Faced with intense opposition from within the Congress on the Education Tribunals Bill, Union HRD minister Kapil Sibal hit back at his opponents by invoking the name of late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi by stating that he had desired that quality education should be achieved in the country.
“If people say that we are in a hurry, then I would like to state that Rajiv had said it in 1985 that this should be achieved in a few months,” Mr Sibal said at a function to mark 25 years of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNV), an initiative taken by the late Rajiv Gandhi.
The HRD minister’s remarks come days after Congress leaders like K. Keshava Rao had attacked the policies of the HRD ministry in a debate in the Rajya Sabha forcing the government to defer the Education Tribunals Bill. The HRD minister was severely criticised and several members charged that Mr Sibal was in undue hurry to get the bill passed. The non-inclusion of recommendations of the parliamentary standing committee regarding certain provisions of the bill were also highlighted by the members.
Mr Sibal noted that providing quality education had reduced to encouraging mediocrity which must be changed, the minister stated while repeatedly quoting Rajiv Gandhi. “One of the concept which got lost in our drive for mass education has been that of excellence. Everything is reduced to mediocrity may be even lower than that. This must be changed,” Mr Sibal said.
He also rued the fact that over 25 years had passed since Rajiv Gandhi had made these statements. “ However, till today, we have been unable to provide quality education to students,” he stated.