teachers movement-dec. 12

7/29/2019 Teachers Movement-Dec. 12

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EDITORIAL

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Indian higher education scenario is presenting an extremely enigmatic perspective and most disturbingly

to the AIFUCTO fraternity, it is beset with conflicting agenda of stake holders. Countless committees have

produced reports, findings and literature: documents that are astoundingly voluminous and often churned

out by non-academicians. It is no surprise that most of these churnings lack penetrative analysis and

properly orientated policy formulations. The reason is the lack of knowledge about the ground realities aswell as unnecessary abstract theorization. There should have been objective study of the progress we

achieved so far against the targets set and the impediments experienced in implementing them.

There are many disturbing issues: the Central Government has little idea about the existing state of affairs

in the realm of higher education in the States. Moreover, the Centre depends on the reports furnished by

them. Besides blindfolding itself thus, the Centre does not match its words with deeds. It does not provide

the necessary funding for raising and repairing buildings, for expanding infrastructure, and for the estab

lishment of new institutions, especially in backward regions. It does not create new posts. It is not funding

professional up gradation of teachers. And most schemes are fragmented and lack proper orientation

Top it all, the teacher unions, notably the AIFUCTO is not involved in serious consultations at the time o

policy formulation or programme implementation. The end result is unsatisfactory progress leading to

academic deprivation of large sections of the society which include backward communities. To compoundthe unhappy situation, there is massive growth of educational institutions in the private sector, grasping

the opportunity of increase in the number of students . Most of them are simply profit seekers with no

commitments.

The AIFUCTO is perturbed that such institutions project some pseudo traits and soon after licensing

afflict the basics of high quality education. Compromising on basic parameters of quality education wi

lead to disasters.

In a country like India, where there is no alternative to strengthening public funded education and the

present policy orientation betrays the lack of the required level of concern. Of course, some right moves

are made by MHRD, but the funds allotted to the same are utterly inadequate. The financial commitmen

is certainly not conducive to the target of a critical level of 30% gross enrolment ratio by 2010-the slogan

given by the Govt.

The available plan documents show concern for enhancing quality and excellence. There is no reason to

doubt the desirability of these parameters: but the question is - is it at all possible with lakhs of posts lying

vacant, with posts getting abolished, with faculty loaded with contractual and part timers?

The only truly all-India body of University and college teachers has been tirelessly drawing the attention

of Central and State Governments to the urgent necessity of looking at the alarming situation in a holistic

perspective, in the absence of which, only distorted and half hearted action programs emerge.

It is the duty of all concerned teachers to make best use of whatever infrastructure they have, since they

play the central role in the entire system, even while using all their organizational strength to improve the

infrastructure that is so essential for inclusive quality higher education.

It is in this backdrop of a niggardly funding and imperfect understanding of ground reality, the AIFUCTO

makes a conscious choice to draw the attention of the powers by some loud thinking that it wants to do

through the Seminar topic in its Varanasi Conference. The Golden Jubilee Programme will deliberate

on the means to inclusive, equitable and quality education and suggest to the Governments, wha

needs to be done by the teachers, the teachers' movement in the 12th Five Year Plan period.


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AIFUCTO23/1/1A, K.B. Sarani, (Near East Mail Road Post Office),Kolkata - 700 080 (West Bengal). Ph.: 033-25594170Working Office: 19C, Nilmoni Mitra Street, Kolkata 700 006(Working Hours 6pm to 9pm) Ph.: 033-2543 6484Mobile: 98312 76815 Email: [email protected]/aifucto.gs @gmail.com; Website: www.aifucto.org

EuQ oy uu Lu uqN V

ALL INDIA FEDERATION OF UNIVERSITY

&

COLLEGE TEACHERS' ORGANISATIONS(Regd. Under Act XXI of 1860)

Dear Friends, Date: 01-12-2012

GOLDEN JUBILEE YEAR

SPECIAL CIRCULAR NO. 2/2011-12

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Greetings. It is heartening to see the great enthusiasm to participate in the Golden Jubilee programand 28th Academic Conference in Varanasi, the birth place of AIFUCTO from 15th December to !7thDecember,2012..The holy city is going to experience a rare congregation of teachers from all over India

DELHI DEVELOPMENTS

UGC Regulations, CAS & date extension for RC/OC.

The General Secretary held meetings with the MHRD& UGC officials on the demands of notifyingthe UGC Regulations after removing the anomalies. He expressed the concern of the NEC over the delayin bringing out the necessary communications. The MHRD informed that the matters relating to financiaimplications are being looked into for a final decision. The General Secretary placed the AIFUCTO standthat the matters relating to CAS and extension of dates for RC/OC have no financial implications andthere is no reason to holding them back. It was further pointed out that all committees appointed to studythe demand; the MHRD and the UGC have agreed to extend the dates for RC/OC as per AIFUCTOdemands. In spite of that there is no communication from the UGC informing us of the extension of datesfor RC/OC. The MHRD was urged to intervene immediately for the notification of the date extension. Theteachers are being denied the benefit of enjoying the higher pay bands for not extending the dates. Any

further delay is unacceptable to the AIFUCTO.

CONFERENCE NEWS

Council members from the affiliates

The Varanasi Conference being the Academic Conference, the council members will be the

same as in the last statutory Conference in Kanyakumari.

The PreparationI reiterate that this is the first time the teachers of the entire country have joined hands to shoulde

the responsibility of holding the Golden Jubilee celebrations in Varanasi- a true spirit of the AIFUCTOmovement. Responding to the call given by NEC, a number of units have sent advertisements & donations to support the program.

The leaders and members of Kashi Vidyapith College Teachers Association have been workinghard to make the program a grand success. The General Secretary has been visiting Varanasi on aregular basis to assist the organizers.

It is a wonderful sight to see the organizers are working with great dedication and devotion. Let us alextend all support to them and put in all efforts. BY the last date of registration for accommodation, i.e30th November more than 700 participants have registered and the accommodation arrangements for aof them have been made. However, registration may be done on 15th morning also. If some plan to join usat the last moment, they should book accommodation on their own through internet booking .There aremany portals offering the service.


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Asok Barman

General Secretary

Activities of office bearers

All office bearers are earnestly requested to contact the General Secretary on arrival to know the

duties they will have to perform. They would coordinate all the participants from their respective states and

will be in touch with the General Secretary for a smooth and comfortable stay of the participants & for the

duties during the program.

Change of Venue of the Conference

The venue of the Conference has been shifted from Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith to

Sampurnanand Sanskrit University which was established more than two hundred years ago. Theshifting was necessary since the Governor desired that the Convocation in Kashi Vidyapith be held on15th December, 12. The venue is near Lauravir Chawk, a prominent place in the central part of Varanasiwhich also not far from Kashi Vidyapith.

E-mails from participants intimating payments

We have provided one registration form for those who paid on or before 1st December. Please note the

payments record do not show the place and names of depositors. In the event of non sending email accom

modation arrangements will not be possible. I understand most have sent the names and payment details

as per the registration form I request those who have not yet sent the mail to send the same immediately

The registration form must contain the names of the participants, the time of arrival, duration of stay and

hour of departure. Efforts are on to make your stay pleasant and comfortable during the conference days

Intimation about time of arrival, reception and transfer to hotels/guest houses &staySome units have not mentioned the exact time of arrival. Please inform exact timing of arrival atVaranasi Railway Station. There will be reception counter in Varanasi Cantt. Station and the participantswill be escorted to the Control office in the Sanskrit University. Transport will be provided from the Controoffice to reach the hotel/guest house. Since the hotels need documents from organizers regarding numbers and names, we are not providing the accommodation details before arrival.

Those who arrive before 14th and want to stay beyond 17th will have to make their own arrange-ments for extra days. However, they may contact General Secretary for guidance and assistance.

Receipts of payments

Please bring your payments receipts as ready reference.

Resolutions to be adopted in the Conference

You may send the resolutions for the Conference to adopt to - [email protected] and donations

We appealed to all units to secure some advertisements as we have commitments to the organizers.

am happy that some affiliates have done it. It is very heartening that some have exceeded our expectations

We are touched by their dedication. We appeal to others to send advertisements immediately. We appeal for

donations from units and individuals as we are yet to fulfill our financial commitments.

Golden J ubilee fund payments & membership fees

Only a few affiliates have so far paid Golden Jubilee contributions @ Rs.20 per member. Please note

that it will not be possible to implement the planned programs if the payment is not made.

All units are requested to pay the membership fees during the Conference. Many units pay in the yea

of statutory Conference. This hampers our regular functioning. This year we start our Delhi Office and there

would be additional expenses.

Full name on cheques and drafts

Please mention the full name of our organization- "All India Federation of University and College

Teacher's Organisations" (not AIFUCTO) on the cheques and drafts. We are facing problems in realizing the

amount payable to us in short name.

Waiting to meet you at Varanasi.


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University and college teachers in India underthe leadership of All India Federation of universityand college Teachers (AIFUCTO) conducted twogeneral strikes once in 1987 (which lasted for 34days ) and in 1998 (which lasted for 26 days). Inboth the instances we were General Secretary andPresident of AIFUCTO. In preparation, conduct ofnegotiations with the union Govt. and the UGC andsettlement at the end of the strike, naturally weplayed an important role. Now that AIFUCTO iscelebrating Golden Jubilee it is appropriate that we

look back upon these two crucial periods andanalyse the events with historical objectivity anddraw lessons. In the present article we shall dealwith the 1987 strike only.

The constitution of India at the time of its adop-tion put entire education in the state list but pro-vided that maintenances and coordination of stan-dard of higher education in the central list. In 1975during emergency in our country the constitutionwas amended to put education in the concurrentlist. These constitutional provisions created a lot ofproblems. Historically the state Govt. with limitedfinancial straight had to shoulder the main respon-sibility of the entire education system and quite of-ten the state governments spent a high proportionvarying between 25% and 35% of state expendi-ture on education. The Union Govt. on the contrarynever spent more than 4% of the union budget. Theeducation dept. which later on became a part ofHuman Resource Development has been treatedas a minor portfolio. In the sphere of school educa-tion union Govt. provided for establishment andmaintenance of schools only in union territories. The

change in constitutional provision did not lead toany perceptible change in resorce allocation by theunion government .However since 1980 the unionGovt. also created Nabodaya Vidyalaya. Besides,it also started establishing central schools in differ-ent parts of the country under CBSE mainly to ca-ter to educational needs of wards of central govt.servants. Similarly even in higher education thecentral share was limited to the central universities

Indefinite Strike of University and college teachers in 1987 and 1998

Experience and some lessonsProf. Mrinmoy Bhattacharyya

Former General Secretary, AIFUCTO

Dr. K.K. TheckedathFormer President, AIFUCTO

and colleges located at in union territories. But inaccordance with the provisions of section 30 subsection 1 of the Indian constitution which providedfor exclusive jurisdiction of union govt. on maintenance and coordination of standards of higher education UGC was established by parliamentary legislation. The U.G.C. not only paid grants to alcolleges and universities irrespective of thei

location , the statutes under which they were

established, but prescribed qualifications o

teachers their service conditions , age of retire

ment , broad structure of higher education etcBut the grants of the Union Govt. were restricted

to only development and specified for the plan

period. The UGC enjoyed both mandatory and

recommendatory authority and they were exer

cised judiciously for acceptance of the state

Governments. These provisions created a lot o

controversy and discrepancy between the

states and the centre and also among the states

This is the area in which AIFUCTO operated.

AIFUCTO as an organization had been gaining strength in the 1980s. By its very nature it couldonly be a loose organization. The constitution oAIFUCTO provided that any university teachersassociation could be its member. It meant unitaryuniversities and deemed universities with few teachers could be its members. College teachers of aUniversity area could be its member. Govt. collegeteachers associations could be its member. Agricultural university teachers association could be itsmembers. Central university teachers associationscould be its members. State level Federation ouniversity and college teachers could be its mem

bers and every member association or federationcould be entitled to send are member to the national Executive committee. By early 80s practicallyall university and college teachers were organizedunder the banner of AIFUCTO and national executive committee had a membership exceeding 150All important decisions were taken in this forum.

Pay scales of university and college teacherswere revised along with the pay revisions of centra

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India's share in global

research output just 3.5%


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PRESS CUTTINGS


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The main hurdle was the provision of two promo-tional opportunities to all college and universityteachers where there was none before. There werealso special problems faced by senior teachers whoin past did not get any promotion because therewere no provision for the same and they did not

have enough time to serve to entitle them for newlycreated promotional opportunity. It was a battle ofattrition.At this stage Mr. Bordia asked us the timeneeded for calling all secretariat members in Delhiand agreed to meet their cost of travel by air. Wewere hesitant to accept this offer from the Govt.andwe did not have money with us either. But Mr. Bordiaexplained that this was being done at the behest ofthe ministry not AIFUCTO. The union Governmentwas keen to avoid total disruption of higher educa-tion since he understood that the failure of dialoguewould lead to strike and AIFUCTO had the requiredorganizational strength to conduct it. We acceptedthe offer and called those members of the secre-tariat, who were not already in Delhi. But the nego-tiation between AIFUCTO and the government failedto resolve the deadlock and as per our earlierdecisionthe indefinite strike began.

The central office of AIFUCTO for the periodof this strike were temporarily situated at GomtiGuest House of JNU. Some of our colleagues fromDUTA and JNUTA ran the office. Five six roomswere occupied by the secretariats members.

Dr. M. M. P. Singh the than president from DUTAand the north zonal secretary of AIFUCTO playeda very active role. Prof. H. C. Narang of JNUTAand a national secretary of AIFUCTO also playedactive role. Mainly because of these colleagues ofDelhi our strike action got wide coverage in media.Organisationally however, there were many weaklinks. Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka were not instrike. In some other states, the strike was onlypartial. In some states, specially in Tamilnadu quitea large number of teachers were arrested and were

refused bail. Most of them had never been in jailbefore. And some of them were gazette officers Thiswas a period when the Union Government was fac-ing severe criticisms alleging bribe taking in pur-chase of field guns from Bofors, a Swedish com-pany. Entire opposition was demanding probe by aparliamentary committee. For AIFUCTO, howeverthe agenda was to gain our professional demandsand we lobbied to get support from all political par-

ties whether in power or in opposition. Since wewere on strike we were receiving full-throated support from the opposition. This created some misunderstanding at the stage of final settlement.

We received help from many eminent personsSri Nikhil Chakraborty the editor of The MainStream a prestigious political journal played a help

ful role behind the scene, in negotiating the termsof settlement . All India Radio conducted a 30 mindialogue for prime time broadcast. Sri. NikhiChakraborty moderated this programme. GeneraSecretary, AIFUCTO and a joint secretary fromMHRD took part in it. Dr. M.M.P. Singh who was azonal secretary in AIFUCTO but was the presidenof Delhi University Teachers Union also took parin this programme. Mrs. Najma Heptulla, DeputyChairman Rajya Sabha in her personal capacitytook interest in our demand. We held a public convention in Delhi at Shapru House in which prominent statesmen like Shri H.N. Bahuguna took mpar.Sri. Jyoti Basu, CM. West Bengal also wrote to theGovt. of India requesting them to settle the issues

AIFUCTO leaders including we two, did nohave any prior experience of conducting such anall India strike. In terms of duration, no union of oucountry has ever conducted such a strike coveringthe entire country. We were all basically state leaders. We had called a mass Satyagraha on 5th oSeptember 1987, Teachers Day, on 3rd of SeptProf. S. K. Agarwal, then secretary of UGC came

to our office at Gomti Guest House at night andrequested us to go for negotiation at UGC office onthe next day at 10:30 a.m. By the tone of his voicewe understood that this talk might lead to final settlement. In fact this is the call which we were waitingfor long time. We did not go to press because wewere not fully sure about the outcome of this talkand in that charged atmosphere any leakage mighjeopardize progress of the final terms. AnywayAIFUCTO secretariat went to UGC at the appointedtime. It was a marathon dialogue, clause by clause

point by point, except one crucial point which wasthe recognition of past service of senior teachersentitling them to be put on the Reader /Selectiongrade Lecturers. The Secretariat of AIFUCTO mein the UGC in a separate room and unanimouslyresolved to accept these terms of settlement. Theindefinite strike was called off and mass Satyagrahaprogramme was abandoned. But there was no timeto call off the rally which was to be held on the fol

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(Contd. from Pg. No.5)


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lowing day. So we decided to hold the rally at JantarMantar at Connaught Place, Delhi. But instead ofcourt arrest programme at the rally we would cel-ebrate victory. That was our decision The Nationalexecutive committee would meet one day later on6th of Sept. at JNU auditorium at 35, Feroz ShahRd. New Delhi-1.to endorse the terms of settlementagreed to by the national secretariat.

We did not know the unpleasant surprise wehad to face. In fact in our secretariat then were dif-ferent sets of opinion and we were all fully agreedthat it was a good settlement that we could not con-tinue the strike any longer and that we must ensurerelease of all teachers who were in jail because oftheir court arrest programme at our call. We neededthe assistance of the union Government to securetheir release. The problem was acute especially inTamilnadu. We would get more benefit and somewould get less this would make at level condition to

fight for further improvement in future. It is said thatit was difficult to ride a tiger but it is more difficult toget down of it. Calling a strike and conducting it forus was difficult but call it off was more difficult on5th of Sept. We went to Jantar Mantar, Many teach-ers come from long distance. Every one knew thatthe strike has been called off so also was the jailbhoro programme. The newspaper of the day dis-played this news prominently. We were surroundedby teachers from long distances, most of them spenttheir night in train or bus. There was a section ofteachers who were not only typical but also hostile.

They surrounded us and greeted us with nasty com-ments, some were actually hust us. Of course wehad many friends also surrounded us to leave theplace. Though not hurt so much physically it was ajarring experience. We came back to our office atGomti Guest house. And here too, there was muchcriticism. Of course here, there was nobody whowas personally unfriendly. The few were vocifer-ous in support of the terms of settlement. Two mem-bers of secretariat Prof. K.K. Thecadath presidentand Prof. Satyasadhan Chakraborty national sec-

retary tendered their resignation and submitted tothe G.S. Now it was clear that even organization-ally AIFUCTO could face real trouble. However bothof them stated clearly that they stood by the agree-ment reached between AIFUCTO and the MHRD.The rest of the secretariat met and unanimouslyresolved to stand by the agreement and decided tosubmit their resignation to the National executive.

