prevail over politics, and it needs non-political, impartial and nuanced deliberations than anything else. When it particularly comes to a State like Rajasthan, the exclusivity of education and its standing must matter over other things.
Constitutionally, it is the State’s responsibility to provide compulsory education to children in the age bracket of 6-14 years. So how does the idea of establishing a minimum educational qualification for any person representing the masses arise in the first placeIJ local-level political leadership and education are interlinked and complementary. The decentralised Panchayati Raj Institutions were endowed with the responsibility of implementing various educational programmes along with other developmental schemes. The minimum educational requirement should, therefore, act as a thrust mechanism to promote education as a basic human right.
The Census of India, 2011, notes that the literacy rate of Rajasthan is the third-lowest (66.11 per cent) in the country after Arunachal Pradesh and Bihar. Female literacy in the State is the second-lowest (52.12 per cent) in the country, slightly better than Bihar. Only 46 per cent of the rural women are literate. Moreover, the male-female literacy gap is one of the highest, which is even more in case of rural population.
The literacy rate of Rajasthan is still less than the national average. However, the difference in India’s average total literacy rate and that of Rajasthan was 0.43 per cent in 2001 that has increased to 7 per cent in 2011. This indicates to the retarded progress in the literacy level in the State. Notably, only three districts out of 33 have literacy rate higher than the national average. Rajasthan also stands among the bottom states in terms of literacy rate of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. It may be contended that in a State with such dismal literacy record, implementing an Ordinance mandating minimum educational qualifications for political office is exclusionary for the disadvantaged sections and against the very spirit of introducing three-tier PRIs.
But it needs to be asked: should statistics prevent the Government of the day from introducing a progressive reform that may work as a catalyst to advance the educational standing of the StateIJ Rajasthan is not only backward educationally but is also far behind in terms of the human development index (HDI). The Indian Human Development Report (IHDR) 2011 records that Rajasthan is among the bottom States in terms of HDI in the period 1999/2000-2007/2008.
The matter also needs to be seen from the official and administrative course of Rajasthan. The number of reforms carried out by the State Government during the last few months has been higher than in the last few years. Stressing the proper implementation of the Right to Education (RTE) Act with focus on quality education and skill development is given priority in present State Education Policy. To ensure child-centered education system, the Government is stressing more on the learning outcomes and quality of education rather than infrastructure.
Giving the direct benefits to parents is a move to increase their participation and to improve the enrolment of children from economically weaker sections of society. The merits of these recent developments are combined with the State administration’s inability to improve the statistics in the last one decade that is highlighted in various surveys and reports. The girl’s dropout rate after elementary schooling is very high in Rajasthan. The disadvantaged and marginalised sections of the society show a dismal educational picture in terms of enrolment, access, retention and completion of basic compulsory education.
Another forward move, like having a toilet facility at home as a prerequisite to be qualified to contest an election in the State, has not seen political opposition. Also in Rajasthan, with some debates, candidates having more than two children are ineligible to contest for political office, just like Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Odisha. Even States like Uttarakhand and Bihar have implemented this law only for municipal elections.
If such a conditionality is accepted without contest, why not the requirement of basic educationIJ The minimum educational qualification Ordinance would not only raise the standard of local politicians, but will also help them get better acquainted with Government schemes and policies for more informed implementation.
At the same time, the conflicting views regarding the Ordinance are valid in the context that just a few months ago, the Rajasthan Government merged the highest number of government schools than any other State have done so far. The surprise move came at a point when, according to the National Sample Survey of Estimation of Out-of-School Children (OOSC) in the age bracket 6-13, Rajasthan is among the States with the highest percentage of OOSC, especially in the rural areas. The State also tops the chart with the highest percentage of Out-of-School girl children. The decision to merge around 17,000 Government schools indeed questions the administrative and executive accountability of the State Government in providing basic compulsory education and enhancing the State’s educational profile.
Nevertheless, the Ordinance in question puts the State’s action in the category of constructive transformation, by reaffirming the need of education through a political endeavour. Fixing a minimum educational qualification for political office can surely reinforce the overall educational efforts of the State. Bringing in people with some basic educational qualification into the political system of the State would certainly facilitate other training and awareness campaigns for elected representatives as well. Political acumen and judgment must prevail over political prejudices.
The Ordinance with regard to minimum educational qualification for contesting local elections in Rajasthan is principally a matter of reform that must set the example for many other reforms. This one of its kind move demands honest implementation. If implemented with adequate interests, this radical reform will certainly highlight the importance of universal education and help in enhancing the status of education in Rajasthan, especially in the disadvantaged areas.
(The writer is a Research Associate at the Institute for Transnational Studies (ITS), Italy, and also a doctoral candidate at the Department of Education and Community Service, Punjabi University, Punjab)