As both Houses of Parliament remain paralysed amid the continuing standoff between the government and the Opposition, the second half of the Budget Session may turn out to be a washout. A sidebar to the conflict between the two sides is the widening of fissures within the Opposition ranks over the leadership of the Congress and Rahul. These developments are dominating the pages of the Urdu dailies as they bring their readers up to speed with their twists and turns.INQUILABCommenting on the gridlock in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha amid the face-off between the Narendra Modi-led BJP government and the Congress-led Opposition — with the BJP demanding an apology from Rahul Gandhi over his critique from the UK of the current state of democracy in India and the Opposition seeking the constitution of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe into the Adani affair — the New Delhi edition of Inquilab, in its editorial on March 18, says this is perhaps the first time that the Treasury benches are stalling the proceedings of Parliament. “When Rahul attended the House after returning from Britain, clarifications should have been sought from him, but it was not done, forcing him to address a press conference,” it states. Rahul said he has a right to respond to the allegations levelled against him by four ministers. ”Rahul told the press conference that he also met the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to convey his position, but the Speaker was non-committal and in his way he smiled,” the daily says.The editorial notes that while addressing various events in the UK Rahul had stuck to his allegation that the Opposition’s voice is being silenced in India under the current regime. “By not letting Rahul speak in the House, the ruling side is reinforcing his charge,” it says. “There is nothing in the remarks Rahul made abroad that could be labelled anti-India. It has already been pointed out that during his foreign visits PM Modi had made similarly critical remarks too.”The editorial says the Treasury benches seem to be bent on stonewalling a debate on the Adani issue. “This could be a bid to deflect attention so that the demand for a JPC probe is shot down,” it says. “However, in this standoff the advantage is with the Congress and Rahul, as the BJP is making its play trickier.”SIASATIn its editorial on March 19, the Hyderabad-based Siasat says that while the ruling BJP seems to have stepped up its campaign against the Opposition parties in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, especially moving to gun for Rahul Gandhi, the Opposition’s attempts to create a joint front against the BJP appear to be faltering. Although the Congress and Rahul himself have tried to downplay the question of their leadership of an Opposition amalgam, the BJP has managed to fuel suspicion in some regional parties that Rahul may emerge as the face of their front, the editorial states.The signals sent by West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and SP president and ex-UP CM Akhilesh Yadav following their meeting in Kolkata have reflected the cracks in the Opposition unity that would lead to brightening of the BJP’s prospects in the 2024 polls, the daily says.In a snub to the Congress, the TMC leadership and Akhilesh have announced their plan to remain equidistant from the BJP and the grand old party. “A section of the Opposition wants the Congress to lead their ranks against the BJP. Bihar CM and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar is at its forefront. However, another Opposition section comprising of leaders like Mamata, Akhilesh and Telangana CM and BRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao are batting for an anti-BJP front sans the Congress,” the edit notes. After her party’s dismal performance in Meghalaya and Tripura Assembly polls, Mamata had announced that she will go solo in the upcoming polls. But after her meeting with Akhilesh, the TMC has made it clear that she would be engaged in forging a non-BJP, non-Congress alliance, which may even get Odisha CM and BJD chief Naveen Patnaik on board.“Although several Opposition parties including the NCP, Shiv Sena (UBT), DMK, JD(U), RJD, JMM want the Congress’s inclusion in an anti-BJP front, the stand of major regional players like Mamata and Akhilesh have dealt a blow to the bid for a larger Opposition unity, which may undermine their efforts to defeat the BJP in 2024,” the edit says. “In this scenario, the Opposition should review the blueprint for their future course of action.”ROZNAMA RASHTRIYA SAHARAReferring to Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma’s remarks made while addressing a large gathering in Belagavi in the poll-bound Karnataka that he intends to shut down all madrasas in his state, the multi-edition Roznama Rashtriya Sahara, in its editorial on March 19, writes that Sarma is among thoseleaders who remain in the news owing to their various comments. Sarma told the Belagavi event that he has closed 600 madrasas in Assam, but his intention is to shut all madrasas because they are not needed in “New India” that needs schools, colleges and universities, the editorial says. “If Sarma has made these comments in view of the upcoming Karnataka polls it is another matter, but in a democratic country like India he has no right to decide what all the people need.”Underlining that PM Modi talks about “Sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas”, the editorial says CM Sarma’s remarks are at variance with it. “Sarma seems to be unaware of the role played by madrasas in strengthening India. They have played a key role in ensuring subsistence of many poor children, providing them free food and clothes along with education. And they have been ensuring this long before the mid-day meal scheme for school children was launched in the country in 1995,” it states. “Besides religious education, these madrasas should ensure modern education too so that it could benefit all children… The point also remains that less than five per cent of Indian Muslim children are enrolled in madrasas.”Noting that India’s literacy rate as per 2011 Census was 74 per cent, the daily asks Sarma about his plans to impart education to the rest of the population. A 2021 Unesco report said that India needs 11.16 lakh additional teachers to meet the current shortfall and that there are over 1.1 lakh single-teacher schools in the country, it says. “In December 2022, Assam education minister Ranoj Pegu had admitted lack of teachers as well as basic facilities like toilet, water and electricity in the state’s schools. In Assam, 2,979 schools are run by single-teacher, 15,161 are two teacher schools, and 8,207 are three-teacher schools,” the edit says. “Sarma should focus on solving these problems affecting Assam’s schools rather than targeting madrasas.”
