Netagiri Vidyalaya: Educate Politicians

Netagiri Vidyalaya: Educate Politicians

K S VENKATARAMAN

When Independent India opted for adult suffrage, and then again when the voting age was reduced from 21 to 18, a number of people became concerned; and many of them strongly protested these measures. The history has proved that their protests were justified.

Many Indian citizens do not have any idea about their voting rights. Without knowing the value of their votes, they vote for the wrong persons. If there is one honest politician to tell them what is the right thing to do, there are thousands of cut-throat politicians to misguide them, taking advantage of their ignorance. They use anything like religion, caste, language, region etc., to divide the people, hoodwink them by mischievously setting them one against the other. Many ignorant people, especially youngsters, are carried away by the glib of their tongue.

To make it worse, the modern politicians have deliberately spoiled the value system in the country. They have tampered with our educational system. Earlier the youngsters were given moral education. The curricula nowadays do not have moral or religious contents. The basic values like ‘you should not speak lie’, ‘you should not steal’ and so on are not emphasized; on the other hand ideas like, ‘you cannot succeed if you do not speak lie’, ‘you cannot win unless you pull down others’ are strengthened in the minds of youngsters. Such reasons have brought down the standard of politics in India.

The days when great sacrifices for the sake of the Motherland were common with the public workers are gone; corrupt politicians in association with dishonest officials and criminals are only interested in amassing wealth. It can be said that our political scenario has been surrounded by very dark clouds.

But don’t they say, ‘Any dark cloud has a silver lining’. This seems to be true. A former Congressman Raj Ranjan of Bihar has taken initiative to improve the standards of political behavior in India. In this country, where there is no minimum educational or any other qualification prescribed for politicians, it is tremendous good news that some experienced politician is trying to introduce some formal education to the aspiring politicians. 

Raj Ranjan has established an institution called Netagiri Vidyalaya in Ranchi in 2001. He believes that corruption can be curbed only if political thinking is inculcated deep into human mind. He has already imparted training to 200 aspiring politicians. Raj Ranjan who was a PCC Secretary says, "It is important for a politician - both beginners and veterans to learn that bit of politics necessary to know what a manifesto is and its implementation." A nominal fee of Rs. 50 is charged for admission and the 'students' are taught about 'netagiri' every Saturday for two hours. Raj Ranjan, who happens to be the brother of a former Congress MP (late Gyan Ranjan) happily announces, "It is surprising that a 69-year-old leader of a regional political party, Sukhdev Lohra, was among the 10 politicians to take admission this session."

Raman Balhav, a lecturer with the noted St. Xavier's college and the Netagiri Vidyalaya explains, "I interviewed some of the candidates readying themselves to contest the ensuing Lok Sabha elections. I asked them how they will serve the people. To my utter surprise nobody could give a proper answer." Obviously the concept of ‘Service’ was not there in their minds.

Netagiri Vidyalaya aims to spread awareness among the villagers. Only this seed of awareness should grow into a positive interest and commitment to serve the country through political involvement. The syllabus of Netagiri Vidyalaya includes Ethics, Moral Values, Leadership Qualities and Schemes of Government. Maybe the syllabus could be improved by inclusion of important concepts of Political Science like State, Government, Judiciary, Democracy, Representation of People and so on.  

Raj Ranjan has said, "I am also happy that our Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is also of the opinion to train young minds about genuine and honest politics… It is high time the politicians in the state realized their duty towards the people and put the state on the development path."

Let us remind ourselves here of what the stalwart V R Krishna Iyer has said about our democracy.*

The principle of democracy in India, where the majority is poor but a few are fabulously affluent, has to be guarded most carefully. Unfortunately today, Parliament belongs to a mafia of the wealthy. This is slavery, not free government. The finest hour of debated decision in the house is subverted by cash doles. This must not be. We must restore the confidence of the poor in Parliament.

Elsewhere he has said:*

How can we allow illiterate goondas and extremists to perform an inquest into our system, which is the essence of parliamentary democracy? Today’s politician justifies George Bernard Shaw’s cynicism; ‘He knows nothing. He thinks he knows everything; that clearly points to a political career.’

If our Parliament and other political institutions should become reasonably relevant to the citizens of India, the people should be taught of basic values; educated about the political rights and duties; encouraged to humiliate and drive away the corrupt politicians and criminals. It would be in the interest of the country if the concept of Netagiri Vidyalaya gains momentum and spreads to all parts of India.

Source
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1240492

*The New Indian Express, March 20, 2009 Chennai

K S Venkataraman is the Associate Editor, Dynamic Youth, the free online magazine (www.dynamicyouth.org) dedicated to Global Youth Development. His e-mail: dynamicyouth_development@yahoo.com