Kurukshetra May 2011

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Vol. 59 No. 7 Pages 52 May 2011 Rs. 10/-

RURAL EDUCATION



Kurukshetra May 2011 11

The Monthly Journal

MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Vol. 59 No. 7 Pages 52

May 2011

CONTENTS

Kurukshetra seeks to carry the message o Rural Development to all people. It serves as a orum or ree, rank and serious discussion on the

problems o Rural Development with special ocus on Rural Uplit.The views expressed by the authors i the articles are their ow. They do ot ecessarily refect the views o the govermet or the orgaizatios they

work or.

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lThe Challenge of eduCaTing RuRal india apm hr 3

lRighT To eduCaTion 6

luniveRsalizaTion of eduCaTion a Kmr B 8

lChallenges To fRee and

CoMPulsoRY eduCaTion- sjt hr 13

lsaRva shiKhYa aBhiYan and B K Paanak

inClusive eduCaTion M M s 16

lThe Meaning of eduCaTion K.K.Kr 21

lPRoBleMs of TRiBal eduCaTion in india dr. sjy Kmr Pr 26

lALLOW THEM TO BE TAUGHT BY NATURE ALSO Rajshekhar Pant 32

lALARMiNG STATE Of CHiLd NUTRiTiON iN iNdiA arpt srm 35

l iMPROviNG RURAL LivELiHOOdS

The gRaM saBha aPPRoaCh Awansh Somkuwar 39

lunloCKing The PoTenTial of RuRal

unoRganized seCToR s amr 42

lgRoweRs adoPT BaBY CoRn foR ‘faT’ inCoMe 44

lHOUSE SPARROWPOPULATiON CRASH Kalpana Palkhwala 46

CHIEF EDITORNEETA PRASAD

EDITORKAPIL KUMAR

JOInT DI RECTOR

J.K. CHANDRA

COVER DESIGn RAJAT NAIK

EDITORIAL OFFICEROOM NO. 661, NIRMAN BHAVANA-WING (GATE NO.5),MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT,NEW DELHI-110011

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InsIde

ina has the largest eucaon system n the worl aer Chna. Howeer,

ssues o qualty eucaon an access reman Challenges n some parts o

t ctry. T Rt t ect (RTe) fmt rt r

chlren n the age group o 6 to 14 years. in smple wors, t means that the

Goernment wll be responsble or prong eucaton to eery chl up to the

eghth stanar, ree o cost, rrespecte o class an gener. Howeer, t wll

take at least e more years beore the target s reache. Ths s because the

nrastructure has to be bult, an lakhs o teachers recrute.

The RTE s the rst legslaton n the worl that puts the responsblty

o enrollment , attenance an complet on o eucaton on the goernment.

Though the Natonal Eucaton Polcy o 1968 talke o a ree an compulsory

eucaton, the Rght to Eucaton came nto eect only n Aprl 2010.

To ulll the promse the mpartng eucaton as a rght, the goernment

has enhance uns to the eucaton sector. in the current buget (2011-12),

an ncrease o 24 per cent has been mae n allocaton or the eucaton

ctr.

We scuss n ths ssue, the Rght to Eucaton, an the challenges to

rc r cmpry ct.

There s heartenng news n the latest census. ina’s eecte lteracy rate

has recore a 9.2 per cent rse to reach 74.04 per cent, accorng to prosonal

ata o the 2011 census. Eecte lteracy rate n the 2001 census was 64.83,

whch has mproe to 74.04.

in ths ssue, we also scuss the state o chl nutrton whch s not

a happy stuaton. Accorng to a stuy, 20 per cent o chlren uner the

age o e years are waste, as they are too thn, an nearly 70 per cent

chlren between sx months an 59 months, are anemc.

despte the constrants, more an more chlren are geng enrolle n

c pr t r t t cmc rt.




T r ct ctt c

cmc prr ccpt. acc

t ct crtc t cc mr

pprtt tt ccmpy cmc rt.

Keepng n ew o ths accepte act there has been

mjr trt ct c pc;

but as ar as ensurng qualty eucaton n rural

ina s concerne t has always been one o the

bggest challenges or the goernment.

ina ewe eucaton as the best way

o brngng socal change. Soon ater ganng

nepenence n 1947, makng eucaton aalable

to all ha become a prorty or the goernment.

The eucaton sector has recee conserable

attenton n the recent Buget (or the year 2011

The Challenge of Educating Rural India

Anupam Hazra

– 2012) too - whch has announce a sgncant

cr 24 pr ct t tt ct r

ct ctr. T exstng operatonal norms

t Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan hae also been

rese to mplement the rght o chlren to ree

an compulsory eucaton, whch has come nto

eect rom 1 Aprl 2010. Allocatons to achee the

objectes o the Rght to Eucaton (RTE), whch

has been algne wth the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan,were hke rom Rs 15,000 crore to Rs 21,000

crr. w t trt t trt

elementary eucaton, the Centre s now ocusng

on “ocatonalsaton” o seconary eucaton,

whch wll enable stuents to pursue job-orente

courses at the plus two-leel. intates hae also




been taken to ncrease retenton o Scheule

Caste an Scheule Trbe stut C iX

X by ntroucng a pre-matrculaton scholarshp.

The human resource eelopment (HRd) mnstry’s

allocatons hae gone up to Rs 52,057 crore rom

last year’s Rs 43,836 crore. Though the recent

buget seems to be prong a major mpetus

towars the country’s oerall eucatonal growth

but ue to arous soco-economc actors, ina’s

eucaton program contnues to be engrate. O

the bggest ctms o the eucatonal system are

those lng n rural areas. T r cr

t rt rr ctn, rom makng

polces to ntroucng laws - our goernment has

lne up the eucaton system up to the mark but

mplementng the process nto an eecte way

has been the lacunae o the entre system.

st qty cc rm r

ccr prtcry t pr rrct i. Cr rr r ct

to be epre o qualty eucaton owng to

actors lke lack o competent an commtte

teachers, lack o textbooks or teachng-learnng

materals, an so on. A large number o teachers

reuse to teach n rural areas an those that o, are

usually uner-quale. The much publcse m

y m cm mt t rc rp-t rt

n schools, seems to be not yelng the esre

Recent Scenario of India’s Education Sector: At A Glance

Ø 96.5% cr t 6 t 14 rp rr i r r c

Ø71.1% o these chlren are enrolle n goernment schools, 24.3 % are enrolle n prate schools.

ØThe proporon o grls (age 11-14) who are sll out o school has eclne rom 6.8% n 2009 to 5.9 n

2010; n states lke Rajasthan (12.1%) an Uar Praesh (9.7%), ths percentage remans hgh an shows

lle change snce 2009.

ØEnrollment n prate schools n rural ina ncrease rom 21.8% n 2009 to 24.3% n 2010

ØNatonally, the percentage o e year ols enrolle n schools ncrease rom 54.6% n 2009 to

62.8% n 2010. The bggest ncrease was sble n Karnataka where the proporton o e year olsenrolle n school ncrease rom 17.1% n 2009 to 67.6 n 2010

ØNatonally there s not much change n reang leels as compare to last year. Only 53.4% chlren

n Stanar v can rea a Stanar ii leel text. Ths suggests that een ater e years n school,

close to hal o all chlren are not een at the leel expecte o them ater two years n school.

ØOn aerage, there has been a ecrease n chlren’s ablty to o smple mathematcs. The proporton

o Stanar i chlren who coul recognze numbers rom 1-9 eclne rom 69.3% n 2009 to 65.8%

n 2010. Smlarly, the proporton o chlren n Stanar iii who coul sole two gt subtracton

problems ecrease rom 39% to 36.5% n the same pero. Chlren n Stanar v who coul o

smple son problems also roppe rom 38% n 2009 to 35.9% n 2010.

ØASER 2010 oun that oer 60% o the 13,000 schools sureye satse the nrastructure normsspece by the RTE. Howeer, more than hal o these schools wll nee more teachers. A thr wll

mr crm.

Øfor rural ina as a whole, chlren’s attenance shows no change oer the pero 2007- 2010.

Attenance remane at aroun 73% urng ths pero.

Source: Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2010




rt t mpprprt

meant or the scheme, msmanagement, lack o

serousness among the mplementng authortes,

erson o uns, lack o awareness among the

parents o poor chlren, etc. The oo sere

r m-y m cm rr c

o neror qualty. Beses that, t rct Publc

Report Bc ect [PRoBe] rprt rct

tt pyc rtrctr rr c r

behn the satsactory-leel, wth 82 percent o

the schools s n nee o renoaton. Books are

oten unaalable, an teacher absenteesm tens

to be hgh.

Bt t mr c r

jeoparsng the progress o rural eucaton,are beng aresse an there are poste sgns

tt t mp mjr

goernment programmes

c t Sarva Shiksha

Abhiyan t c

rom unersal enrolment

to unersal retenton an

qualty. Attenton s also beng

gen to the goernance o

c t t rmt

ct v

ect Cmmtt

(veC) mr trprt

prc r m c rrc. i

recent years, t has also been notce that the

Panchayati Raj , or llage councl has been

py cry ct r t

prr ct rr r cr t

country. On the other han, n last ew years,

the number o quale teachers n rural schools

has ncrease because o the augmente eorts

by the goernment an prate groups towars

mprong the country’s oerall eucatonal

tt tr pr r

proessonal tranng o school teachers. The next

most pressng challenge s to boost the access n

rural areas to seconary eucaton, partcularly

or grls, Scheule Caste, Scheule Trbes,

an mnortes as well as to ensure aalablty

o techncal an ocatonal eucaton an

sklls. At ths leel o the eucaton system the

prate sector s growng raply an playng an

mperate role o serce proer.

Conclusion

i t c rt ct

ytm t r tr C. T c

operaton nole to ensure qualty o Eucaton

r a t ctry q c. at

the same tme, the nature o problems aectng

the eucaton system are so erse an oten

p rt tt t t ct t

alteraton o any one sngle actor – t s not about

jt rt my r jt

rt tr tcr

or lack o poltcal wll; all

these unenably contrbute

to the problems, aectng the

country’s exstng eucaton

system. Howeer, there s a

nee to look at the entre set

o problems an eal wth thessue holstcally takng nto

crt t pcc

context o erent sectons o the socety. it

rqr ctt tr ctr

support or polcy, strategy, techncal assstance,

an montorng an ealuaton combne wth

ncrease ecentralzaton wthn goernment,

stronger publc-prate partnershps, an

mproe accountablty relatonshps between

the serce proers, polcy makers, an thetrt ppt.

(The author is Assistant Professor,

Department of Social Work, Assam (Central)

University, Silchar – 788 011; Assam, e-mail :

[email protected])

India has the second largest

educaon system in the

world aer China. The scale

of operaon involved to

ensure quality of Educaon

for All in the country is

unique and challenging.




T Rt t ect act (RTe act) cm

t rc t tr ctry rm apr

1, 2010. it s now legally enorceable or

eery chl between the age o sx an ourteen

yr t m r mtry ct.

T RTe act t rt t t r tt

puts the responsblty o ensurng enrollment,

attenance an completon on the Goernment.

The Act makes eucaon a unamental rght

o eery chl between the ages o 6 an 14 an

speces mnmum norms n elementary schools. it

requres all prate schools to resere 25% o seats

to chlren rom poor amles (to be remburse by

RIGHT TO EDUCATION

the state as part o the publc-prate partnershp

p).

Accorng to goernment esmates, there

are nearly 220 mllon chlren n the releant age

group, o whch 4.6%, or nearly 9.2 mllon, are out

c.

it s esmate that 1.71 lakh crore rupees wll

be neee n the next e years or mplementaon

t RTe act.

T u fc Mtr ct

cr 24 per cent or the eucaon sector n the

unon buget or 2011-12. Rs.21,000 crores hae

The RTE Act is the rst legislaon in the world that puts the responsibility of ensuring enrollment,

aendance and compleon on the Government.




been allocate or Sara Shkshya Abhyan regsterng

an ncrease o 40%.

sm t t tr t act.

Right to Education

The Act makes t manatory or eery chl

between the ages o 6-14 to be proe or

eucaon by the State. Ths means that such chl

oes not hae to pay a sngle penny as regars books,

rm tc… t.

l Any me o the acaemc year, a chl can

go to a school an eman that ths rght be

rpct.

l Prate eucaon nstuons hae to resere25% o ther seats starng rom class i n 2011

to saantage stuents.

l Strct crtera or the qualcaon o teachers.

Tr rqrmt tcr tt

raon o 1:30 at each o these schools that

ought to be met wthn a gen me rame.

l The schools nee to hae certan mnmum

acles lke aequate teachers, playgroun

an nrastructure. The goernment wll eole

m mcm t p mr c

comply wth the prosons o the Act.

l There s anew concept o ‘neghbourhoo

schools’ that has been ese. Ths s smlar

t t m t ut stt. T

mply that the state goernment an local

authores wll establsh prmary schools

wthn walkng stance o one km o the

neghbourhoo. in case o chlren or Class vi

to viii, the school shoul be wthn a walkng

stance o three km o the neghbourhoo.

l Unae an prate schools shall ensure

that chlren rom weaker secons an

saantage groups shall not be segregate

rm t tr cr t crm r

shall ther classes be hel at places an mngs

erent rom the c r t tr

cr.

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eucaon s a ynamc process that starts

rom brth. A chl surroune by parents an

other sblngs experences her surrounngs

an respons. The surrounng enronment, the

physcal an socal, “mparts” some normaon an

the chl tres to n a paern n that normaon

rp. frm t rp

whether hs/her eelopment s normal, abnormal

or extraornary. derent chlren at the same

bologcal age respon to the same enronmental

Universalization of Education

Anil Kumar Biswas

Right to Educaon Act (2009) has given ample scope to PRIs in rural area for the universalizaon of

elementary educaon as a fundamental right. If PRI members are monitoring the enrollment procedure of

their Jurisdicon, the success will come.

stuaon erently epenng on the eelopment

tr prcpe an cogne sklls such as

seeng, hearng, smellng, touchng, an mentally

processng that normaon to scoer the paerns.

The behaoral response o the stuents wth

encal percepe an cogne skll er ue

to the erences n the amly enronment an

the extent o sel stuy an eort. So we nee or

a beer eucan polcy or all roun eelopment

c.




Education Policy

ect ina has a hstory stretchng back

to the ancent urban centers o learnng at Taxla

an Nalana. Western eucaton became ngrane

nto inan socety wth the establshment o theBrt Rj. sc inepenence, the eucaton

polces o successe goernments hae bult

on the substantal legaces o the Nehruan

Pero, targetng the core themes o Pluralty an

Secularsm, wth a ocus on excellence n hgher

eucaton, an ncluseness at all leels.

Traonal eucaon n ina sere a ery

lmte purpose o a parcular secon o the socety

belongng to certan cost. durng meeal pero

eucaon was smlarly elst, aorng the rch.These pre-exsng elst tenences were renorce

uner Brsh rule. The moern eucaon system

o Brsh Raj was rst eelope n the three

Presences (Bombay, Calcua, Maras). in the

early 1900s, the inan Naonal Congress calle or

naonal eucaon, placng emphass on techncal

an ocaonal tranng. in 1920 the Congress nate

a Boyco o Goernment-ae an Goernment-

controlle schools an oune seeral ‘naonal’

schools an colleges. in 1937 Ganhj rase hsoce n aor o unersal eucaon. Nehru ame

that eucaon or all an nustral eelopments

were seen as crucal tools to unte a country e

on the bass o wealth, cost an relgon, an orme

the corner stone o the an-mperal struggle. So

aer nepenence, school currcula were thus

mbue wth the twn themes o ncluseness an

naonal pre, placng emphass on the act that

ina’s erent communes coul be peaceully

se by se as one naon.

drawng on Nehru’s son, the Kothar

Cmm t p t rmt crt

eucaon polcy or ina. Accorng to the

commsson, eucaon was ntene to ncrease

proucty, eelop socal an naonal unty,

ct mcrcy mr t ctry

eelop socal, moral an sprtual alues. To achee

ths, the man pllar o inan eucaon polcy was

to be ree an compulsory eucaon or all chlren

p t t 14. otr tr c t

eelopment o languages, equalty o eucaonal

opportunes an the eelopment an prorzaon

o scenc eucaon an research. The commsson

mp t t rct trcy

proe ault eucaon

Naonal Policy on Educaon

Aer Kothar Commsson’s (1964)

recommenaons the ntroucon o Naonal

Eucaon Polcy 1986, Raj Ganh announce

a new eucaon polcy. The Naonal Polcy on

Eucaon (NPE), was ntene to prepare ina or

t 21t ctry. T pcy mp t r

change an note ‘Eucaon n ina stans at the

Crossroas toay. Nether normal lner expanson

nor the exsng pace an nature o mproement

can meet the nees o the stuaon’.