As both Houses of Parliament remain paralysed amid the continuing standoff between the government and the Opposition, the second half of the Budget Session may turn out to be a washout. A sidebar to the conflict between the two sides is the widening of fissures within the Opposition ranks over the leadership of the Congress and Rahul. These developments are dominating the pages of the Urdu dailies as they bring their readers up to speed with their twists and turns.INQUILABCommenting on the gridlock in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha amid the face-off between the Narendra Modi-led BJP government and the Congress-led Opposition — with the BJP demanding an apology from Rahul Gandhi over his critique from the UK of the current state of democracy in India and the Opposition seeking the constitution of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe into the Adani affair — the New Delhi edition of Inquilab, in its editorial on March 18, says this is perhaps the first time that the Treasury benches are stalling the proceedings of Parliament. “When Rahul attended the House after returning from Britain, clarifications should have been sought from him, but it was not done, forcing him to address a press conference,” it states. Rahul said he has a right to respond to the allegations levelled against him by four ministers. ”Rahul told the press conference that he also met the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to convey his position, but the Speaker was non-committal and in his way he smiled,” the daily says.The editorial notes that while addressing various events in the UK Rahul had stuck to his allegation that the Opposition’s voice is being silenced in India under the current regime. “By not letting Rahul speak in the House, the ruling side is reinforcing his charge,” it says. “There is nothing in the remarks Rahul made abroad that could be labelled anti-India. It has already been pointed out that during his foreign visits PM Modi had made similarly critical remarks too.”The editorial says the Treasury benches seem to be bent on stonewalling a debate on the Adani issue. “This could be a bid to deflect attention so that the demand for a JPC probe is shot down,” it says. “However, in this standoff the advantage is with the Congress and Rahul, as the BJP is making its play trickier.”SIASATIn its editorial on March 19, the Hyderabad-based Siasat says that while the ruling BJP seems to have stepped up its campaign against the Opposition parties in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, especially moving to gun for Rahul Gandhi, the Opposition’s attempts to create a joint front against the BJP appear to be faltering. Although the Congress and Rahul himself have tried to downplay the question of their leadership of an Opposition amalgam, the BJP has managed to fuel suspicion in some regional parties that Rahul may emerge as the face of their front, the editorial states.The signals sent by West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and SP president and ex-UP CM Akhilesh Yadav following their meeting in Kolkata have reflected the cracks in the Opposition unity that would lead to brightening of the BJP’s prospects in the 2024 polls, the daily says.In a snub to the Congress, the TMC leadership and Akhilesh have announced their plan to remain equidistant from the BJP and the grand old party. “A section of the Opposition wants the Congress to lead their ranks against the BJP. Bihar CM and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar is at its forefront. However, another Opposition section comprising of leaders like Mamata, Akhilesh and Telangana CM and BRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao are batting for an anti-BJP front sans the Congress,” the edit notes. After her party’s dismal performance in Meghalaya and Tripura Assembly polls, Mamata had announced that she will go solo in the upcoming polls. But after her meeting with Akhilesh, the TMC has made it clear that she would be engaged in forging a non-BJP, non-Congress alliance, which may even get Odisha CM and BJD chief Naveen Patnaik on board.“Although several Opposition parties including the NCP, Shiv Sena (UBT), DMK, JD(U), RJD, JMM want the Congress’s inclusion in an anti-BJP front, the stand of major regional players like Mamata and Akhilesh have dealt a blow to the bid for a larger Opposition unity, which may undermine their efforts to defeat the BJP in 2024,” the edit says. “In this scenario, the Opposition should review the blueprint for their future course of action.”ROZNAMA RASHTRIYA SAHARAReferring to Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma’s remarks made while addressing a large gathering in Belagavi in the poll-bound Karnataka that he intends to shut down all madrasas in his state, the multi-edition Roznama Rashtriya Sahara, in its editorial on March 19, writes that Sarma is among thoseleaders who remain in the news owing to their various comments. Sarma told the Belagavi event that he has closed 600 madrasas in Assam, but his