On 6th of September 1987, the National Ex-

ecutive Committee met. Since the president ProfK.K. Thekadath had resigned and was not presenat the meeting Prof. Dr. D.S. Awasti presided. TheG.S. submitted resignation of all the members othe secretariat and requested the president to seekthe opinion of the house. He explained that Dr. K.KThekadath and Prof. S.S. Chakraborty submittedtheir resignation on personal ground and the remaining 5 members including the G.S. tendered theiresignation ascertain the opinion of National Executive Committee. The National Executive Committee by vote 85 in favour and 13 against endorsedthe agreement the reposed confidence in the secretariat and asked them to continue in office andrun the organization. The G.S. said that a speciaconference of AIFUCTO would be held within thenext 3 months at Baroda to review in depth the outcome of the movement and take appropriate decision thereafter.

AIFUCTO faced criticisms from two quarters1) central university teachers and 2) Universityteachers in general. I) the fact is that the centraUniversity teachers enjoyed some extra benefitsbesides vis-a-vis state university teachers. II) University teachers enjoyed some benefits vis--viscollege teachers. The agreement in 1987 created alevel situation for the first time the Government oIndia to create professorship and readership in colleges. While then benefitted a large number oteachers in the country those who were getting ex

tra benefits felt that they got nothing. AIFUCTO after that failed to assuage the ill-feelings of centrauniversity teachers who went out of AIFUCTO andcreated FEDCUTA. But university teachers in general continued to be in AIFUCTO. Baroda University is a campus university and BUTA was an association of university teachers only it is in view of thiswe requested BUTA to host the special conferenceof AIFUCTO.We requested specially the centrauniversity teachers to come to Baroda and enter adialogue with the AIFUCTO members. But they didnot respond. This has certainly to some exten

weakened AIFUCTO but certainly did not benefithe teacher of central universities any way. As wecan find that in the next round of pay revision

in 1998 FEDCUTA was left in the cold and the

Government of India negotiated only with

AIFUCTO. With passage of time old leaders lef

in all organizations and the old bitterness

passed away and new amicable relations devel

oped.

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CAG Stands for Optimal Policy Implem entation

There is no doubt that we would be able to uphold the credibility of our Audit Report, said a confidentVinod Rai, the comptroller and auditor general of India while talking to Binoy Vishwam, editor of Malayalamdaily J anayugam, in an exclusive interview on allocation of coal blocks. Excerpts:

Question: According to the CAG report thecountry had suffered a loss of Rs 1.86 crore in theallocation CAG Stands for Optimal Policy Implemen-

tation of coal blocks without auction. However, theamount of loss mentioned is a colossal one whichcould be interpreted as unreasonable. The govern-ment finds flaws in the CAG report. In this context,are you sure that you would be able to convince thePAC of the Parliament while presenting your point asyou have to appear before it and also were you ableto convince as presenting your point before the CAG.If so why?

Vinod Rai:We have no doubt that we would beable to uphold the credibility of our Audit Report. We

exercise great rigor in planning, execution and report-

ing of our performance audits. Our audit findings arebacked by competent, relevant and sufficient evi-

dence. Our audit methodologies are robust and com-

parable to the best global practices. We have a vast

pool of specialized professionals experienced in au-

dit of diverse areas.

I am confident that the observations made by us

in the Report on Allocation of Coal Blocks will be able

to withstand any scrutiny. The findings mentioned in

the Report are logical and irrefutable. The

computations have been made on the basis of sound

and reasonable assumptions. In fact, we have taken

the most conservative alternative in arriving at the fi-

nancial impact of allocation of coal blocks through the

present system.

Q: The huge loss of more than Rs 3 lakh croressuffered by the nation in the deals of coal block allo-cation, concessions given to the Delhi Airport com-pany etc. has been brought to light by the CAG re-port. Of course the ruling circles are not happy withthis. The institution of CAG is getting more and morerespect among the people. Certain quarters are en-gaged in spreading rumours that you have politicalambitions. How do you respond to it?

Vinod Rai:The institution of CAG of India has ahistory of 150 years. The organization follows audit-

ing standards and principles which are comparable to

the internationally accepted standards and practices.

It commands great respect among Supreme Audit In-

stitutions around the world. We are committed to con-

tinue fulfilling the duties and responsibilities cast on

us by the Constitution of In dia. The institution has to

play a critical role in promoting good governance and

it must be seen as a valued institution in the task o

nation building. Ascribing any political motive to the

institution and its officers would only be detrimental to

its task of promoting accountability and good governance. Several times our findings and judgment have

been questioned it happened in the Bofors\ case in

the 1980s, in the audit of disinvestment in 1990s, in

the Coffin case in 2002 and in the Spectrum case re

cently. Every time we were proven right. All these

years we have maintained our objectivity, impartiality

and professional competence.

Q: Despite the institution of CAG and its reportscorruption in the country has grown to alarmingheights. Why this is so?

