Our democracy is still in a stage of infancy. To say the least, it is still a prisoner of political high-handedness. Some political heavyweights do not hesitate to take the Government hostage to their selfish aggrandizement. We have a very clear-cut case of political high-handedness before us. Seventy-five inmates of Girls Gujjar Hostel in Rajouri were forced to shift to a private academy against their wishes and the wishes of their parents. It is astonishing that the Government is willing to give all facilities and incentives to the students especially of backward areas for pursuing their education yet on the other hand the district educational authorities become accomplices in promoting the selfish interests of politically influential people. We do not know anything of the compulsions of the District Education Office to approve shifting of the girl students to a private academy. We have reports that the Government pays the students a small sum of fifty rupees per day for meals and fifteen hundred rupees per year for uniform, shoes and books and bags. By shifting to a private academy, they will pay anything between 400 and 500 rupees per month to the private academy by way of monthly tuition fee. Thus, the politically influential person who has managed to rent his building to the Education Department on a fabulous amount of rent to the tune of 50,000 rupees a month will be getting the amount of tuition fee also from these 75 students now admitted to an academy owned by him.
On the face of it, this appears a clear case of favouritism and fraud. It is favouritism because one person is showered with many benefits and all that against the normal procedures. In this case, the Government should order inquiry by vigilance to find out the truth behind this clandestine maneuvering. A Government department cannot become the private property of a person howsoever powerful and influential he may be.
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel