Editor,
The Govt.’s decision to take the multi-million $ loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is ill- conceived, ill-timed and unwarranted. The intention is that the loan would enable the Govt. to take over the ‘deficit schools’ with the declared view to improving the quality of education in the State. This pre-supposes that the privately run schools are inferior to the state run schools as in the latter case the employees enjoy higher pay scales and other perks. The logic is – since the private schools fail to deliver, the take- over is justified. This is contrary to the ground realities.
Many private schools have proved better performers and are more transparent, even under severe financial constraints. The actual cause of the lackluster performance of some deficit schools is due mainly to the Govt.’s own policy of having a dual system of ‘ad-hoc’ and ‘deficit schools’ with glaring disparity in pay scales and service conditions. This disparity is causing dissatisfaction and resentment among the staff and the teachers. Moreover they are not getting their salaries and arrears in time. They are often compelled to agitate when their complaints are not heard. Their agitation adversely impacts upon the students. The remedy lies in the Govt. changing its incongruous policy and introducing rationalized pay structures.
The Govt. could help them with financial assistance from the state exchequer and not a loan from a foreign bank. Therefore, a take-over by the Govt. is not the answer. In fact, to take over the schools that the owners have built with their toil, tears and sweat is ethically wrong and unjustified. And if the Govt plans to pay the teachers and the staff of the said schools with the loan money obtained by mortgaging the premises of the schools it will amount to a betrayal of the Khasi tradition of land tenure that is inalienable. Besides, it has been shown time and again that the fault lies squarely at the door of the Govt. Frequently, the recommendations of the District Selection Committees remained without the vacancies being filled for a long time. Recently, more than 8000 students were not paid their Post-Matric scholarships even though the funds had been received in the Department from the Central Govt. The greatest bombshell that shook and shattered the confidence of the people in the Govt is the scam in the appointment of the Assistant Teachers in the government-run Lower Primary schools last year just before the Assembly Elections, where high dignitaries of the State are involved. The High Level Security Committee report has agreed with the findings of the CBI. In terms of performance, the Govt Departments and Corporations are duds. They invariably fail to meet the deadline, resulting in cost over-runs and escalations and hence overshooting the original Project Cost. For example: the Meghalaya House @ Russell Street, Kolkata, was started in 2001 with the Project cost of Rs.22 crore. It was completed in August 2013 with an additional cost of Rs 24 crore, the reasons being the frequent modifications of the original plan by the VVIPs. And the story goes on and on. The ventures that were finally closed down were the Watch Factory and the Meghalaya Electronics Corporation. Almost all the Corporations are in the red, or deep in debt. They don’t pay electric bills to the MeECL, which in turn could not pay the National Thermal Power Corporation that supplies MeECL the electric power. The NTPC threatened to cut off the supply. Our Govt resorted to an easy way out, allowing MeECL to borrow (from banks?) up to Rs.1910 crore! How long will this go on? Will the Govt keep mortgaging the state assets and resources till it goes bankrupt and offer to the highest bidder its land, its minerals (including uranium) to the highest bidder?
Our government could not protect our trees and forest covers. On the contrary, they have amended the Rules to allow mining within forest areas within a prescribed limit! Trees are being wantonly cut and looted even from Forest Reserves and catchment areas. They could not prevent quarrying of stones on the hill sides, that are aquifers or natural water reservoirs, on the river banks, or commercial quarrying of sand from the river that feeds the reservoir of the Greater Shillong Water Supply Scheme. A Team that visited the area recently reported that if this continues, Shillong would go dry! Imagine a dark and dry Shillong! If this kind of misadventure continues, it will really happen. The shoe is on the other foot, Mr CM ! Yet, all said and done, the Govt is hell bent on wrenching the private land and school buildings in and around Shillong and their eye is firmly fixed on constructing massive, grandiose and high-value school buildings of not less than Rs.8 crore as the only way to raise the level of human education to great heights. So they started preparing the ground work by amending the Meghalaya Land Transfer Act, etc, to clear the way for taking over the private school buildings and premises, to begin with. This measure will certainly make the rich richer and the poor poorer and displace the native entrepreneurs of Shillong and the suburbs.
And this is no time to take a loan, especially from a foreign bank when the Indian rupee keeps on sliding against the US $. The glib statement that 90% of the loan would be a grant is a pie in the sky. Admittedly, the ADB does give grants to deserving parties, but there must be strings attached or terms and conditions that must be adhered to. And, 10% of the loan is a heavy burden. When the government has no money to pay the electric bills and its Corporations are in the red, there is no justification in taking more loans for some nebulous Projects that would burden the State with more debt overload. It is the height of irresponsibility! The state assets should not be mortgaged, neither are the school premises that the Govt proposes to take over. In business management, a loan is taken only when the calculation shows that the investment of the loan would generate a sure surplus income within a given period of time and not otherwise, otherwise the firm will go bust!
Yours etc.,
Franklyn Syntai,
Shillong -14
