Congress MP Mohammad Jawed accused the government of dismantling the education infrastructure, citing paper leaks and demanding the reinstatement of scholarships and schemes for minorities. During a debate on the Education Ministry’s grant demands, Jawed highlighted the deaths of three students at a Delhi coaching center and student suicides in Kota. He criticized the Modi government for reducing the education budget from 3.36% of GDP during the UPA to 2.9%, resulting in less than Rs 200 per month per person in the sector. He pointed out a shortage of teachers and alleged 70 paper leaks by the National Testing Agency in seven years.
Jawed called for restarting minority student schemes, mentioning a drop in the percentage of Muslim students passing the UPSC exams. He accused the government of discrimination and anti-Muslim sentiments, saying, “This government stands on discrimination, it is ruling by flaring anti-Muslim, anti-Dalit, anti-poor, anti-student sentiments. If there were no Muslims in this country, the BJP would not have opened an account.”
Jawed also criticized the symbolic gestures of removing references to Mughals, arguing that it wouldn’t change history: “Just by removing the name of Mughals will not make any difference. Mughals were here for 330 years; they are not going to be removed just because you remove the name.”
In contrast, BJP MP Tejasvi Surya praised the union budget for empowering youth through education and skilling and lauded the National Education Policy (NEP). He claimed the Congress, not the BJP, was anti-SC, ST, and OBC, arguing that Congress-led governments delayed the implementation of the Mandal Commission report for 10 years.
Surya commended the Modi government for its educational reforms, saying, “There has been significant development on the education front in the 10 years of the Modi-led government. The NEP has addressed many challenges, and the emphasis on providing education in the mother tongue will help many.”
He highlighted the impact of poor-quality education on human resources, asserting that previous governments failed to produce adequately skilled individuals. Surya argued, “Due to the lack of quality education, the quality of human resources that the country produced over the last so many years is painfully low and inadequate.”
The debate underscored the starkly contrasting perspectives on the current state of education in India, with Jawed emphasizing the need for inclusivity and resource allocation, and Surya defending the government’s policies and reforms aimed at long-term improvements.
Source: PTI
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