Accorng to the new polcy, the 1968 polcy

goals ha largely been achee: more than 90% o

the country’s rural populaon was wthn a klometer

o schoolng acles an more states ha aopte a

common eucaon structure. The prorzaon o

scence an mathemacs ha also been eece. The

1986 polcy was reewe by a commee constute

n 1990 uner the charmanshp o Acharya

Ramamur. On the bass o the recommenaons o

ths commee, certan prosons o the 1986 polcy

were moe n 1992.

Apart rom the aboe menone three

mportant naonal polces, ollowng naes hae

been taken:

l

Operaon Blackboar (1987) ame to mproethe human an Physcal resources aalable n

prmry c.

l Restructurng an reorganzaon o Teacher

Eucaon (1987) create a resource or the

connuous upgrang o teacher’s knowlege

cmptc.




l Mnmum leels o learnng (1991) la own

leels o acheement at arous stages an

rese textbooks.

l Naonal Programme or Nutronal Support to

Prmary Eucaon (1995) Proe a cooke

meal eery ay or chlren n class i-v o all

got., got.-ae, an local boy schools.

l dstrct Prmary Eucaon Programme (dPEP)

(1993) emphasze ecentralze plannng an

management, mproe teachng an learnng

materals, an school eeceness.

l Sare Shkha Abhjan (SSA) (2001), ame

at unersalzng elementary eucaon

o sasactory qualty n the country. The

programme n now a agshp programme o

the got.

l The Rashtrya Mahymk Shkha Abhjan

(RMSA) on the lner o SSA, s expecte to

brng n the esre nestments n Seconary

Eucaon an acltate the process o

unersalzng seconary eucaon n the

ctry.

The year 2009 s a lan mark year n the

eelopment hstory o elementary eucaon,

when the goernment nally manage to pass the

86t Amenment to the Constuon that mae Rghtto Eucaon (RTE) Constuonal Provisions for

Educaon :-

The last eucaon commsson uner the

Brsh, the Sergeant Commsson, ha n 1945

ensage a orty year me rame or unersal

eucaon; that s by 1985. The constuon not

enact eucaon a unamental rght, but mae the

arcle 45 o the drece Prncples, callng on the

state to ‘Eneaour to proe ree an compulsory

eucaon to all chlren up to the age 14’ the onlyme boun arcle, recng the state to accomplsh

the task n 10 years, that s by 1960. The new

arcle 21A, whch was nserte as part o the 86 t

Amenment says that “the state shall proe ree

an compulsory eucaon to all chlren between the

ages 6 an 14 through a law that t may etermne”.

T 42 Amenment (1976) to make eucaon

‘Ccrrt’ subject or expanson o Prmary

Eucaon acles, parcularly n backwar areas,

to make eucaon easy to all, ree an compulsory

eucaon, prorzaon to unersalzaon o prmary

eucaon. Arcle 29 states that the mnores shall

hae the rght to presere ther snct language,

scrpt or culture. Arcle 29(2) eclares that “no

czen shall be ene amsson nto any eucaonal

nstuon mantane by the state or re-acheng

a out o state un on grouns any o relgon, race,

caste, language, or any o them”. Arcle 30 ges

protecon to relgous an lngusc mnores. They

hae the rght to establsh an amnster nstuons

o ther choce. Arcle 30 (1-A) says that n case o any

property o an eucaonal nstuon establshe anamnstere by a mnorty beng acquante by the

state, the state shall ensure that the amount xe

or such acqure property shoul be such as woul

not restrct or abrogate the rghts o the mnorty.

Arcle 30(2) prohbts state rom scrmnang n

granng a to eucaonal nstuons manage by

the relgons an lngusc mnores. Arcle 28(1)

Prohbts relgous nstrucon n any eucaonal

y mt t t tt . 28(2)

nothng n clause (1) shall apply to an eucaonal

nstuon whch s amnstere by the state but

has been establshe uner any enowment or

trust whch requres the relgons nstrucon shall

be mporte n such nstuon. 28 (3) No Person

aenng any eucaonal nstuon recognze by

the state be requre to take part n any relgous

nstuon that may be mporte n such nstuon

or any premses aache there to – unless such a

person s a mnor, hs guaran has gen consent

there to. Arcle 46 eals eucaon o the socally

& eucaonally backwar classes o czen. Arcle

350A eals acles or nstrucon n mother tongue

Prmry st.

Right to Educaon Act (2009)

The rough ra o the bll was compose n the

year 2005 n an recee Presenal assent an



Kurukshetra May 2011 1 111

was noe as a law on 3r September, 2009 as the

cr’ Rt to free an Compulsory Eucaon

act.

Main features of Right to Educaon Act:-

The man eatures o Rght to Eucaon Act are –

1. free an compulsory eucaon to all chlren

i 6 t 14 rp.

2. No chl shall be hel back, expelle or

requre to pass a boar examnaon unl

compleon o elementary eucaon.

3. A chl who completes elementary eucaon

(up to rom class viii) shall be aware a

cercate.

4. Calls or a xe stuent-teacher rao.

5. Wll apply to all o ina except Jammu an

Kmr.

6. Proes or 25% reseraon or economcally

saantage communes n amsson to

class i n all prate schools.

7. Manates mproement n qualty o

eucaon.

8. sc tcr qt

proessonal egree wthn e years or else

wll lose job.

9. School nrastructure to be mproe n three

years, else recognon cancelle.

10. fnancal buren wll be share between state

an central goernment.

11. No chl shall be subjecte to physcal

pmt mt rmt.

12. Screenng Proceure shall be punshable wth

ne.

13. To constute a school management commee

conssng o the electe representaes o

the local authorty, parents on guarans o

cr.

14. n tcr l be eploye or any non-eucaonal purposes.

15. n tcr m r r

prate tuon.

Rght to Eucaon Act (2009) s a lanmark

nae o the goernment to strengthen the

eucaon system n ina. Uner ths Act t s

manatory to complete elementary eucaon o

all chlren, who rese n inan Terrtory. Now

Eucaon s unamental Rght o eery inan.

it s ery necessary to nole the Panchaya

Raj instuon n rural area or unersalzng the

elementary eucaon. Wheneer PRis n rural

areas hae taken the took the naes to

protect chl rghts, eelopment ncators n

areas lke eucaon, health an chl trackng

hae mproe ramacally. Rght to Eucaon Act

(2009) has gen ample scope to PRis n rural area

or the unersalzaon o elementary eucaon as

a unamental rght. i PRi members are montorng

the enrollment proceure o ther Jurscon,

cc cm.

(The author is Assistant Professor, Department

of Polical Science, A.B.N. Seal College, Cooch

Behar, West Bengal, e-mail : bappa_anil@

redimail.com)




27 June 2011 th

15 July 2011 th

15 July 2011 th




Ran was just nne but ha to perorm a

t t c c tan washng clothes n a Babur bar

(mpyr’ ) t r mtr gt.

What’s more, both o them worke but payment

m t gt y. T mt mr

Rs. 250 per month. To support a amly o three

(mtr t cr t tr t

stay wth them any longer),Gta neee to work n

CHALLENGES TO FREE AND

COMPULSORY EDUCATION Sujata Hira

It is in the case of children that misapplied noons of liberty are a real obstacle to the fulllment by the

state of its dues. John Stuart Mill (On Liberty) (1959)

sx houses aly n orer to make ens meet. Total

ncome o the amly was Rs.1150 per month.

Gta ha neer thought o amng Ran (the

name was nspre by Gta’s aourte lm actress)

to a school though she was aware o all the benets

that Ran can get. She knew that a chl enrolle n

a school gets ree eucaon, ree unorm an ree

books an ree lunch. Een the prospect o a beer

marrage or job as a shoppng mall aenant or

ct R c t r gt t r

FROM THE GROUND




aughter to school. She belee that eucaon s

too costly an not aorable. She was har-presse

to thnk o toay, an ha no luxury to thnk o

tmrr.

gt p. s r tr’

help to mantan her work scheule. She een hope

to earn some extra wthn two years when Ran wll

be able to work on her own , thereby ncreasng ther

‘amly ncome’. Ran, too, was not eager to go to

school . She ha aene the local iCdS centre sx

years back but was unconally llterate. instea, she

loe talkng about moe-stars an Tv serals whch

she watche regularly wth her mother aer work.

The eort o the teacher o the local Sshu Shksha

Kenra(SSK)to get her enrolle went n an.

them normaon about the arral o new sets o

books, pencls, erar TlM(tc –r

materal) or the M-ay meal menu o last week.

Gta’s new work not only supplemente her ncome

but also change her outlook towars school. She

watche grls stuyng there talkng about ther

uture reams o becomng teachers or octors.

Aer three months o jonng her work n school she

took Ran to the Sahayka she reuse one ay. She

now wants her chl to be a prmary school teacher.

Ran, now, s not perme to go to a neghbor

to watch Tv serals n the eenng. She nees to nsh

her homework sng near her mother as Gta cooks

ther nner nearby.

As J.S. Mll argue years ago, t s ncumbent

on the state to ensure eucaon o “eery human

beng who s born ts czen”, oerrng parental

objecons an long establshe traons o senng

chlren out to work. Mll conclue that the state’s

nterenon s neee n the most prate oman

o amly, where parents neglect to proe chlren

wth “nstrucon an tranng or the mn” along

wth “oo or the boy”.

Ths s the reason, perhaps, why we neee

a strngent legslaon on compulsory eucaon.

The Naonal Eucaon Polcy, 1968, though,

among others, announce the prncple o ree an

compulsory eucaon but RTE came nto beng

only n 2010. Makng elementary eucaon an

entlement or chlren n the 6-14 age group, the

Rght o Chlren to free an Compulsory Eucaon

Act, 2009 wll rectly benet chlren who o not go

t c t prt.

Prm Mtr Mm s c

the operaonalsaon o the Rght o Chlren to

fr Cmpulsory Eucaon Act whch states

that chlren, who ha ether roppe out o schools

or neer been to any eucaonal nstuon, wll get

in pracce, a two pronge approach was

taken where both metho1. an metho2. were

employe. A Sel-help group employe n cookng

m y m c prmry c (Kr dr

fP school) contacte Gta to work as a helper –cook.

inally she reuse earng a huge workloa but later

agree. The Sahayka o the SSK , n the meanme,

remane n touch wth both Gta an Ran gng




elementary eucaon as t wll be bnng on the

part o the local an State goernments to ensure

tt cr t 6-14 rp t c.

As per the Act, prate eucaonal nstuons

shoul resere 25 per cent seats or chlren rom

the weaker secons o socety. The Centre an the

States hae agree to share the nancal buren n

the rao o 55:45, whle the fnance Commsson

has gen Rs. 25,000 crore to the States or

mplemenng the Act. The Centre has approe an

outlay o Rs.15,000 crore or 2010-2011.

T act mpr t c mmt

commee or the local authorty to eny the

rop-outs or out-o-school chlren age aboe sx

mt tm c pprprt t tr

aer gng specal tranng.

Salient features of act-

l The chl s entle to

recee the eucaon n

neghbourhoo school.

l prate school wll hae

to take 25% o ther

c trt rm t

weaker secon o thesocety. Eucaon o these

chlren wll be une by

goernment.

l No onaon an/or captaon ee

l No amsson test or nterew ether or chl

r prt.

l No chl can be hel back, expelle an

requre to pass the boar examnaon ll the

compleon o elementary eucaon

l proson or establshment o commssons to

superse the mplementaon o the act.

l A xe stuent an teacher rao s to be

mt.

l All schools hae to ahere to rules an

regulaons la own n ths act. Three years

moratorum pero has been proe to

c t cmpy.

l Norms or teachers tranng an qualcaons

are also clearly menone t ct.

Challenges ahead

l Lke Ran, many rst generaon learners

lose nterest n stuy ue to arous actors.

Stuyng emans a erent type o

concentraon /aenon than they are

use to pay whle watchng moes or ong

househol work . it also emans a sutable

enronment, moator an encouragement.

When these chlren can not keep pace wth

classmates n the class, they lose nterest. a sc

l fnancal assstance proe by these chlren

to ther amly makes t cult

or the authores to get them

ame n school.

l As per the proson o the

act, chlren possessng lesser

nancal ablty ame n

prate schools may be expose

to erent le style an lng

stanar. Whle the ntermxng

may result n beer coornaon

an cooperaon among chlren

o erent nancal strata , a copng -problem

or the poorer ks cannot be oerrule

tr.

l it s agree that the act proes us wth a

p t t r pr m cpt

nentory.

References:

[The author is a member of West Bengal Civil

Service, currently posted as Block Development

Ocer in Bishnupur I Development Block, South

24 Parganas, West Bengal . email id: sujatahira@

yahoo.co.in]

The Naonal Educaon

Policy, 1968, though,

among others, announced

the principle of free

and compulsory educaon,

but RTE came into beingonly in 2010.




ect t mrrr t t cty

t r t c-

economc eelopment. it transorms

human bengs rom gnorance to enlghtenment,rom shaes o socal backwarness to lght o socal

ameloraton an a naton rom unereelopment

to aster socal an economc eelopment. The

general conerence o UNSCEO n 1964 recognze

that “llteracy s a grae obstacle to socal an

economc eelopment an hence the extenson

Sarva Shikhya Abhiyan and InclusiveEducation

B K Paanaik and Madan Mohan Singh

Iinclusive educaon holds the key to all educaonal endeavour in India. The goal of inclusive educaon

is to end all form of discriminaon and foster social cohesion.

trcy pr-rqt r t cc

mpmtt t p r cmc

socal eelopment.” The rst ect Mtr

o coepenent ina, Maulana Abul Kalam Azasa n the parlament n 1948 that “i nee harly

say that whateer be our programme or nustral,

scentc, agrcultural, commercal or materal

progress an eelopment, non o them can be

achee wthout an mproement o the human

materal whch s the bass o our natonal wealth.




Tt m mtral s largely contone by the

tranng an eucaton whch t recees. it seems

to me that whateer we thnk o eence or o oo

or o nustry an commerce, we must take eery

step to see that eucaton s gen the rst prorty

among our natonal requrement.” Amartaya Sen

also emphasse that the soluton o all problems,

be they relate to the economy, eelopment or

populaton, les n eucaton.

ina has the stncton o hang one o

t rt mtry ct ytm t

wr. wt mr t 15 crr cr r

an more than 30 lakhs teachers, the elementary

eucaton s expanng n the country n a

ct c. The literacy rate in the country

has increased from a meagre 18.33 percent in

1951 to 65.38 in 2001. In reiterating its stand

for universalization of primary education in the

country, the 86th amendment to the constitution

of India has made free and compulsory education

to the children of 6-14 age groups a fundamental

right.

