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President Barack Obama speaking about the Change
in the year 2008 in an election rally. |
Is this the ‘Time to Change’ for us? India got its independence in the year 1947. From that time till today, what has changed? In the year 1947 we were 0.35 billion (35 crore), but today, we are 1.21 billion (121 crore). We were one of the best managed countries in the world in the last couple of decades under the British rule, but today, we are amongst the worst managed countries. Today, India is considered a dangerous country to live in. The scams galore in the last 3-4 years have badly hurt the exchequer. So, one cannot say that India has remained stagnant all these years. But, these changes are not healthy signs for our country, I repeat, for our country! American President Barack Obama once said, "Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek."
We are the people who have to bring this change, we are the youth, and we are the Generation Next and being the future, we have to rectify the system. Now, what this system means? The system signifies all of us (the 1.21 billion Indians). From the people residing in their bungalows to the people living in slums, from the people earning thousands of rupees per month to those earning below Rs.27 in the urban areas and those earning below Rs.23 in the rural areas, from those studying in the convents to those who have a zeal to see how a school looks from inside, from those eating hamburgers, pizzas to those not able to earn the livelihood; all are the part of the system! So, what should change and what role the youth has to play for those changes to take place is the real question.
Today, more than half of the population of our country is composed of the youth. The system, which I mentioned above, involves the ‘Political System’, the ‘Education System’ and the ‘Bureaucratic System’.
POLITICAL SYSTEM
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Results of the Census-2011 which shows the Population,
the Literacy level and the sex ration in India. |
Politics is the most annoying part of our present system. We, the common people, pay taxes with the thought in mind that the money we will pay will serve us back and much more. But, the Government finds that money insufficient for the developmental works and knocks the door of the World Bank for borrowings. It seems weird that even after paying huge amount in taxes we are still not being able to contribute fully for our development. The common man is the basic building block of our democratic system. He has the power to vote, but unfortunately, he can use that power only after 5 years and in these 5 years, he has to live on his own (without the power). He pays the taxes and when doesn’t find the clue where the money went murmurs famous poet Tennyson’s lines (slightly changed by me):
Mine is not to question ‘why?’,
Mine is but to pay (the taxes) and die!
The scams galore in the past 4 years have attenuated the image of our country internationally. However, we made the progress, but unfortunately, in the list of the most corrupt nations. Today, when the people talk of politics, they talk about the corruption, they talk about their links with the politicians, they talk about the bribe they paid to the so and so leader to get their work done and they talk about their approaches. Today, when the Politicians solicit the votes of the voters during the Election season, they promises the free laptops, the higher percentage of quota for so and so cast under the menace called reservation, the television sets etc. They have forgotten the basic agendas: food for the poor, education for the children, roads, water supply and, unfortunately, ‘etc’. Either they think that these problems have been sorted out or they want to change their oration matter. When the leaders discuss a topic in the parliament or on national news channels, they talk in such a manner as if they are the small children and their teacher (Hon’ble Speaker in Parliament and anchor in a news channel) is shouting on them to keep silence. When ‘Party A’ leader says, “Your leader did this”, the ‘Party B’ leader immediately retaliates, “Yours did that!” So, where the common man stands? The Politicians, by definition, are the representatives of the Common Man and these 'Common People' have given them the right to be called as the Politicians by exercising their vote.
The Political System needs urgent changes, or rather, I should say, improvements and the rectifications. Many of the leaders sitting in the parliament are having the Criminal charges on them and, still, their parties are interested in them and give them the party ticket. The Education norms for the people stepping in to politics should be a necessary criterion in the years to come, because, the education is the only characteristic trait of human beings that differentiates us from animals. Strict action should be initiated against those who found guilty and close eye should be kept on the Million dollar deals, which unfortunately had never been the case earlier.
EDUCATION SYSTEM
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Talk about the hygiene, the services and the Govt schemes,
all these are alien to these children. |
As I said earlier, the education is the only characteristic trait of ours that differentiates us from animals. Indian Education System is one of its kind and, probably, amongst the best ones in the world. Many countries have appreciated it and have shown their desire to implement the same in their own countries. When our country got its independence in the year 1947, out of the total population of 35 crore 83% were illiterate and a mere 25 lakhs were employed at that time. Today, the population is 121 crore and 74% are literate, that is, we have made a progress in the literacy level. But still, the unemployment is there. Why? The basic point is that school drop-out rate in India is quite high and the children do not complete their schooling. The country’s primary school enrollment is nearly 100 % which is remarkable. However, this good news overshadows a bad news too, which is that only half the kids who enrolled in Class 1st make it to Class 8th. This is reported by the National University of Education Planning and Administration (NUEPA) in a report released in the month of January, 2012. Most of these children dropping out of school ended up with practically no education at all. Another matter that has compounded the problem is the fact that even the school-going children are not learning enough. A recent report on the level of learning in rural schools shows that half of all children in Class 5th cannot read texts meant for Class 2nd students: two-third cannot solve a division sum.
The Government of India has invested a lot of money in Education. The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, the Uthan Saksharta Samiti have been established at the National level to educate the children as well as the adult living in the rural areas. The mid-day meals, free books, school dresses, satchels, shoes and bicycle, literally, everything is provided by the Government, but still, it is not showing up the results. The reason for this is the implementation of these schemes. Another reason can be that the Mid-Day meal is provided to the students till the 8th standard, so, after that they have no reason to come to the school. This is our misfortune that the money which the Government allots for the poor gets depreciated to a great extent in the process of its movement from top (Govt.) to bottom (Schools). The EDUSAT which was a very giant step forward by the Indian Government is lying in the locked stores in almost all the Government schools.
In 2010, the government brought into force the landmark Right To Education (RTE) Act, making it a child’s right to free and compulsory education in the Constitution. But the point is, the implementation of it is to be seen, because, all in vein if after the end of it all, the children are not benefited.
BUREAUCRATIC SYSTEM
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| India is among the most corrupt nations of the World. |
The most corrupted system today in India is the Bureaucratic System. Bureaucracy is like a cancer to the Indian Democratic System which is clawing the country in its hold and, unfortunately, we are neither having a provision of the prevention against it nor do we have the cure for it. The workers working under the Government are accountable to no one, practically speaking. They will do your work on their table, if you pay them a decent bribe under-the-table! This is the truth and certainly, a bitter truth.
The Bureaucratic System can only be improved if some pressure is created on the employs and strict provisions are made for handling the Corruption cases. There must be some accountability for these workers, so that, if they do not do their work correctly, the sufferers can complaint about them to those higher ranks. The Citizen’s Charter Bill can heal this system (Bureaucratic System) and, will surely; make its immune system better as well. The Bill makes it mandatory for every public department to publish a Citizens' Charter and address grievances within 30 days, failing which the official concerned would face action, including a fine of up to Rs.50,000 (to be recovered from his salary) and disciplinary proceedings. The charter seeks to make it mandatory for government officials to acknowledge complaints from people within two days of receipt.
We talk about the problem, we talk about the solution, what then? The system needs the healing and need it urgently. OK, healing done! What then? We, the common people, have to change as well. We have the Right to Vote and if we use this privilege of ours to pick up the best leader for us, most of the problem will get solved. We must remember that 'Prevention is Better than Cure' and these changes fall under the category of 'Cure'. If we change ourselves, we will 'Prevent' our system from these social infections and probably, or rather, surely, it will make our future better.
Amen!
