Govt. move to 'saffronise' education rejected

By Javed M. Ansari

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 2. The BJP-led NDA Government's attempts to ``saffronise'' the educational system today received a setback as two of its allies - the National Conference and the Mr. E. K. Mawlong-led United Democratic Front of Meghalaya - joined hands with the Congress and the Left parties in rejecting the Government's move.

A meeting of the non-NDA Chief Ministers and Education Ministers held at the initiative of the West Bengal Chief Minister, Mr. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, made it clear that they would not follow the directives of the Human Resource Development Ministry in this regard. ``We are here to protest against the Government's attempts, there is no question of accepting or following the HRD Ministry's directives till a national consensus emerges on the issue,'' said the Delhi Chief Minister, Ms. Sheila Dixit.

Significantly, Ms. Dixit's views were also echoed by two of the NDA's constituents. The Jammu and Kashmir Education Minister, Mohammed Shafi, voiced the National Conference's opposition to the move saying education was also a State subject and the State Governments were under no obligation to accept such a measure. He said the Chief Minister, Dr. Farooq Abdullah, had registered his protest with the Prime Minister. ``They will soon realise that three fourths of the people do not accept their policy,'' said Mr. Shafi.

The Meghalaya Chief Minister, Mr. E. K. Mawlong, who heads a coalition government with the BJP and the Nationalist Congress Party, also made his position clear. ``There appears to be an attempt to saffronise education, it must stop because we will not accept it.'' He joined the other Chief Ministers in calling on the Government to consult the States before trying to change the education policy. ``The Government must try and evolve a consensus.''

A resolution adopted at the end of the meeting called for a education policy ``that was consistent with the secular and democratic values enshrined in the Constitution.'' It also demanded that decisions on formulating the education policy be taken on the basis of a consensus among the Union and the States. Adopted unanimously, the resolution called on the teaching community and the secular forces to ``thwart'' attempts by the Centre to undermine the value system in education.

It called on the Central Government to withhold all decisions, orders, circulars, and documents issued or published so far in this regard, and take steps to reconstitute the Central Advisory Board of education (CABE). This should be followed by a conference of State Education Ministers for a fruitful interaction before going to Parliament for approval.

Mr. Bhattacharjee, prime mover behind the meeting, accused the Government of ``vitiating the secular spirit of the Constitution by bringing in such measures''. The resolution adopted would be sent to the Centre for its consideration.

The Bihar Chief Minister, Ms. Rabri Devi, the Tripura Chief Minister, Mr. Manik Sarkar, and the Education Ministers of 12 States attended the meeting.

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