Vinod Rai:It is ironical that as India is poised to

emerge as one of the largest economies in the worldand be counted as a super power, the quality of ou

governance continues to be a matter of serious con

cern. While the quality of governance is an outcome

of several factors, corruption strikes at its roots. The

incidence of corruption depends on the efficacy o

controls and laws. Every society has to structure in

stitutions and create checks and balances that can

minimize corruption. The most effective deterrent fo

corruption is the existence of effective and indepen

dent institutions and laws that ensure that corrupt prac

tices would not only be taken cognizance of but the

concerned public servants would be invariably pun

ished. It is here that we have a huge deficit. We need

to move fast on this and take some tough measures

Systemic reforms are required to improve systems and

processes to bring in transparency and increase ac

countability. The government apparatus must be mod

ernized. Large chunks of government money in the

developmental programmes create opportunities to

people wanting to exploit the system. The multiplicity

of layers in decision making process, complex proce

dures and outdated rules and regulations contribute

to diffused accountability and need urgent reforms

Simplification of rules and procedures must be brough

out. Simpler administrative process will reduce hassles

for common man. Opportunity for abuse of power is

greater in a system with excessive discretion in the

hands of the official machinery. Such opportunitie

can be curbed by maximizing transparency in the sys

tem and introducing strict accountability for actions

Public administration should be open to public scru

tiny. Transparency ensures equity. It helps in reduc

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ing discretion to favour influential people. Transpar-

ency should be fostered in government contracts and

in public bidding at all levels. Immediate attention

needs to be paid to public procurements. Public pro-

curements in many ministries and departments suffer

from inadequate competition and lack of accountabil-

ity. The existing rules and regulations and processes

do not adequately provide requisite trans parency. Fair

and open competition is the best and most transpar-

ent way of achieving value for money in large pro-

curements and also in cases of allocation or lease of

public assets or natural resources.

Q: As an outstanding IAS officer in the Keralacadre, people of Kerala are watching your standpointsappreciatively. What were your experiences in Keralaand whether there are leaders in Kerala who had in-fluenced you in you career there?

Vinod Rai:I take pride in the fact that I am aKerala cadre officer. I have had the privilege of work-

ing with some of the tallest political leaders who are

from Kerala and also my colleagues in the civil ser-

vices who are among the best that any cadre can have

in the country. I have physically lived in Kerala for

more than 22 years and have enjoyed working in prac-

tically all districts of the state. The working environ-

ment is very conducive to officers who are clean, dy-

namic and balanced in their approach. I found the

public to be exceedingly cooperative and whenever

we succeeded in explaining the objective of any new

initiative that the administration was taking, labour

unions and the general public both provided excellent

support. Having worked for long years in different ca-pacities in the Trichur, I had the good fortune of closely

knowing C. Achuta Menon, the then chief minister of

Kerala. A statesman and a visionary, he was truly an

intellectual and provided outstanding leadership and

support to all his officers. K. Karunakaran from the

same district was also a titan of his times. He gave

each one of us freedom to innovate in the field of de-

velopment and never interfered in any decision that

we took. It was a rare privilege to have known and

worked with him closely. I got to know P.K. Vasudevan

Nair also, who was another tall and thinking leader of

the state. It was a remarkable the kind of support hegave to his officers and this was instrumental in de-

velopment activities surging ahead. Another great

leader whose simplicity and integrity was unbeatable

was V.V. Raghavan, the then agricultural minister from

Trichur. He was the true epitome of a political execu-

tive who left all administrative issues to the secretar-

ies of the department and never interfered in day to

day functioning. Perhaps another leader with whom I

had close association was E.K. Nayanar a truly mass

leader. His remarkable capacity to interact and fee

the pulse of the people helped him translate politica

manifestoes into excellent schemes and projects.

have had the great privilege of closely associating with

T. Sivadas Menon, the then finance minister in the

EK Nayanar ministry. Menon is truly a tall leader. He

provided excellent political leadership to the finance

department and gave us the freedom to work in a to

tally politics free environment. He is affectionate, sup

portive and totally non-interfering. I have also worked

closely with A.K. Antony who was the Chief Ministe

when I left Kerala in 2001. He is a remarkable leade

and has very few parallels in the country today. Thus

I consider myself to be exceedingly fortunate to have

worked with some of the greatest political leaders o

this country. I cherish my association with them and

their thoughts and actions have influenced my career

Q: Lot of discussions are going on in the country about development. However, the plight of the poocontinues as pathetic. Should our approach to development continue like this? As a responsible citizen othe country what is your opinion?

Vinod Rai:There is no doubt that corruption ingovernance adversely impacts welfare of the people

particularly the poor. On the revenue side, corruption

results in under mobilization of resources and gen

eration of unproductive black money. This covers no

only taxation but increasingly allocation of natural re

sources. On the expenditure side, there are serious

consequences like leakage of funds, poor outcome

of public spending, non creation of assets etc. Wemust therefore deal with it very seriously. However

our real focus should be on effective governance which

enables all our citizens to realize their full potentia

and live a life free from hunger and disease. The mos

important step in this direction can be achieved by

empowering the under privileged citizens by granting

them rights to basic services such as employment

education and food. These steps will really transform

the notion of governance. Decentralised and partici

pative evaluation of service delivery, leveraging the

skills of civil society would be instrumental in improv

ing governance and fostering development. Nothingwould be as important as the role played by an in

formed and educated public in reforming the system

and accelerating the process of development. Citizens

have to be made aware of their rights and responsi

bilities. A vigilant public would insist on openness in

government and assert their importance in the affairs

of state.

Courtesy: New Age Weekl

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INTERNATIONAL EVENTS

American Dream, a Myth

According to Nobel Prize-winning economistprofessor Joseph Stiglitz, the American dream hasbecome a myth and stands totally exposed todaythan never before. Here are some excerpts of his

latest interview:The American society stands divided betweenthe rich and poor today. Wealth and poverty arecloser together. The divided society endangers thefuture generation. The finance industry is blamedfor this divide; the industry has been preying on thepoor and buying government policies that help themget richer. The wealth disparity is dividing America.There is unequal distribution of wealth. Income andwealth disparity have grown dramatically in Americain the last decade. In 2011, the six heirs to theWalmart empire commanded wealth of almost 70billion, which is equivalent to the wealth of the en-tire bottom 30 per cent of US society.

Stiglitz says there has been no improvementin the well-being for the typical American family for20 years. On the other side, the top one per cent ofthe population gets 40 per cent more in one weekthan the bottom fifth receives in a full year. The coun-try has created a marvelous economic machine, butmost of the benefits have gone to the top.

Speaking about the role of inequality in thepresidential elections, he says, when the Democrats

say that they support the middle class, they in factspeak about inequality. And they contrast with theRepublicans who are emblematic of the top one percent of the population. Romneys denigration of the47 per cent of Americans who dont pay taxes hadan enormous reaction, partly because it showedhow out of touch those at the top were with the restof the country.

About Occupy movement, we are the 99 percent, he says about the one per cent as, it is thegroup of people who get 20 to 25 per cent income.

Their share doubled in the last 30 years and theywon about 35 per cent of the wealth or more. Theyhave best houses, the best education and the bestlifestyles. It was an anti-establishment movement.

The top one per cent has an average tax rateof less than 30 per cent of the reported income andthe large proportion who take much of their incomeas capital gains pay far less, as they never revealtheir true income.

Attacking the financial sector he says, manyof the financial sector got rich by economic manipulation, by deceptive and anti-competitive practicesby predatory lending. They took advantage of thepoor and uninformed as they made enormousamounts of money by preying upon these groupswith predatory lending. They sold them costly mortgages and were hiding details of the fees in fineprint.

The government wont stop this, as the financial elite support the political campaigns with hugecontributions. They buy the rules and policies thaallow them to make money. Much of the inequalitythat exists is a result of government policies.

People are alienated from politics. Only 20 pecent young people go to vote. Eighty per cent thinkit is not worth to vote as they regard it as a rigged

system and banks are ultimately going to run thecountry. People are losing job. There is job insecurity. But public money is wasted by Americas private financial sector, and the billions are spent tobail out private companies. One corporation aloneAIG, involves more than 150 billion dollar morethan that was spent on welfare for needy families

World to Face Grave Hunger Crisis

Global food stocks are running out fast. TheWorld Food Day is celebrated every year aroundthe world on October 16. Worlds leading environ

mentalists issued a warning that the global food supply system could collapse at any point. This is dueto climate change, conversion of farmland from edible crops to the raw material for biofuels, risingprices have compelled to take produce more profitable but less nutritionally efficient activities like meaproduction, the rising global population and inability to find more land to the tillers. The governmentsof various countries are not ready to reverse thistrend too. The governments have no options bustrive for long-term and multilateral solutions. Be

sides the governments must go for better storagefacilities, a better waste-management, take prompactions against the hoarders and black-marketersin surplus countries

Act now or face 2008 food riots, warns theUN. The severe weather in the US or other foodexporting countries could trigger a major hunger crisis next year. Failing harvests in the US, Ukraine

12

(Contd. on Pg. No. 13


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and other countries this year have eroded reserves

to their lowest level since 1974. The FAOs figuresshow disappearance ratio for major exporters akey measure of global food security will fall fromover 19 in 2009-10 to 16.3 in 2011-12.

This could lead to local shortages of foodgrainsfurther could translate into terrible famines, and spik-ing prices throughout the world. There is a vast dif-ference between production and consumption. Pro-duction is less as compared to consumption. Sup-

plies are now very tight across the world and reserves are at a very low level. With food consump

tion exceeding the amount grown for six of the pas11 years, countries have run down reserves froman average of 107 days of consumption 10 yearsago to under 74 days recently.