Not only llteracy, but also regonal, socal,

gener an caste base nequalty n lteracy are

some o the eatures o lteracy n ina. Table-i

an Table-ii relect the pcture. The excluson

r tr mr ct

cty rm rt ccr prmry

eucaton n ina. Way back what an eucatonal

expert J P Nak sa hols true een toay.

He sa that “the largest benecares o our

eucatonal system are the boys, the people o

urban areas an the mle an upper classes.”

in Asan drama, Gunnar Myral remarke that“the hunger o eucaton n the llages s largely

a romantc lluson.” The ncluse eucaton

hols the key to all eucatonal eneaour

n ina. The goal o ncluse eucaton s to

rm crmt tr c

c.

Table-I

Literacy Rate by Caste Group and Sex

Categories Types Literacy (%)

gr ltrcy Pr 64.8

M 75.3

fm 53.7

sc Ct Pr 54.7

M 66.6

fm 41.9

Scheule Trbes Pr 47.1

M 59.2

fm 34.8

Source: Census o ina, 2001

Table-I

Literacy Rate by Religious Communities

Categories Person Male Female

h 65.1 76.2 53.2

Mm 59.1 67.6 50.1

Crt 80.3 84.4 76.2

Skhs 69.4 75.2 63.1

Bt 72.7 83.1 61.7

Jans 94.1 97. 90.6

otr 7.0 60.8 33.2

a Cmmt 6.8 75.3 53.7

Source: Census o ina, 2001

The goernment o ina has launche seeral

prrmm tr ipc t pt trcy

n the country. in orer to achee ncluse

eucaton t has proe ncentes to the chlren

belongng to the Scheule Castes an Scheule

Trbes an also to the grls. More recently, the

goernment o ina has launche n 2001 Sara

Shkhya Abhyan(SSA) a lagshp programme n

parternershp wth the state goernment to coer

the entre country an aress the nees o 192

mllon chlren n 1.1 mllon habtatons. The SSA

programme ams at:

l Strengthenng school nrastructure by

construcng new bulng an upgrang the

exsng bulng.




l Prong teachers an also bulng ther

cpct tr tr.

l Seeks to proe qualty eucaton nclung

le sklls.

l Prmt cmmty prtcpt prmary eucaton by ormulatng vllage

Eucaton Commttees. An nolng

tm p r cmmty

contrbuton or prmary eucaton

l it ams at brgng socal, regonal an gener

p trcy prmry ct.

l it c r ct cr

t pc

l

it seeks to proe computer eucaton tobrge the gtal e.

The present paper ges the nng o

a stuy carre out n e strcts o Punjab.

Although Punjab s an economcally eelope

state, n terms o lteracy ts poston s not

encouragng. in terms o the Census 2001

lteracy, Punjab occupes 16 t pt. T

Eucatonal deelopment inex (Edi) eelope

by Natonal Unersty o Eucatonal Plannng

an Amnstraton(2007), New delh or prmaryan upper prmary leel also ranks Punjab 14t

wth an nex alue o 0.608, whle Kerala, delh

an Taml Nau ranks rst, secon an thr

wth nex alues o .0.708, 0.707 an 0.701

respectely. The state has also the stncton

o hang the hghest percentage o Scheule

Castes populaton, 29 percent well aboe the

natonal aerage o 21 percent. Thereore, the

mportance o ncluse eucaton occupes

sgncant place n the state. The eclne n sex-rt rtr jt t t.

Gender Parity

o t ental eatures o ncluse

ct t tt r qty trm

ct ttmt ct

pprtt. T ty tt t t

class e the gener party s ully achee. in

c-i c-ii t r rmt r

than the boys. The SSA has enable to achee

ths task. The strbuton o books, llng up o

the teacher acances, aalablty o teachng

r mtr m-y m c

enronment such as separate tolets or the boys

r c c rm py r

n many places poste allurement an ncentes

c ttrct t r cr

cr t prt t tr tr

to the school. Moreoer, makng the panchayats

responsble or the school management nclung

t rmt t tt tr

r r r rmt r my

c.

Table-III

Gender Parity Index in Primary Education

C Gener Party inex

C-i 1.04

C-ii 0.89

C-iii 0.95

C-iv 1.02

C-v 1.00

Total (prmary leel) 0.98




Table-IV

Percentages of Scheduled Castes

Children to Total Children

C % o Scheule Castes

Cr

C-i 64.92

C-ii 64.34

C-iii 64.72

C-iv 59.32

C-v 59.09

Total (prmary leel) 62.47

The gures gen n Table-iv clearly reeals

that the Scheule Castes chlren constutemore than sxty percent o the total chlren n rst

tr c rm c-i t c-iii c iv

an v they are nearer to sxty percent. Thus the

Schelue Caste chlren constute two thr o

the total number o chlren. Although, the upper

castes an economcally well-up Skhs an Hnus

preer to sen ther chlren to the prate school,

yet the aanment o eucaonal nstuons by

the economcally weaker Scheule Castes s one o

the sgncant nng. Thus t can be sa that theSSA ren nterenons has promote ncluse

eucaon at the prmary leel.

Suggestions

sm t t r trt

ncluse eucaton at the prmary leel are as

ollows:

l The panchayat member can play mportant

role n promong ncluse eucaon. The

llage eucaon commee shoul not be

c prjct rrmt

be a permanent structure o the llage

panchayat. The Panchaya Raj Act o many

states ensage or the constuon o such

commees at the llage leel.

l a rqt prt tcr trct

c tt rmt

attenance rate. Howeer, the teachers are

oun to be nteractng less wth the parent

because o paucty o tme an sometmeseen rom the other se as the parents too

busy n ther lelhoo earnng acttes

also al to make themseles aalable to the

tcr.

l The ncentes aalable to the stuents

must be mae at the begnnng o the

sesson. Any elay n the aalablty o

books wll e-motate the stuents.

l T prt t r t tr

cr t t c prtcry m

must be employe uner Mahatma Ganh

nt Rr empymt grt act.

The lnkage between MREGA an eucaton

must be establshe.

l The qualty o M-ay meal nees to be

mproe, whch wll attract chlren o

the weaker sectons o the socety to thec.

l vllage montorng commttees must be

rmt tt ty mtr t

enrolment an stuent absenteesm.

l The oerall atttue o the people partcularly

the socally an economcally backwars

tr t ct t r c

to be change

[About the authors: Prof Pattanaik is

Professor, School of Extension and Development

Studies IGNOU & Madan Mohan Singh is

from Centre for Researc h in Rural & Industrial

Development, Chandigarh]







e

ucaon s a process o character bulng,

Strengthenng mn an expanson o ntellect.

Accorng to an ol inan proerb, a man

wthout eucaon s a beast wthout ts horns or tal.

He s a buren on earth an a paraste on socety.

The purpose o eucaon accorng to Mahatma

Ganh s to establsh a non-olent, non-explotae

socal an economc orer. Eucon s a hghway to

tt .

The eal man o ina, sa dr.Rahakrshnan s

not the magnanmous man o Greece, nor the alant

knght o meeal Europe, but the ree man o the

sprt who has aane nsght nto the unerse by

THE MEANING OF EDUCATION

There are a hundred definitions of Education but the one which comes closest to its core is that

education is what remains with you after you have forgotten all what you learnt at school, college

or university. Education breaks all barriers and strengthens all bonds. It is the training of mind, not

the stuffing of brain. It is the assimilation of ideas, not the dissemination of data. It has continued

to evolve, diversity and extend its reach since the dawn of human history.

