Two recent developments in Haryana require to be seen as deriving from the same source. One of them was the extraordinarily low pass percentage at the higher secondary examination. That only 14.6 per cent students managed to clear the exam must be the lowest ever and perhaps the lowest in any state in the country. The other development relates to the odd goings-on in the Public Service Commission: of the State.
Is there any connection between the two? Those who fail to see that there is a connection suffer from a kind of moral blindness, if one may say so. It is time they examined themselves to see whether they have been brainwashed to such an extent that they cannot distinguish between cause and effect and between black and white. In this connection I recall an incident which occurred in 1986. One morning, I received a phone call from someone who, be- fore he came to the point, made sure that I had been Vice-Chancellor of Punjabi University, Patiala. That morning a photograph had appeared in the newspapers. A meeting in respect of the then troubled Punjab situation had been held and I was shown as one of the speakers sitting on the dais. I confirmed that I was the same person. Thereupon he expressed his desire to come and see me.
A little later, when he came, he told me-hat he had received a gold medal at my hands at the first con- vocation of the university in which I had participated after I had taken over. A year earlier, he had stood first in the master’s degree examination in one of the social sciences and the gold medal was given to him in token thereof..
“What are you doing now”? 1 asked. That is precisely the problem, he explained. He had sat for the IAS and qualified for it at a fairly high rank but had not done well at the interview. With his rural background that was not unexpected. Then he went on to explain that he had also qualified for the PCS in Punjab. Not only had he qualified, he was one of the first 15 in the rank order. He also went on to say that he had done fairly well at the interview; he was not so much at a disadvantage in this case as in the case of the IAS.
“What happened then”? I asked him. His reply was devastating. According to him, he was required to pay something like a lakh of rupees if he was to get selected. But with a step-mother, three younger brothers and all the rest, he could not afford it. The same experience had been repeated more than once and he was at a loose end. “Why have you not become a lecturer”? I asked him. His reply was that he had not done his M.Phil and, once again, the domestic ‘actor came into play and he could not afford it. Altogether it was a sad story. Talking to him I could see that the 7-8 years of persistent unemployment had undermined his self-confidence. He had a lively mind, however, and it came through every now and then.
I cannot say that I was able to help him in any way. I brought him to the notice of a couple of persons who were in a position to do something. But then my attitude in life is that if I find someone’s talent going un- recognized, I do my little bit to project him. But beyond that, it is not part of my nature to go and lobby anyone. In this undetermined way, things went on for a couple of years till I heard from someone connected with him that his problem had been “solved”.
“How”? I enquired. There was a twinkle in his eye which meant that the news was not bad. In brief, he explained to me that a Punjabi family settled in one of the developing countries had advertised for a groom for their daughter. Somehow they located him and he simply migrated abroad. It may be assumed that in that country he was assessed on the basis of what he was and not because he could afford or not afford to pay under the counter or he knew somebody on the kinship or com- munity basis. This longish story is meant to illustrate two points. One, there is no difference between. Punjab and Haryana or any other state in the country when it comes to corruption. Each one of them has organized its political life in such a way that almost everything conditioned by corruption. Corruption means denial of justice to those. who deserve and patronage of those who do not deserve. As one of the early feminists, Mary Wollstonecraft, wrote as long ago as 1792: “It is justice and not charity that is wanting in the world.” This is the malady from which our country is sultering most acutely and unless we can find an answer to it, such atrocities would continue to be perpetrated.
Two, who appointed these members of the Public Service Commission? On what basis were they appointed? Were they able and up- right people? Or, were they appointed precisely because they were “convenient” and could be made to do anything? Several such questions can be asked and the answer in each case would be that whatever happened was a part of a social and political design and things did not just happen.
It is another matter that the design got disrupted and such outrageous things came to pass that eventually there was complete revulsion against what was happening. However, unless this state of revulsion can lead to a re-ordering of our political life, it would not amount to much.
Things are no different in Punjab. Haryana might have fathered the phrase “Aya Ram, Gaya Ram” but Punjab’s performance on the moral plane is about the same. Its political life too has been more or less along the same lines.
But owing to the fact that the Chief. Minister in Haryana is firmly in the saddle he can afford to take a strong position sometimes. In Punjab things are somewhat fluid and therefore most of those in power miss no chance to make a “killing” while the going is good. To make any distinction between the two would be an example of working out at distinction without a difference.
How does all this have a bearing on education? This is what most politicians do not understand. It is because of the way the political life is organized that universities and colleges have got penetrated by corruption, that mass copying has become the order of the day and, as if that was not deplorable enough, mass copying has now travelled to school level also. When things go beyond the point of tolerance those in charge of things like to bring them under control. It is not so easy however. The general perception is; if you can pull it off, do so, and, if you cannot, manipulate things in – such a way that nobody ever gets punished.
This mode of perception has now gone down right to the village level. Teachers do not teach because they know that they can always arrange to get transferred. Students do not study because they know that no- body is going to be detained. In any case, the panchayat can always en- sure that the teachers refusing to listen to what people tell them can be transferred. What the panchayat cannot do is taken care of by those active in politics. There is hardly any decency of life that one can live O by!
This little analysis is not going to change things; I have no illusions on that score. The limited purpose of offering it is to show that what is happening is interlinked. One thing conditions another and unless this link can be broken, neither political life nor education will improve. Since we seem to be determined to destroy even the future generations, we are not bothered about what happens at the school or college level.
What seems to be important is that some people capture power and then manipulate things in such a way that they stay on in power. Others who want to displace them are pre- pared to be even more unprincipled and it is difficult to decide which of them is worse. The honest truth is that without going back to some of those values which took a hard knock in 1947, we would not be able to even survive as a nation.
This is not an alarmist view of things. Even if we manage to maintain the status quo, it means two would not be able to survive; the sheer growth of numbers would get us down in the long run. Those who are not blinded by self-interest can see what is happening.
But the more pertinent question is how do we throw them out? Currently, we are passing through a phase when a large number of us are keen to throw out those who are now in power but we do not know who else to replace them with. One of these days, we would be able to answer this question too.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 2, 1994
