MANGALORE: Ritabrata Banerjee, national general secretary of the Students Federation of India (SFI), has alleged that deemed universities in the country are commercialising education.
Mr. Banerjee, who was here to take part in a camp for SFI members, told presspersons on Sunday that deemed universities had become business centres and did not cater for the educational needs of the poor. Chhattisgarh had become the hub of deemed universities, he said and added that the grants to these universities should be stopped, as recommended by the Yash Pal Committee.
He sought implementation of the committee’s recent report on improving higher education (the committee had recommended, among other things, abolition of the deemed university concept and conversion of a few deserving deemed universities into full-fledged ones).
Only nine per cent of Indians pursued higher education whereas the global average was 20 per cent. Even in Africa, the rate was 20 per cent he pointed out and demanded that the Centre earmark six per cent of budgetary allocations for education.
Mr. Banerjee charged the BJP with ‘saffronising’ education in the States ruled by it. History textbooks were being altered systematically in Karnataka, Jharkhand and Rajasthan, he said and sought a comprehensive legislation to regulate fee structure, admission process, and the curriculum. While more and more women from minority communities were taking to higher education of late, surreptitious efforts were on to keep them away from the mainstream. The SFI was against the ‘saffronisation’ of education, he said.
Mr. Banerjee opposed the Bill on Foreign Education Providers by stating that under this Bill, the Government was trying to open up the education market in the country to foreign universities. If the Bill were to be implemented, a situation might arise where foreign universities would convert India into an education market without Government control.
The SFI had succeeded in preventing the Government from passing this Bill in the past 10 years, he claimed. H.R. Naveen Kumar, president of the State unit of the SFI, alleged that the Karnataka Government was ‘saffronising” education by privatising the mid-day meal scheme. Thousands of poor women employed in preparing food were being rendered jobless, he said.
1 Sept 2009
Central team visits rain-hit areas in Udupi district
Udupi: A team of officials from the Union Government visited areas affected by heavy rain and sea erosion in Udupi district on Monday.
The team visited the completely damaged house of Jalaja Poojarti in the Puttur area here. Ms. Poojarti’s granddaughter Jyoti, a PUC student, told the team that the house was damaged by heavy rain on July 20. The family had received compensation of Rs. 25,000, she said.
The team members asked Deputy Commissioner P. Hemalatha if some relief could be provided under the Ashraya scheme.
Ms. Hemalatha said that she would have to check whether further relief could be provided under the urban Ashraya scheme.
The pathetic condition of Ms. Poojarti’s house was there for all to see. The walls of Ms. Poojarti’s house have collapsed. Many utensils and household items have been kept outside the house. Ms. Poojarti lives with her daughter Vasanti, granddaughter Jyoti, and grandson Gangadhar. An official said that the family of Ms. Poojarti was below the poverty line (BPL).
Earlier, Ms. Poojarti told presspersons that the authorities should pay her adequate compensation to get her house properly repaired. She and her family members were now living in a relative’s house. An emotional Ms. Poojarti broke down many times while explaining the condition of her house and family.
“My daughter Vasanti works as a labourer. Our financial condition is bad. There are no foodgrains in my house,” she said. The Central team, comprising Joint Secretary in the Home Ministry B. Bhamathi; Joint Director of Rural Development, New Delhi, P. Manoj Kumar; and Senior Research Officer in the Planning Commission R.K. Sharma; along with Superintending Engineer, Public Works Department, Bangalore, C.R. Gangadhar; and Ms. Hemalatha, visited Siddapur, Belve, Halady, Ulloor, Shankarnarayana, Kundapur, Aroor, Udupi-Puttur, Udyavar, Padukere, Bada,
The team visited the completely damaged house of Jalaja Poojarti in the Puttur area here. Ms. Poojarti’s granddaughter Jyoti, a PUC student, told the team that the house was damaged by heavy rain on July 20. The family had received compensation of Rs. 25,000, she said.
The team members asked Deputy Commissioner P. Hemalatha if some relief could be provided under the Ashraya scheme.
Ms. Hemalatha said that she would have to check whether further relief could be provided under the urban Ashraya scheme.
The pathetic condition of Ms. Poojarti’s house was there for all to see. The walls of Ms. Poojarti’s house have collapsed. Many utensils and household items have been kept outside the house. Ms. Poojarti lives with her daughter Vasanti, granddaughter Jyoti, and grandson Gangadhar. An official said that the family of Ms. Poojarti was below the poverty line (BPL).
Earlier, Ms. Poojarti told presspersons that the authorities should pay her adequate compensation to get her house properly repaired. She and her family members were now living in a relative’s house. An emotional Ms. Poojarti broke down many times while explaining the condition of her house and family.
“My daughter Vasanti works as a labourer. Our financial condition is bad. There are no foodgrains in my house,” she said. The Central team, comprising Joint Secretary in the Home Ministry B. Bhamathi; Joint Director of Rural Development, New Delhi, P. Manoj Kumar; and Senior Research Officer in the Planning Commission R.K. Sharma; along with Superintending Engineer, Public Works Department, Bangalore, C.R. Gangadhar; and Ms. Hemalatha, visited Siddapur, Belve, Halady, Ulloor, Shankarnarayana, Kundapur, Aroor, Udupi-Puttur, Udyavar, Padukere, Bada,
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