K.K.Khullar

rg scplne an pracce o sntereste rtues,

who has ree hmsel rom the prejuces o me

an place. in the true inan concept Eucaon must

ree thought rom all ts eers, socal, economc,

polcal , een relgous an phlosophcal. it must

remoe arkness rom mn replace t wth lght.

dssent an ercaon o knowlege are the

keynotes o ancent inan eucaon. The Guru

ha all the authorty, yet the Shshya was gen the

ree g o ssent by the Guru-Shshya Parampara

(Teacher–dscple Traon). When Gautama aske

hs aourte scple, Anana, to ollow hs new

octrne o eght ol path an our ol truth,




a r t p tt ct

unless he too, lke hs master, suere as ntensely as

the Sakyamun an ery the truth. Smlarly when

Akbar aske Raja Mansngh to accept dn-elilan,

the Rajput Raja reuse on the groun that he knew

only two relgons, Hnusm an islam, no thr

relgon. The act that the Raja connue to reman

as Akbar’s mnster s a trbute to ina’s culture o

ssent. Een n recent me Swam Ramakrshna

Paramahamsa tol the young vekanana not to

ollow hm blnly but to ery the truth. in the

inan traon ercaon o knowlege s the

essenal conon o the pursut o knowlege.

Vivekananda’s Educaonal Vision

Swam vekanana, the greatest inan

mn snce Shankara, enes eucaon as the

manestaon o perecon alreay n man. He

also enes relgon as the manestaon o ntyalreay n man. Relgon, accorng to hm s also a

process o eucaon. ‘i there s a choce between

ootball an Gta, i woul want the chlren to play

ootball, as there s the whole le to learn Gta.

‘football teaches how to kck an our chlren

must learn t’. Smultaneously he talke o alue-

eucaon.

Tagore’s Vision of Educaon

Accorng to Rabnranath Tagore ‘vya s

vmukta’ (knowlege s lberaon). The sprtually

lberate man s the am o inan eucaon.Eucaon alone can create a clmate an establsh

tt ‘r t m r t

hgh, where knowlege s ree, where the worl

has not been broken up nto ragments o narrow

omesc walls, where wors come rom the epths

trt’. Tr t t -trt

ease an sought the blessngs o hs people. ‘into

that heaen o reeom, my father, let my country

awake’. Ths was Tagore’s son o Eucaon whose

le mage s maneste n the ‘Aboe o Peace’

whch he create an whch goes by the name o

Sannketan. Hs wors are musc, hs speech sulcet , yet lke vekanana’s son hs nuence

on the mn o ina was tremenous; Een just

lstenng to hm was eucaon, hs presence was

sunshne. He brought west to the east an east to

the west an gae the worl a unque eucaonal

ctr ytm c s inan to ts roots, yet

nternaonal n character.

Gandhiji’s Experiments

Ganh went een urther. He stoo or openeucaon, ocaonal eucaon, work experence,

earn –whle you learn, empowerment o the grl

chl, o the hancappe, the bln, the ea an the

mentally retare. it may be recalle that Ganhha hmsel taught at the Phoenx farm n South

Arca when he starte an Expermental school orinan chlren. Eucaon, he was connce, ha

to be n the Mother Tongue an he hmsel taught

Gujara, Taml an Uru . He woul enter the class

wth babes-n-arm. Aske what punshment shoulbe aware or an errng chl, he reple, that t

s not the chl who has to be punshe, t s the

teacher who has to be punshe hmsel ll the chl cr.

Thinking Hand

Hs phlosophy o the ‘Thnkng Han’ surprseeery eucaonst. Accorng to ths theory t s

the han, the human han whch gues all humanaces throughout the le o man. The Thnkng

han , more than anythng else, has gue the

eoluon o man an socety an, thereore, thewhole eucaon o man can be mparte through

the meum o basc hancra. Ganhj escrbe

ths eucaon as ‘all n complex’. Spnnng , he sa,

shoul be mae compulsory n our schools. Kha,he sa, was the lery o our reeom struggle. He

noke Basc Eucaon aganst booksh eucaon.

Hs Basc School was not an yllc spot ar remoe

rom the problems o eeryay le acng the chlbut a laboratory, where the chlren woul be taught

to n the test soluons o the problem n nualan communty lng, acng them an ther llages,

n a non-olent an emocrac way, so that when

they enter le, they woul go ully equppe to acele. He establshe a Sangha calle the Hnustan

Talm Sangha n 1936. ‘Nowhere n the worl hae i

seen the lke o t. They are the only people who know

ther goals an the praccal means o acheng t’.

Aske what books shoul be rea by ny-tots,Ganh reple that books are meant or teachers

to rea. Chlren shoul play, nstrucon has tobe mostly oral. Agrculture shoul be nclue n

the currculum. He stoo or rural unerses anprpr -pr mcrpt ‘T Tm’ (n

Eucaon) also calle basc Eucaon. The scheme

was successully mplemente n Maharashtra,

Gujarat an Rajasthan but aer t pc t

was abanone.




Explanng vekanaa’s praccal veanta to

estern auences, Swam Ranganathanana,

senor monk o the Ramakrshna Orer an author

o ‘Eternal values or a changng socety’ sa : The

strong pont o the inan traon s , as we hae

seen, ts son o the sprtual menson o the

human personalty, an the scenc traon o relgon n whch ths son s emboe. Stressng as

t oes the sprt o seekng an nqury, an upholng

experment an experence as the crteron o true

relgon, the inan traon rees relgon rom all

ogmac an creeal lmtaons an blens wth

t prt mr cc. T i prt

traon has wthn t the energy an the power to

eepen the scenc humansm o the moern west.

The western traon, smlarly, has the energy an

the power wthn t to broaen the scope o the

inan traon, channelng ts blessngs rom a

small mnorty o sprtualty ge to the mllons rry m m. T yt t

nner an the outer, o the sacre an the secular,

ha alreay been achee n the plane o thought n

unyng the phlosophy o veanta, an especally n

ts great ormulaon, the Gta. its acheement n the

plane o work-a-ay worl s what vekanana gae

to the moern ina as hs unque contrbuon n

hs phlosophy an programme o praccal veanta,

an n what the naon s engage n eer snce’.

The queson, thereore, arses as to where

hae the thngs gone wrong? How the creators o

hstory hae become ts creatures/ Eucaon hascome to mean a paper egree, the teachng has

been reuce to the transer o notes rom the

proessor’s note – book to the stuent’s exercse

book , through hs ball – pont pen, wthout enterng

t t m tr. T prc r

not take place n our class rooms. There s eep-

roote schsm n the ormal system o eucaon

an the country’s rch oral traons. The cultural

content n our eucaonal system s rather low. The

pre-occupaon wth moern technologes cannot

be allowe to seer our younger generaon rom

the roots o ina’s hstory an culture. Captaon

ee s another rrtant n our mecal, techncal anengneerng eucaon nspte o so many court

rulngs aganst commercalzaon o eucaon. The

so-calle Englsh-meum publc schools connue

to oursh n spte o the act that only 2% people

n ina out o 130 crores can speak or unerstan

ths language whch s not een nclue n the 8t

Scheule o our Constuon. Yet the act must be

ace that the eucate classes n ina hae opte

out o the Naonal System o Eucaon n ina.

There hae been Commees an Commssons but

these quesons hae remane un-answere.

‘When you swm on the surace’, sa Swam

Ramakrshna Paramhansa’, you get only cheap shells.To get pearls you hae to e eep. Our eucaonal

system, at present s swmmng on the surace . it

has to e eep nto our eucaon ocean to get

m.

Teachng s not mparng octrnes. it s

communcaon o mns an enrchment o

personales. it must create new humanty an our

eucaonal well-sprngsare qute capable to create

such a humanty, our eucaonal phlosophy o

knowlege an ath can certanly establsh such a

new eucaonal orer where there s nether hunger

nor sease, nether explotaon nor war, netherany superson nor blasphemy, whch s keepng

wth our cultural an constuonal commtments,

a learnng socety to sut our system o emocracy,

secularsm an unersal brotherhoo.

inan eucaonal phlosophy ha always stoo

or a peaceul nternaonal orer. Ganhj ha sa

“i o not want my house to be walle an wnows

to be stue. i want the cultural an eucaonal

wns o all countres but i reuse to be blown o my

eet by any. Eucaon s not a game o chess whch

can be playe wthout a reeree. it s a el where

whstle blowers are requre.A ew years ago we nte a Mexco-born

eucaonst name ian illych, the author o two

amous books z., “de-schoolng Socety’ an ts

sequel “Re-Toolng Socety” to suggest measures to

re-orent our eucaonal system to sut the moern

requrements. He suggeste non-ormalsaon o our

ormal school. We tre that but oun that the non-

ormal stream turne out to be secon rate system

o eucaon meant only or the epre secons o

socety. instea we hae an eece scheme calle

‘Sar Shksha Abhyan’ whch s yelng goo results

wth ncluse growth. There are moments n hstorywhere a new recon has to be gen to an age ol

process. That moment s toay, now, just now when

t ctry ry t ccpt y c r t

beer. We hae msse so many opportunes n

eucaon beore, let us not mss any more.

