Comments on: Like the NREGA, the RTE helps destroy whatever is left

By: Mukund

Mukund — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 04:31:55 +0000

Liked the article, I believe it reflects a possible close reality. The school markets were doing just fine. Instead of strengthening the Govt School system, the govt. is weakening the Private school system.

On NREGS – here is a blog I wrote: http://mukund-musings.blogspot.com/2011/02/niyamgiri-times-truth-of-nregs.html

By: RC

RC — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 15:27:28 +0000

I think NREGA could be causing food inflation in multiple ways.
- I have heard from many accounts about rising farm labor costs. This is stemming from the fact that government is giving out free money, so to compete with that real employers (like farm owners) have to increase pay to attract people to work on real job.
- Government handing out free money causes some shortage of workers available to do real required jobs, and the shortage in worker supply pushes up the price.
- People with free money handed out by the government are spending that money causing increase in demands and resulting in higher prices.

Result:-
- Giving out free money doesnt make every one rich, but makes EVERY one poor by devaluation of the currency and inflation.
- Mis allocation of capital causes disruption in markets and results in undesirable effects such as inflation.

By: The Mindset

The Mindset — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 12:39:06 +0000

Its obvious that Congress wants to destroy whatever is left of India. This RTE will burden the middle class people while at the same time the Babus and The netas will make gold.
Everything which Congress starts looks promising at the initial but fails and creates such a whirlpool that everything gets drowned in it. most of the Congress policies are actually self-helping, in the name of social welfare Congress gives subsidised kerosene and ration, but a large part of it (nearly 40% according to WHO) is stolen thus creating a artificial deficit in the market hence increasing the costs.
RTE is same , when children of middle class people will not find sufficient schools to get enrolled the cost of education will rise for sure.
This SOCIALISM will eat up India. China left behind this disease years ago but the Congress is still sticking up to it.

By: RC

RC — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 22:17:50 +0000

Looks like the government is going to be doubling down on NREGA

By: Amit

Amit — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 10:34:32 +0000

If government was so competent in managing schools, they would have turned all municipal schools into centers of excellence!

Alas! The same government that cannot redeem schools already under its full control is now appropriating greater role in the running of private schools also.

By: Ketan

Ketan — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 09:19:10 +0000

Both NREGA and RTE are government excuses to further stifle the entrepreneurial streak a few might be possessing by hijacking the market.

All this socialism is turning out to be a nightmare. Looks like, there is no let up from here on.

By: Tweets that mention Atanu Dey on India's Development » Blog Archive » Like the NREGA, the RTE helps destroy whatever is left -- Topsy.com

Sat, 15 Jan 2011 14:58:42 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Rajeev Mantri. Rajeev Mantri said: Like the NREGA, the RTE helps destroy whatever is left: The NREGA, as feared, has caused tremendous harm and wil… http://bit.ly/e2dk56 [...]

By: Madhusudan

Madhusudan — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 09:52:40 +0000

ooops sorry to paste the link for sambaran…

http://is.gd/bsmhx3

By: Madhusudan

Madhusudan — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 09:26:20 +0000

dear sambaran ,

you may find this informative NREGA

By: Esoteric

Esoteric — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 06:20:38 +0000

What the article does signify is the intent of the Govt to pronounce policy changes when implementation is faulty,to cut back when going whole hog is required and complicating when simplifying is needed?

Maybe they dont understand root causes or maybe their intent is suspect.The RTE shows that,policymaking inherently ensures vested interests are taken care of…

Finally,most developed world has cent percent literacy.Re-inventing the wheel is what all these guys do…even when copy paste will suffice.When they need to innovate,they copy paste…its a singular lack of understanding the problem and therefore the approach to the solution.

Corrupted to the soul.

By: Jagadish C

Jagadish C — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 06:14:31 +0000

The RTE is nice and all, but this is like announcing we’ve solved national hunger when we’ve just possibly started thinking a little about it.

“Any cost that prevents a child from accessing school will be borne by the State which shall have the responsibility of enrolling the child as well as ensuring attendance and completion of 8 years of schooling.”

Hmm.. let’s see how this goes 5 years from now.

“No child shall be denied admission for want of documents; no child shall be turned away if the admission cycle in the school is over and no child shall be asked to take an admission test.”

I see a huge opportunity for lots of money to be made by the “officials” in this racket.

“Children with disabilities will also be educated in the mainstream schools.”

And who is going to enforce this? When low income disabled kids are rejected, are the parents going to fight through the legal system for the next 20 years for justice, by which time the child would be an adult?

“All private schools shall be required to enroll children from weaker sections and disadvantaged communities in their incoming class to the extent of 25% of their enrolment, by simple random selection. No seats in this quota can be left vacant.”

A fantastic opportunity for the officials to suck up more money.

I could go on. The RTE is a well meaning gesture, but with the rest of the legal, political, official, bureaucratic and other systems in shambles, it’s not much more than yet another way for the slimy babus to get richer. It’s also quite possible that the RTE will be repealed or significantly changed in a few years.

By: Sambaran Mitra

Sambaran Mitra — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 03:04:34 +0000

The quoted article does not convince me about inherent badness of RTE.
It surely has recognized problem areas which need to be addressed. For example government getting into micromanagement and identifying poors. The last para (More confusion part) looks worrying indeed and it must be addressed.
However, a law which mandates minimum qualification and a minimum salary for teachers, does not look bad to me. Otherwise, we will have cargo cult primary education. Meaning, our kids will pretend to go to school but there shall be no actual education. 1500sq.yd means 1.75-cricket-pitch X 1.75-cricket-pitch. Looks reasonable to me. Schools can still compete with each other financially, provided they take care of the RTE mandated basics first. I like school-voucher-system. To me, cross subsidization of 25% is one kind of voucher-system.
About NREGA, I will love to see a blog about it which explains it pros and cons. Atanu, treat this as a reader’s request. If you have already written a blog exclusively about NREGA, please point it out.