Editor,
Academics has always been an essential part of human development. It prepares us to survive in the outside world and establish an identity of our own. But, is an individual’s development restricted to merely academics?
In India, from an early age we have been taught that education is limited to the boundaries of academics only. The idea of getting out into the field, for gaining practical experience is not considered important. This has hindered the overall development of students. The truth is that education represent a considerably broader field than we know of it. Our teaching, from the basics has been focused on getting good grades and job offers, rather than being creative and unique.
In the 21 century, the pure academic type of education is slowly paving way to a whole new pattern. The paradigm shift in the whole education system is evident. People have now come to understand that education is a 360 degree activity that should focus on students’ overall development rather than restricting him/her to the classroom. Classroom teaching provides the foundation, and co-curricular or extra- curricular activities provide practical exposure and opportunities to implement what students learn in the classrooms. This helps in developing the overall personality of students, including various soft-skills in them, which otherwise are difficult to teach. Clearly, life beyond academics creates creative and empowered professionals.
Yours etc.,
Badonkupar Mairom.
Law Department,
NEHU
Crying need for poll reforms
Editor,
Almost all major political parties have nominated sitting members of state legislatures as candidates for the Lok Sabha and even if only a quarter of them win, it would entail yet another round of elections – this time to state assemblies across the country. This process eats into government time and dries up the exchequer. Hence the crying need for poll reforms.
While candidates are free to contest from any place in the country, what needs to be considered is the additional costs that it puts on the exchequer – in other words the money actually goes from the tax payers’ pockets. This raises the question about whether the government should bring in a rule that bars sitting MLAs from contesting Lok Sabha polls and also stops candidates from contesting two Lok Sabha seats simultaneously. A writ petition was recently filed in the Kerala High Court seeking directives to the Election Commission to make the nine MLAs contesting Lok Sabha polls to bear the additional cost of the by-elections from their seats in case they win the elections. The petitioners argued that frequent bye-elections were not only a drain on the exchequer but also cause tangible loss to productivity and human resource utilization. However, the learned judges held a dim view of the petition stating that the Constitution permits sitting MLAs to contest for the Lok Sabha and the law only prohibits holding two positions in the government simultaneously.
The Court warned the petitioners to refrain from filing such “frivolous cases” claiming that there was nothing wrong with sitting MLAs contesting Parliamentary polls. The Court sought to know whether a by-election resulting from the demise of a sitting MLA should be paid for by the legal heirs of the family? However, the Court also suggested that political parties should refrain from such activity and were free to persuade voters to not elect sitting MLAs. Perhaps this ruling could come in handy for political parties in defining future campaign strategies.
On another note, the Supreme Court is hearing a petition based on a Law Commission report that proposes to restrict candidates from seeking election from more than one Lok Sabha seat. The Election Commission reiterated its stand from 2004 that favoured an amendment to Section 33 (7) of the Representation of Peoples Act, 1951 to ensure the one-candidate-one seat rule. It also stated that candidates contesting from two seats should bear the cost of the by-election if they decided to forgo one seat.
And, what has caused a spurt in such incidents? Political parties select a sitting MLA due to their inability to find a winning candidate and to use the goodwill that the state legislator has possibly built by nurturing the assembly segment. The case of Congress leader Krishna Byre Gowda from Bangalore North is a case in point.
Is there a solution to the menace? The Commission could simply declare the runner-up as the winner of the MLA seat if the sitting member relinquishes it for a Lok Sabha seat.
It is time for political parties to build a consensus around this issue.
Yours etc.,
Samares Bandyopadhyay,
Via email
Revisiting Tagore’s thoughts
Editor,
Rabindranath Tagore was born on May 7, 1861 as per the Gregorian calendar. However, it was the 25th day in the month of Boishakh according to the Bengali calendar. His birthday is celebrated as per the Bengali calendar in West Bengal and Bangladesh and the 25th day of Boishakh has fallen on May 9 in this year’s Gregorian calendar.
I had spent an entire day in Tagore’s Jorasanko home some months ago. It was the house where Rabindranath was born, lived and passed away. I visited both of the rooms where he was born and where he breathed his last. Jorasanko means twin bridges. The name of the place – Jorasanko – must been derived from the material existence of the twin bridges over the canal in that area. But it has now got a new spiritual connotation! As Tagore said in one his songs ~ “This is only coming and going..”
But he believed that our existence has a meaning. It is for going forward for a better tomorrow. In his Nobel prize acceptance speech, he said, “We are not like fighting beasts. It is the life of self which is predominant in our life; the self which is creating the seclusion, giving rise to sufferings, to jealousy and hatred, to political and commercial competition. All these illusions will vanish, if we go down to the heart of the shrine, to the love and unity of all races.”
Tagore had tremendous faith in the spirit of India. He said, “I do not think that it is the spirit of India to reject anything, reject any race, reject any culture. The spirit of India has always proclaimed the ideal of unity. This ideal of unity never rejects anything, any race, or any culture. It comprehends…. all things with sympathy and love. This is the spirit of India.”
The British used, as it were, the twin bridges ~ Jorasanko ~ when they came to rule India. They used the bridge of birth and creation to bring the ideals of liberty. But at the same time, they also used the other bridge ~ the bridge of death ~ to import the poison of racial hatred – to destroy the religious fraternity and the spirit of India so that they could divide and rule India.
Yours etc.,
Sujit De,
Via email