Prices of main food crops such as wheat andmaize are now close to those that sparked riots in25 countries in 2008. There are 870 million peoplewho are malnourished and the food crisis is growing particularly in the Middle East and Africa.

PLUG THE GAP BETWEEN SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES

J .S. Rajpu

Once again, in a global list of top performinginstitutions of higher education, no Indian univer-sity or an IIT or IIM finds a place in it. While expertsmay attribute it mostly to the inadequacy of resourcesupport, the real factors could be deciphered only

through a thorough understanding of the conditionsprevailing in school education. Universities cannotflourish unless they establish close organic links withthe school education system, its content and pro-cess, and the extent to which values, attitudes andaptitudes are being nurtured among young learn-ers. Needless to say, the attitude of the Centralgovernment has greatly restricted innovative initia-tives even in central institutions. These suffer onthe count of faculty shortage and mindless alterna-tives such as lecture-based teaching and recruit-ment of guest lecturers on the pittance of an hono-

rarium. In todays time, when the young hop jobstoo frequently, the criticality of institutional attach-ment has eroded considerably.

Every great university acquires its credibilitythrough the contributions of its dedicated faculty. Inearly Sixties, one could see research laboratoriesin universities working round the clock. Not so now.If one discusses the mission and vision of a univer-sity with the faculty, not many would be very clearabout it. In one instance, I was told by a group ofyoung and not-so-young academics that there isnothing special about our mission; it is the same for

all universities and it is decided by the UGC.Learner achievement surveys in primary

schools continue to present a picture that indicatesserious maladies in the functioning of around 70per cent of the schools. These cater mostly to ur-ban slums, rural, tribal, and minority concentrationareas. Failures during the first eight years inschools are no longer permitted under policy di-rectives of the Centre. Further, any child below 14

years of age could seek admission in any school inan age appropriate class. It means an 11-year oldchild who has never gone to school could claim admission in Class VI. How shall the school or teachers impart him/her the requisite level of learning at

tainments seems nobodys concern. Who wouldprovide him additional or remedial teaching? Withacute shortage of teachers in schools and universities, quality is destined to become a casualty.

The proliferation of coaching institutions is impacting quality in huge measures. These have become training shops that conduct drills in solvingexpected questions in entrance examinations toIITs, IIMs and medical institutions. Classroom teaching suffers as teachers shift focus to far-lucrativeassignments in coaching institutions. While expertsconsistently advise initiation of practices and peda

gogy that help children move away from total dependence on rote learning, in India coaching institutions are killing all the traits that could mature increative and innovative action on the part of younglearners. Acquisition of vocational skills is anothecasualty.

An ASSOCHAM survey has revealed that thepercentage of workforce with vocational training inSouth Korea, Japan and China is 95.8, 80.4 and5.3 respectively. This is another indication of serious follies that have crept in to the system. If it werenot so, universities would not be starving for young

researchers, a pre-requisite for knowledge creationand utilisation in the current times. The number oresearchers in developing countries is 4,500 peone million; in Scandinavian countries 6,700; andin India it is only 156. While 2G and Coalgate receive the attention they deserve, India needs toponder over the conditions in its schools and higheeducation institutions. So much is missing there.

Courtesy: Indian Expres

(Contd. from Pg. No. 12)

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Printed matterTo If undelivered please return to:General Secretary

AIFUCTO

C/o 403, Nanak Sai Residency,Lane Opp. To Papaji Ka Dhaba,

Reddy Boys Hostel Road,Abids, Hyderabad - 500 001.

Ph.: 040 - 2475 6914, 092461 66914email: [email protected]

December 2012 Teachers' Movement POSTAL RG. No. H-HD GPO/0005/2012-2014

Registered with Registrar of News Papers for India No. APENG/1999/244

Printed and Published by B. Vijay Kumar on behalf of the All India Federation of University and CollegeTeachers' Organisation (AIFUCTO) at Planographers, 5-8-300/A, Chirag Ali Lane, Hyderabad - 500 001 and

Published from 4-3-225/8, Gujarati Galli, Bank Street, Kothi, Hyderabad - 500 195.

AIFUCTOALL INDIA FEDERATION OF UNIVERSITY

&

COLLEGE TEACHERS' ORGANISATIONS

HIGHER EDUCATION & 12th FIVE YEAR PLAN:

THE AGENDA,

ROLES OF TEACHERS & TEACHERS' MOVEMENT

XXVIII ACADEMIC CONFERENCE

15, 16 & 17th December, 2012

Venue

SAMPURNANANDA SANSKRIT UNIVERSITYVARANASI

NATIONAL SEMINAR

teachers movement-dec. 12

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