intention is to shut all madrasas because they are not needed in “New India” that needs schools, colleges and universities, the editorial says. “If Sarma has made these comments in view of the upcoming Karnataka polls it is another matter, but in a democratic country like India he has no right to decide what all the people need.”Underlining that PM Modi talks about “Sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas”, the editorial says CM Sarma’s remarks are at variance with it. “Sarma seems to be unaware of the role played by madrasas in strengthening India. They have played a key role in ensuring subsistence of many poor children, providing them free food and clothes along with education. And they have been ensuring this long before the mid-day meal scheme for school children was launched in the country in 1995,” it states. “Besides religious education, these madrasas should ensure modern education too so that it could benefit all children… The point also remains that less than five per cent of Indian Muslim children are enrolled in madrasas.”Noting that India’s literacy rate as per 2011 Census was 74 per cent, the daily asks Sarma about his plans to impart education to the rest of the population. A 2021 Unesco report said that India needs 11.16 lakh additional teachers to meet the current shortfall and that there are over 1.1 lakh single-teacher schools in the country, it says. “In December 2022, Assam education minister Ranoj Pegu had admitted lack of teachers as well as basic facilities like toilet, water and electricity in the state’s schools. In Assam, 2,979 schools are run by single-teacher, 15,161 are two teacher schools, and 8,207 are three-teacher schools,” the edit says. “Sarma should focus on solving these problems affecting Assam’s schools rather than targeting madrasas.”
AHMEDABAD: The committee to make changes in the rules of teachers’ transfers will hold a meeting on March 4. This will be the second meeting after the state government constituted the panel.Sources said that to address transfer-related issues of teachers and assistant teachers of government primary schools, the department had organized statewide camps in 2022 at district education offices and district primary education offices from October 20 to 29. After that the district-wise internal transfer camps were held in two phases. The first phase camps were held from November 2 to 20, 2022. The second phase started on November 23 and ended on December 2 last year.However, recently the state education department had made changes in the transfer rules which were opposed by the teachers and teachers had even approached the high court.Sources said that teachers who have been waiting for transfers for years to get transferred to their preferred locations did not agree with the new rules and about 270 petitions were filed in the court.To address teachers’ concerns, the state government constituted a 15-member committee which held its first meeting recently. Sources in the state education department said that the government has taken a serious note of the objections raised by the teachers and intends to address these issues.Sources said that during the first meeting the members discussed the objections raised by the teachers and also asked for suggestions.
AHMEDABAD: Among 18 major states in India in terms of population, Gujarat ranks 15th in the teacher-to-student ratio in primary classes. The state has one teacher per 30 students in primary (Classes 1 to 5) and 26 in upper primary sections (Classes 6 to 8), according to recently tabled data on the teacher-student ratio in India.To put the figures in perspective, the national average for both categories was 28 and 24, respectively. Gujarat fell behind the average, indicated the statistics. The state fared a bit better in the upper primary section by ranking 12th among 18 states.The figures were for the year 2021-22.In comparison, Rajasthan had one teacher per 26 students, Madhya Pradesh one per 25, and Maharashtra one per 22.Mahesh Joshi, director (primary education), told TOI that the figure does not consider the pravasi shikshak or ad-hoc teachers, numbering 9,000. "The state has about 1.71 lakh teachers, and no major vacancies exist. Moreover, the government norms require one teacher per 30 students in primary and one teacher per 35 students in the upper primary section. While we meet the requirement in the primary section, our ratio is better than recommended in upper primary," he said.But teacher unions and activists point out that the recent Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) highlighted the plight of students - only 52% of the students of Class 8 were able to read Class 2 textbooks. The experts termed it a learning loss due to two years of Covid, where the classes were in virtual mode.Learning loss is more acute in rural areas, and we need favourable policies for teachers to work in these areas. On-the-spot surveys and teacher assessment could be the way forward along with improving the teacher-to-student ratio," said an activist from Ahmedabad.
