THE INVISIBLE HAND IN CORRUPTION

This article picks up from where the last article ended. It is another example of the hypocrisy of the Indian elite classes. The issue of corruption is one that frequently pops up in many debates and discussions in the media and in other elite circles of society. I am quiet frankly dismayed over the criticism that is constantly showered on the “ruling class”, the bureaucracy and the political class, for the prevalence of widespread corruption in India. It seems like a lot of people are forgetting the fact that there are 2 hands involved in corruption and that the source of corruption is as much responsible for the existence of the phenomenon as the destination. Somehow in the eyes of most of these critics it appears as if one of the hands, that of the source, is often invisible. However it is not too difficult to understand this partial blindness exhibited by a majority of the elite classes. They fail to recognize the source of corruption because this social evil actually emanates from the urban elite themselves. In fact, it is extremely ironic that the people who are directly responsible for the perpetration and the prevalence of corruption in India are also its most vehement critics.

Let me cite a couple of examples to make my point clear. First let me consider one case of corruption which we get to see fairly regularly almost on a day to day basis virtually anywhere in the country. Take the example of the traffic constable. Here is a person who spends ten hours everyday in the heat, the dust, the pollution and the traffic daring harsh weather only to make a meager sum of money which fails to ensure a decent life for him and his family. I think this situation of his along with the power that is vested in him prompts him to misuse the power for personal monetary gains and considering his pathetic situation it seems quiet justified particularly when you also factor in his lack of quality education which restricts his knowledge and hence makes him too ignorant to contemplate/understand the consequences of his actions on society at large. On the other hand we have the “bade baap ke bigde bete” driving air-conditioned cars and sports bikes violating traffic rules and bribing the traffic police in a bid to save a few hundred bucks.

In fact bribing the traffic police is actually considered “cool” and any person who has any principles and thus, offers to pay the legal fine is perceived to be foolish among his peers. These are individuals who are educated in esteemed institutions and are well aware of the ramifications that their actions would have on society as a whole. Undoubtedly, they are the source of corruption in this case. However, the person who is always criticized most is the poor traffic constable who fails to provide a good livelihood for his family despite the kick-backs that he receives and the people who indulge in such criticism are those affluent individuals belonging to elite social circles who are actually the source of corruption in this case. Such acts committed by the affluent classes inculcate a culture of corruption in the minds of the bureaucratic class which leads to exploitation of the poorer sections of society. Ironically again, it is the people who not only can very well afford to live with corruption but also are the perpetrators of corruption who complain a lot more than those who are woefully exploited by this culture which is the creation of the elite classes.

Next, consider the case of more high profile corruption which exists in higher bureaucratic offices and which is not readily visible to most people. Take the case of the export driven industries and businesses in India. These are some of the most ill-managed businesses in the country. When the global scenario is rosy and the domestic currency is reeling under pressure, these industries make big bucks. The finances they make during these rosy periods are not effectively used to shield themselves from global shocks. Hence, when the global situation turns pathetic, they are left in the rain because of their incapability to hedge their risks. The industries which make huge profits at certain periods and pay fat pay-checks to their top executives fail to hedge their risks for difficult times and therefore, when the difficult times arise they seek solace from the government. They demand tax breaks and stimulus packages from taxpayer money to cover for extremely short-sighted managerial failures.

In these cases, the ruling class is virtually doing a favor to this section of the capitalist society and hence, expects to draw its pound of flesh in the form of kick-backs or favors from these large corporate houses in the form of election or party funding. This is precisely what happens, for example, with the gems and jewelry export lobby. This industry is protected by the government by providing them with undue and unfair advantages which hurt the average tax-payer and they in turn fund political outfits during elections. In this case as well, the blame squarely lies with the affluent classes of society just as in the earlier case. However, these corporate houses are the first to criticize the inefficiency and the rampant corruption which exist in the governing classes, virtually blinded of the fact that the practice of corruption stems from within them and that they are the sources of this culture which is devouring this nation. These cases cited reveal that in matters of corruption, it is the invisible hand in corruption which fuels this menace much more than the visible hand.