(The author is a freelance writer on Educaon

and development issues.)




DENSITY OF POPULATION, 2011

GROWTH OF POPULATION

2001-2011

CENSUS OF INDIA 2011

PROVISIONAL POPULA

© Government of India, Copyright 2011

Off




CHILD SEX RATIO IN

AGE GROUP 0-6, 2011

Data Product Code

00-003-2011-Cen-Data Sheet(E)

Females 58,64,69,174

Total Population 1,21,01,93,422

Males 62,37,24,248

N TOTALS - INDIA - DATA SHEET

EFECTIVE FEMALE

LITERACY RATE, 2011

ULATION, 2011

egistrar General and Census Commissioner, India

Ministry of Home AffairsA, Mansingh Road, New Delhi- 110011

http://www.censusindia.gov.in




for the eelopment o a socety there s the

nee o equtable an balance progress o

t ct m cmmt

or ths perspecte, t s mperate to brng the

weaker, epre an scrmnate sectons such

as Scheule Trbes (STs) n ina to the oreront o

eucatonal reoluton an manstream o natonal

eelopment. Eucaton mparts knowlege, an

knowlege o sel entty an human enronment

wll nuse a sense o conence, courage an

ablty among the weaker sectons o the socety

to know an oercome ther problems assocate

wth explotaton an epraton, an aal soco-

economc an poltcal opportuntes extene to

tm. at tr ct cr t

lteracy o populaton o all categores n ina, the

trbals are ar behn rom the natonal ncrease.

despte specal ntates on trbal eucaton

by the goernment, snce nepenence, the

acheement s not as per expectatons an the

problem o trbal eucaton s stll a matter o

mmeate concern. The trbal eucaton, beng

tct cp t rt c-ctr

abrcs an harshps, nees to be analyze to

ocus on the problems assocate to t.

PROBLEMS OF TRIBAL EDUCATIONIN INDIA

Dr. Sanjay Kumar Pradhan




Profile of Tribal Literacy in India

sc pc tr cr

the trbal lteracy but not as per natonal aerage.

The total lteracy rate o the trbals n ina s 47.1

prct r t 64.8 prct t t tleel. An on the bass o male-emale percentage,

the male accounts 59.2 percent (75.3 natonal)

an emale 34.8percent (53.7 natonal). There s

we araton o trbal eucaton at the State or

Unon Terrtory leel. for example Mzoram tops

wth 89.3 percent, ollowe by Lakshaeep (86.1),

Manpur (65.9), Nagalan (65.9), Anaman &

Ncober (65.8) an Hmachal Praesh (65.5). The

most poor perormng states n ina are: Bhar

(28.2), Uttar Praesh (35.1) an Orssa (37.4). The

m trcy t sT i 34.8prct

but yet much below the natonal leel (41.9).

States wth low general an trbal lteracy are also

states wth hgher gener sparty. Accorngly,

the ST emale lteracy rate n ina ares across

tt u trrtr c rm 15.5

percent n Bhar to 86.9 percent n Mzoram.

Except Mzoram, Lakshweep, Nagalan, Skkm,

Anaman & Ncobar, Manpur, Meghalaya an

Kerala, all other states an Unon Terrtores hae

women lteracy below the natonal leel o 41.9

prct. (Census of India 2001).

Table 1: Tribal Literacy in India

Year All categories Scheduled Tribes

Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total

1961 39.44 12.95 24.04 13.83 3.16 8.53

1991 64.13 39.29 52.21 40.65 18.19 29.6

2001 75.3 53.7 64.8 59.2 34.8 47.1

Source: Census 2001, and Working Group Report on on Education for Disadvantaged Sections-SCs and STs, Minorities, Women,

Handicapped and other Disadvantags Sections for the formulation of Tenth Five Year Plan (2002-07), Mnstry o Human

Resources deelopment, department o Seconary an Hgher Eucaton, 2001

Table 2: Tribal Literacy in India (All India, States and Union Territories)

All India /States/ Union Territories Total Literacy Male Female

ar Pr 37.0 47.7 26.1

am 62.5 72.3 52.4

Anaman & Ncobar 66.8 73.6 59.6

arc Pr 49.6 58.8 40.6

Br 28.2 39.8 15.5

Cr na na na

Ctr 52.1 65.0 39.3

dara & Nagar Hael 41.2 56.0 27.0

dm & d 63.4 74.2 51.9

d na na na

g 55.9 63.5 47.3

gjrt 47.7 59.2 36.0

hry na na na

hmc Pr 65.5 77.5 53.3

Jammu & Kashmr 37.5 48.2 25.5

Jharkhan 40.7 54.0 27.2




Problems associated with Tribal

Education Poverty

T pr cmc ct ccmp

by subsstence economy s a great hnrance to

successul eucaton o the trbal chlren. Snce

the economy s not able an the ery sural

beng at stake, the mportance o eucaton

touches only the perphery o the trbal le.

Almost all the trbes-whether oo gatherers,

hunters, shermen, shtng cultators, or settle

agrculturalsts lack aequate oo to mantan

the amly or the whole year. in ths stuaton,

ty t ct t r tr cr t

school; rather, they see chlren as an economc

asset n the amly an contrbutes to the amly

ncome by workng along wth the parents an

wth others (Hasnan 2004: 349).Boys work n the

el wth ther parents an grls ge eery help

to ther mothers at the housework. i the chl

s taken away rom hs normal economc work

to atten school, the amly epres o the lttlencome, whch he brngs. As a consequence, the

parents hae to ee the chl out o ther earnng

rt cmc mrt t

househol. in these crcumstances, eucaton,

the bass necessty o le, s a matter o luxury or

the trbal amly. further, the system o eucaton

an the economc benet accrue rom t s o 15-

20 years o eucaton rom schools an colleges,

where the parents hae nether ther patence or

rrc r rt t t r c -trmrtr.

Apathy of the Parents

Both the trbal an non-trbal teachers n

t ery cult to connce the trbal to sen ther

cr t c t pt ty r

Kr 64.4 70.8 58.1

Karnataka 48.3 59.7 36.6

Lakshaweep 86.1 92.2 80.2

My Pr 41.2 53.5 28.4

My 61.3 63.5 59.2

Mrtr 55.2 67.0 43.1

Mpr 65.9 73.2 58.4

Mrm 89.3 91.7 86.9

n 65.9 70.3 61.3

or 37.4 51.5 23.4

Pcry na na na

Punjab na na na

Rjt 44.7 62.1 26.2

Skkm 67.1 73.8 60.2

Tm n 41.5 5.2 32.8

Trpr 56.5 68.0 44.0

uttrc 63.2 76.4 49.4

uttr Pr 35.1 48.4 20.7

wt B 43.4 57.4 29.2

All ina (Trbal) 47.1 59.2 34.8

Source: Census of India 2001, Population Profiles (India, States and Union Territories), Total Population and

Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Population, Oce o the Regstrar General, Goernment o ina, 2004.




mr ccr t t prt t t tr

tr ccpt tm crcr rtr t

longtunal (Sujatha 1994). A large secton o

trbal parents o not sen ther chlren to school

t t t r ct pprtt r

to them. it s practcal, utltaran an ocatonal

aspect o eucaton accompane by the noton

mmt cmc rtr pp t t

prt mr t t cmc cr (Shah

2005: 114-133). in aton, there are many actors

responsble or apathy o the parents towars

ct.