URBAN PSYCHE AND SYMBOLISM IN INDIA

After all the noise that has been made by a myriad of organizations about the importance of voting particularly in relation to the urban educated middle class, after all the awareness campaigns run by organizations like Jaago Re and all the media buzz around the ongoing elections and media campaigns on the importance of voting by the Times Group and other organizations, after all the drama surrounding outrage over terror and the rise of the “independents” one obviously expected that the urban, educated, middle-class voter will finally be “awakened” and will realize that voting is not just his right but also his responsibility, that the least he can do for the nation is to get out and vote. But hey, when have we ever carried out any of our social responsibilities effectively and why should this one be any different. The recently concluded second phase of elections have revealed that Bangalore and Pune, the constituencies with the maximum number of urban, educated, middle-class voters, have registered a voter turnout of 46% compared to the average second phase voter turnout of close to 70%.

All the elusive mirages and glass houses that one built around the “conscience of the educated, urban voter” have been shattered. With the voter turnout, were also shattered the dreams and aspirations of all those high profile independent candidates we talked about earlier because of their over reliance on the urban educated middle class vote. Dr. Narayana Murthy rightly pointed out that we are a nation which considers articulation as accomplishment. This is most true particularly for the urban educated population, which is why most independent candidates despite having done little to prove their mettle by way of social or public service expected to garner a sizeable chunk of the votes from this section of society merely by articulating their views and opinions in a fancy manner. We are a nation which has consistently indulged in preaching what we never practice barring a few exceptional individuals who have led by example like Mahatma Gandhi and Babasaheb Ambedkar.

We as a nation and as a people are incapable of relating to the difficulties of another human being. Perhaps this is not actually restricted to Indians alone. While pondering about a rather unrelated political issue I contrived of an unusual relationship between the psyche of the educated elite of India and “symbolism” or “preaching what we never practice” or “placing articulation over accomplishment” or hypocrisy. The issue I was thinking about was that of reservation for women in parliament, which is an issue that has consumed considerable bandwidth of the political class and the media. I was wondering why India with nearly 50% women population must have only 33% reservation for women in politics and why not 50%. Perhaps, we should have 2 members of parliament from each constituency, one a man and the other a woman. In the midst of all this I asked myself how this would help the women of India.

The only answer I could find is that even if we provide 100% reservation for women in parliament, only 500 odd women would actually be empowered and uplifted in a nation of over 500 million women. This is utter symbolism and hypocrisy. Strangely it is only in urban educated circles that such debates are given importance. The rural poor voter could not care less about issues such as this as they do not in any way affect their lives and livelihood. Also, despite these debates doing the rounds for many years now, no steps what so ever have been taken in regard to this issue which points to the nature of placing articulation over accomplishment. One defense sought in favor of this policy is usually that women parliamentarians would relate to the problems of their less fortunate counterparts and work for their upliftment. Facts, however, do not substantiate this argument.

We have had many constituencies in India which have consistently elected a “backward caste” representative and yet, the situation of these “backward castes” in those constituencies is in no way better than in any other neighboring constituency. Many constituencies have also had many women representatives and yet, the women in those constituencies are in no way better off than other women. Many constituencies have had representatives from humble backgrounds and yet none of them have witnessed any significant poverty eradication, barring of course the economic upliftment of their “representative”. It seems obvious; therefore, that reservation for women in parliament would empower and uplift 500 women but do nothing for the remaining 500 million women. This is precisely why this issue is never a poll issue in rural constituencies. It is only debated among urban elite, who in any case do not vote and merely indulge in rhetoric.

But perhaps there is a larger “human nature” at work here behind the indifference exhibited by urban educated middle class individuals towards real socio-economic and political issues. Even a person who has himself experienced the sufferings caused by poverty, after becoming rich, does not care much about the apathy of those who continue to survive in poverty. He is more concerned with reveling in his new found exclusivity. “Rich” and “poor” are relative terms and the existence of the poor is imperative for the existence of the rich. Hence, in all likelihood, the poor person who has been uplifted from poverty would tend to work to maintain the status quo rather than to uplift others in order to retain that exclusivity which gives him superiority over others. If everybody in the world possessed diamonds then diamonds would cease to be precious, wouldn’t they. This is perhaps what makes the people sitting in air conditioned rooms watching IPL on a plasma TV indifferent to the sufferings of the poor and deprived. We watch the sufferings on TV and we say “oh my god!” and we get back to eating our dinner and go to bed.

A similar example of hypocrisy and symbolism can be witnessed in events surrounding the latest on-campus deaths of students in schools and colleges due to various reasons. The only people seen actively and publicly voicing dissent are the near and dear of those who are directly involved in the tragedies and perhaps a few social activists. The same individuals never took to the streets when a similar thing happened in someone else’s family. Also, when such incidents occur, the only thing we are interested in doing is playing the “blame game”. No one is actually interested in addressing the larger concerns of systemic failure, review and reform. All they seek is “closure” without understanding that there can be no closure in life. So perhaps the only way to make a majority of the population relate to the sufferings of others is to subject them to similar suffering. Actually, even then, perhaps, instead of fighting it out they will blame and curse everyone else except themselves for the situation they are in and thus seek “closure”.

Elections and Inflation

This is about a thought i got recently, though it seems a bit off or crazy. Eventhough the Inflation has been on the brink of going onto the negative side for the past One and Half month (it touched 0.27% by the end of March 14th), it still is clinging on to the positive values (0.26% ending April 18th). Many analysts are infact surprised by this behavior....

      http://www.myiris.com/newsCentre/storyShow.php?fileR=20090424115644194&dir=2009/04/24&secID=livenews&code1=&code=

I just thought that the reason for this might be Elections. Yup! Elections and Campaigning. Well, here goes my reasoning for this....

As i am sure, it is an open secret that the money political parties get for their campaigning is not only from their coffers in Switzerland but a majpr chunk of it is also from the Corporate world (though illicitly) . Many corporates in India have actually come out openly against it recently....

           http://news.in.msn.com/national/indiaelections2009/article.aspx?cp-documentid=2464648

Well, we are talking about the Bajaj's and the Tata's over here in the article. What about the small vendors and business men all over India? Can they afford to come open like this? Even they are not spared from this arm twisting...

I actually got this idea when i was talking to a shop keeper. He was actually worried about the very existence of the General Stores in the future :). Poor chap...

The prices of all the basic amenities have increased, even those items which have a MRP, in my case its fags :D. When i asked him why he is charging more, he simply said that he can't help it, he himself is being charged more as the vendors who are selling him the goods also had to pay money for the campaining...

The vendors and small business men are forced to pay money for the campaigning, which inturn leads to increase in the prices of all the goods they are selling. Actually its these small time vendors and business men who are worst effected. They are forced to pay each and every candidate fielded by the parties; as they dont want to be in the bad books of any political party.

Well, so.. whats happening over here???

The campagning and the funding required for the elections have actually indirectly increased the prices of all the goods and amenities, which helped us in keeping the Inflation above Zero!!! Yeah, i know that the inflation includes a lot of factors that the lame man doesn't know that well. But, i am sure that this will have an impact on it, however minute it may be. So...

          The Elections and our Politicians have helped the Ecomony by keeping the Inflation Positive. :P

Now, the politicians and their parties have another angle in which they can say they are helping the country and the economy :D. Whichever party has taken most funding illicitly from the coprporates has helped the economy the most :P. Another way to boost their chances in the elections :P...

Just a sarcastic take on how things are happening.. but i still feel that its worth pondering over...

Basic Common Sense

So let me start with a question to showcase our common sense...

Q) Which of the following is the right thing to do while going on the roads?

a) Stop -> Look -> Proceed

b) Proceed -> Look -> Stop

Yeah, i know that ALL of us will choose option A on the paper, but how many of us implement it on roads? Well, i don't know about you guys, but more than 95% of the people in our city actually follow option B while driving.

So this is going to be my premise in this post, how sensibly do we behave on roads!!!

I would really like to know what goes through people's mind when they do what they do; Let me just show you the example of what i've seen just five minutes back...

I really can't understand why he is driving like that. Is is because of arrogance or ignorance or senselessness or stupidity or a mixture of all these :P. Again, if another person drives like this in front of him, i am sure he would bad-mouth the other person.

Actually, I do have a reason to support this behavior...

All the four wheelers are supposed to go to ride at the center of the road while the two and three wheelers are supposed to be to the left of the road. :D

Even though he can still come to my right as i was on a Two-wheeler, the above statement not only supports this auto-wallah but also other many others in situations like this...

Or like this... :D


See what i mean, its not like these guys are irresponsible or senseless; its just that we dont understand them, Poor Chaos :P.

Sorry if my sense of humor is not of your taste, I just had to think of a REALLY dumb reason to explain this dumb behavior. Well, the word DUMB would have sufficed if it was just at this level, but as we all know people take it to the next level. Like this...
:P This might look like an exaggeration to some of you, but i have actually seen people doing this quite frequently, this is heights of............... I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY. Its funny and frustrating at the same time. :)

And mix all this stupidity or whatever u wanna call it... with different people having different mindset...

> Old people going at 20 kmph in the middle of the road and actually trying to break traffic signals!!! :(

> Teenagers cutting their bikes on road as if they want to have a look at their butt.. and most of them actually don't have a license.

> Women (Most of them at least) getting scared at each and every sound of a horn.

> Middle aged men (especially on scooters), not even turning their necks to check if their is any vehicle that they are about to hit.

> People crossing the roads suddenly start running when they see a vehicle coming towards them. (Seriously can't figure out why they can't wait for a single second).

> Cars, especially travels and taxi drivers, driving as if its a bike...

>Last but not the least, Auto and Bus Drivers (Actually govt workers!!!) driving as if they own the roads!!!

Its total CHAOS once we get out of our office or home...

People who are thinking "Seriously..." I just have a request...

Please make sure you are not one of them!!! If you are already now, Great... That's all

This is my first post.. hope you've liked it

Signing off.....

Rahul

P.S: Even though the previous posts are shown as posted by me, they are written by Hydra/Venkat.

P.S 2: The most comic scene on the road...

"An auto trying to overtake another!!!"

Seriously guys, check it out once if u haven't, you will laugh your heart out.

THE RISE OF THE “INDEPENDENTS”

The 2009 Lok Sabha elections in many constituencies are witnessing an unprecedented number of high-profile independent candidates. Though I understand the sentiments and appreciate the intent of these high-profile independent candidates, I can’t stay away from asking whether they are doing the right thing and whether they are going about it in the right manner. First of all, some of these candidates are taking a sabbatical from their usual corporate jobs in order to contest an election sending out the message that perhaps this is a mere fling. If it is indeed a fling then they can go about it whichever way they wish to but if it isn’t then my view is that they are going about it in the wrong way.

It is possible that a myriad of factors ranging from the inspirational “change – yes, we can” campaign successes of Barack Obama to the shocking 26/11 attacks in Mumbai might have inspired these candidates to take the leap into politics, if indeed this is a “leap”. “Politics” can be defined in many ways. I define it as public service. There are a few things that these candidates need to come to terms with. Firstly, public service is not a part-time job. If they are serious about it, they need to devote their entire life to public service. Secondly, change does not happen overnight. They must be prepared to put in a lifetime in order to inspire or initiate change.

Take the example of the USA and Barack Obama. The fight against racial discrimination in America started with Abraham Lincoln well over a century ago and that change has not yet been achieved, despite the symbolic significance of the election of the first black president. One needs to know that 12% of the black male population in the US is in prison while this figure is perhaps 1-2% for whites. In some neighborhoods in the US, 1 in every 3 black men between 18 and 35 is in prison. The election of Obama is only a significant milestone on the long road to change which may take another century to fully materialize. The situation is not very different in case of India either.

Taking sabbaticals from well paying jobs to contest elections suggests that when (not “if”) they lose, they will go back to their air conditioned offices and fancy board rooms. Public service requires a greater commitment than a 2 month sabbatical. Also, these candidates seem to be expressing extreme confidence derived from the fact that the public is unhappy with the current political class. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the public thinks that these independents are a better, more competent and committed alternative. Talking and doing are two different things. I can bet none of these candidates are even fully aware of the constitution and of other governing machineries like the functioning of the executive.

They might argue that neither are the current politicians but that is no defense. When you are fighting them saying that you are different, you need to exhibit that difference. Being fully aware of the law, the constitution and the executive machinery would be a good place to start. The point is that just the fact that the current leaders are incompetent or ill-willed doesn’t make you trustworthy and competent. You need to prove before-hand that you are capable of bringing about change particularly when you do not have any loyal vote-banks. You have to prove yourself in social service and public service. A Lok Sabha constituency is not a low-cost airline firm or a branch office of a foreign bank. You might say none of the current politicians do this but then isn’t that what you are fighting against.

If they are serious about inspiring change in a society, once they lose the current elections, instead of going back to air-conditioned offices and boardrooms, they need to go back to the people. For the next 5 years they need to approach the people, talk to them and find out about their problems. They need to suggest ways in which the people can solve their own problems. If this is not possible, they must act as representatives of these people and approach the concerned authorities, bureaucratic or political, in order to report the problems that exist in various localities. They need to use the media effectively by writing articles in dailies about the problems faced by the people in the constituency in order to make the political class sit up and take notice.

They need to approach NGOs and social service organizations for help with various problems in regard to civic amenities or infrastructure or education and health care. Admittedly, only a few problems can be solved in 5 years in this manner. However, this will help them secure many more votes in the next election though in all likelihood not enough to win. After losing again, they must go back again to the people and offer to solve more of their problems in the next 5 years. This way, after a decade or two, they will surely garner enough support to get elected to the Lok Sabha and even during this period, despite not being in a position of power or authority, would have brought about significant change and acquired adequate knowledge about the nature of problems faced by the people and what approach to adopt in order to solve such problems effectively.

Once in power, with adequate knowledge and with substantial funds at their disposal, significant change can be brought about in a single 5 year term. This way, in a period of 20-25 years, one can bring about the change that one wishes to see. Patience, perseverance, dedication and a long-term, full-time commitment to public service are essential to bring about change. Taking mere sabbaticals for a couple of months in order to fight elections sends out the wrong message that one is not serious or committed to the cause and that this gesture is merely symbolic. If these high-profile independent candidates are serious and committed to bring about change, they need to take the “plunge” into public service and not merely “test the waters” with such symbolic gestures. You cannot convince yourself or anyone else that you tried sincerely by saying “I contested and lost. What else can I do?” Losing is only the first step.

Government and Primary Education

Let’s shift focus back now to the issue of government’s role in primary and secondary education. This is one area that has been grossly neglected by successive governments while it is also the one area where any government is supposed to play a pivotal and more active role. While India produces a substantially higher number of graduates and post graduates that our communist neighbor China, the literacy rate and the number of children availing basic primary and secondary education is far lower than China. This highlights the stark inequalities and injustices which exist in India’s educational system and government policies. It makes absolutely no sense why, despite these inequalities, governments have always taken a keen interest in higher education while exhibiting a blatant disregard for the vast illiterate population of India who are in desperate need of basic primary and secondary education. Perhaps it is because neither the media nor the general public regards this as an issue of utmost importance.

Before moving on to the immediate steps which are required to be taken on behalf of the government on this issue, it is important to understand the challenges they face. A majority of the illiterate and uneducated population of this country is comprised of the rural poor. The extreme poverty of these families leaves them with no choice but to use their children as commodities. At an early age children are sent off to work as domestic helps or as agricultural or construction laborers. As a matter of fact the number of children in rural poor households is usually quiet high because children are viewed as a potential source of income to the family.

This is precisely why, despite the existence of government schools in villages, the rural poor are hesitant to send their kids to school. Of course, there are other issues such as the pathetic infrastructure and faculty available at such rural government schools and the irresponsibility of the faculty appointed, which act as added deterrents. Also, most government schools in villages provide education only till class 5 beyond which, if the child is interested in studying, he would have to travel many miles in order to attend the closest government high school which is usually located only in prominent towns.

Education must be a basic right which no individual can be denied. The quality of government schools must be rapidly enhanced to levels which rival their private counterparts. As a matter of fact there must not be any private schools in the first place. All the private schools in the country offering education from class 1 to class 10 must be completely nationalized. The distribution of schools in the country must be altered based on the population distribution so that students do not need to commute hundreds of kilometers in order to study in a good school. The quality of education in all schools must be on par with the quality that currently exists in the best of private schools in the country. Well, qualified teachers must be recruited and trained by the government. They must be offered a respectable salary in line with that offered currently in private schools. Strict rules pertaining to attendance and other disciplinary issues must be framed for the teachers to follow and a discipline-performance based pay scale must be prescribed.

The fee charged for the students must be proportional to their family income while also taking into account other variables/factors such as the sources of income, existing wealth or property reserves, number of dependent members in the family, etc. For students belonging to BPL (below poverty line) families, tuition, books, clothing and food should be provided free of cost while also offering a nominal stipend of about 1000 rupees a month for each student. This way, the amount they make by coming to school would exceed what they might earn working as domestic helps or as agricultural laborers, which would be incentive enough to convince their families to send them to school. Of course, the stipend will be offered only if a stipulated minimum attendance criterion is met.

Division of society on the basis of financial circumstances of families must be revised. The current definition for BPL families is obsolete and outdated. These must be revised immediately. It is acknowledged in various circles that 10% of this country possesses 90% of its wealth, so it would only be fair that this 10% also bears the expenses of 90% of the country. A large proportion of government work force must be deployed to ensure effective functioning of the primary and secondary education system in India. A large work force will be necessary in order to keep a track on the financial health of each and every family in India. The issues of implementation and budgetary concerns or allocations for such policies will be discussed in ample detail in the following chapters.

Media

Moving on now to the more important segment of education, primary and secondary education, where the government is required to don a more active role. Since independence, this remains one area of social governance that has been grossly neglected by successive governments and, to a large extent by the media and the general public as well. At this point in time, let me depart from the issue at hand, in order to discuss the role of the media in a democratic society. It is widely claimed that the 3 pillars of a democratic system are the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. However, in my view the most important fourth pillar of democracy, which is essential for its smooth functioning, is a responsible media. If the 3 lions which are visible on the Indian national emblem represent the legislative, the judiciary and the executive, the hidden 4^th lion is mass media. The media, particularly the electronic media, in India is rapidly deteriorating into a tamasha. Freedom of the press is being blatantly misused, especially since the establishment of dedicated “24 hr news channels”.

The self regulation of media houses, which is professed and practised in the west, is absent in India. The gross undermining of the important socio-economic and political issues by the media is exemplified by the fact that on the day of the IPL auctions, most “24 hr news channels” gave close to 12 hours of coverage to the great capitalist tamasha of India namely the IPL auctions. While India is burning with issues such as communalism, terrorism, international tensions, domestic inequality, oppression, injustice and rampant corruption, the mass electronic media devotes half its time to report about a bunch of sleazy, insanely rich “Indians” indulging in an extravagant and shameless display of their wealth, paying millions to people whose only talent involves throwing a ball or wielding a willow in expectation of much greater returns on their investments, while the average Indian is burdened by poverty, hunger, unemployment and illiteracy.

This is just one of the hundreds of examples one can provide to highlight the irresponsibility of the electronic media. This is laughable. In Maharashtra, hundreds of thousands of farmers have committed suicide and are still doing so, while one industrialist is reported to have built a 40-storey building for his residence. I can say with certainty that the electronic media probably devotes at least 5 news headlines in a single day to the works of this industrialist whereas those hundreds of thousands of farmers are remembered by the media perhaps once in 5 years, most likely before an election. “Slumdog Millionaire” gets virtually 24 hr non-stop coverage whereas the slum-dwellers of Mumbai are conveniently forgotten in all this glitz and glam. India, perhaps more than any other nation, desperately needs a responsible, efficient and accountable media. The behaviour of the print media is also slowly but surely becoming lax as they are forced to keep up with their more glamorous counterparts in the endeavour to profit at all costs.

The problem primarily stems from the fact that these “24 hr news channels” believe that they are supposed to telecast only news for 24 hrs a day. Hence, any event no matter how trivial or unimportant is sensationalized by the media and telecasted repeatedly for hours. This trend is more common with entertainment or sports or business news but not quiet the case when it comes to important national and international issues. This is not a nation which, in these perilous times, can afford to be obsessed with Kareena Kapoor’s diet or Shah Rukh Khan’s abs or Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s hair style.

The media has to start diverting their attention from such petty issues and focus on the pressing socio-economic and political problems of this country and demand accountability from politicians and bureaucrats and educate the general public about India’s history, its polity, its economy, lacklustre political policies, lax implementation and rampant corruption. “24 hr news channels” can become dedicated education channels which apart from telecasting news from time to time, shifts focus onto educational documentaries, when there is nothing worth reporting in terms of news or to avoid incessant repetition of the same news story again and again. Also, it wouldn’t hurt the media to once in a while appreciate the few good policies which are drafted by politicians, rather than taking a rigid stand on all issues. To mention a few, the RTI, the NREGA and the proposal to add a fundamental right which provides “right to education” are commendable steps taken by the incumbent government, which haven’t received adequate media attention or praise.