l Psychologcal an socal actors lke llteracy

o the parents an ther nerence to

eucaon, lack o encouragement by thecommunty, moaon an “nsecurty” o

uture or beng eucate.

l Low socal nteracon between stuents an

teachers, an between teachers an parents.

l Suspcon oer the sncerty o the non-trbal

teachers an shortage o trbal teachers.

l T cttr ppt t ty

an locaton o schools at a long stance,

n consequence, has resulte n the

rc t prt t tr

chlren to walk a long to reach the school

l Prt tt t t r t c-

eucatonal nsttutons. (Mshra 1996 163-

65 an Prahan 2004: 150-153)

Apathy of children towards Formal

Education

in many states trbal eucaton s taughtthrough the same book, whch orms the

currculum o the non-trbal chlren. A trbal chl

who les n an solate an ar lunge place,

untouche by clsaton, can harly get nterest

n any normaton about inan socety, hstory,

polty, geography, economy an technologcal

eelopment o hs country. So the contents o the

teachng syllabus, nstea o pleasng the learners,

generate nerences wthn the trbal stuents.

a t r cry prt y crrcm

but the stuents are ar away rom these real

prcpt ty t rt t

ty r tt. fr tm t rmt

knowlege consttutes alen an mpose portons

o ther thought, whch hae nothng to o wth

trbal hstory an trbal surrounngs.

Superstition and Prejudice

Supersttons, bln beles an prejuces

play negate role n mpartng eucaton n

the trbal areas an trbal schools. Expect trbal

communtes n north-eastern regon, there s

wesprea eelng n the trbal communty that

eucaton makes ther chlren eant an nsolent

t rm t rt tr cty. sc

some o ther eucate boys elt alenate an

cut o ther lnks wth ther amles an llages

ater gettng eucaton an employment, a large

secton o trbal groups oppose the sprea o

ct. T rtr cmpct

relgous groups teach the stuents by ocusng on

the glory o ther relgon an relgous alues. Thsrelgousty, n consequence, oten encourages

eucate pupls to abrogate ther ancestral llage

an ther soco-cultural nteracton wth the kns

t m zm nrt et ( Panda

1988: 79-83). further, some o the supersttons

an myth preent parents to eucate ther

chlren. Some trbal groups belee that ther go

shall be angry they sen ther chlren to schools

run by ‘outsers’. Here outsers nclue ormal

currculum or eucaton, non-trbal teachers antcr t tr cty.

Problem of suitable Teacher

T cmptcy trt t tcr

prm mprtc rt trt

the stuents towars eucaton. The non-trbal




teachers treat themseles ‘clze’ an trbals

as ‘unclze’ an ‘saage’. So there s lttle

apprecaton o the trbal alues an way o le.

There s no goo relatonshp between chlren

t tcr. smtm t tcr r

ther personal work use the trbal stuents. for

a non-trbal teacher, the cultural gap plays a tal

role ue to the long hangng omnant eology,

an he treats trbal stuents erently. Een a

trbal elte, oten a proacte teacher, has a specal

power n the llage settng or whch trbals are

ara o hm. The ego an selsh mote o such

trbal teachers hae been scouragng the trbal to

tr cr t t ct ttt

(Panda 1988: 79-83). Moreoer, although there

are ews that the trbal teachers are best sute

to non-trbal teachers, nstances shows that the

trbal teachers o one communty looks stuents

prt tr cmmty tty.

Some o the trbal groups, better eucate an

progresse n thnkng hae some prejuces

aganst backwar trbals e.g. the valmk trbe n

East Goaar strct o Anhra Praesh occupes

lower rtual status than Konare trbes, but are

mostly eucate. i a teacher rom valmk trbe

teaches Konarees, the later wll not preer

to ge the ormer a house or shelter, an oes

not treat them equally. On the same way, valmk

tcr tt t Kr r y

supersttous. (Sujatha 1994)

Eecte unctonng o the trbal eucaton

mc p tcr tr

to teach an poste atttue to le n trbal

areas-close to trbal schools. Howeer, n practce

the teachers are reluctant to rese n such areas,

rather they stay n nearby towns. Only n those

cases teachers woul lke to stay the area s

naccessble. in maxmum cases teachers n the

trbal areas see the appontment as ‘stop-gap’

arrangement. So there comes the problem o

crty -cmmtmt trct

t tcr t t r c

wth them oer the eucaton o ther chlren.

Problem of Language

Language proes socal, psychologcal an

emotonal expresson o an nual n a socety.

But n the absence o knowlege on trbal alect

both stuents an teachers ace the problem o

cmmct tc-r. it

that trbal stuents are oten rcule, humlate

an reprmane or speakng n ther own

language, an are punshe or alng to talk n

tr tr r cty p

back n the mother tongue (Nambissan 1994:

2752). it s the regonal an natonal language that

reuces trbals to mnortes n ther own home.

ect cr tr t r

natonal language s not wrong but the stuents

shoul be amlar wth her own language rst to

eelop enthusasm n eucaton whch n turn

brng lngustc an socal sklls that prepare them

r rm ct tr.

at tr t trct

o trbal alect n the currculum an teachng-

r prc yt tr t pcty

lterature an text books n trbal alects.

deelopng scrpt an ocabulary an preparng

teachng an learnng materals or trbal chlren

s a complex an problematc task because o

a large number o spoken languages nole

an ther rumentary orms whch hae not

eelope nto a wrtten orm that can be use

n school language. The goernment an erent

commssons hae recommene that the teachers

knowng trbal languages are to be poste n trbal

areas, the ata reeals that only 6 percent o the

teachers who are n the prmary schools belong

to trbal communtes an out o ths 50 percent

o the teachers are untrane an are bascally

matrculates or below that (National Population

Education 1996: 91).




Inadequate Facilities in Educational

Institutions

School bulngs n the trbal areas are

wthout basc nrastructural acltes. The schools

bascally hae thatche roos, lapate walls -ptr r. i arm c c

are resental n nature, there s no space or

the chlren to sleep. As a consequence, the

class rooms turn nto ormtory an ce ersa.

i t t pr mtc t c

an class rooms, naequate teachng-learnng

materals such as blackboars an chalks causes

problems or the teachers an stuents n teachng

rt t ctt. Tr t

percepton that openng o a school n a trbal area

s o appontng a teacher n that school. in realty,most o the prmary schools n the trbal areas are

tcr-m prc t

school s more o excepton than a rule (Hasnain

2004: 352).

Wastage and Stagnation

Problem o eucaton n the trbal areas

s also the problem o wastage an stagnaton.

wt t tr r rpp t

stuent beore completng the prescrbe pero

o the concerne course. A ata reeale by the

Eleenth fe Year Plan also ncate the hgh

rop out o the STs at erent leels o stuy.

As per the ata, at the Prmary leel, the ropout

rate among STs n 2003-04 was 48.9% an 70.1%

at the Upper Prmary leel. it ncates the apathy

o the Trbals an trbal stuents or the exstng

currculum an system an problems o teachng-

learnng process. When a stuent takes more than

yr t p c t cr c

stagnaton. As per the 11 fe Year Plan report,stagnaton at the prmary leel was 67.3 percent

whereas t was 49.3 percent at the Upper Prmary

leel. School tmng .e. clash o class hour wth the

workng hour partcularly, urng the harestng

pero, ormal eucaton, poerty, lack o acaemc

atmosphere, unwllngness o the teachers to

connce the parents an parental apathy towars

ct ack o proper mecal a, balance

et an sutable sel-employment opportuntes

r t mjr ctr r c tr t

tt.

Conclusion

Eucaton s the most eecte nstrument

or ensurng equalty o opportunty but the trbal

people are laggng ar behn non-trbals ue to

one or more reasons. The problems assocate wth

the eucaton o trbal chlren n ina s manol,

complex an nter-relate. factors lke poerty,

apathy o the parents an chlren, supersttons

an prejuce, lack o sutable teacher, alen

language, naequate acltes n the eucatonal

ttt t tt c

mjr rc t prc ct

the trbal schools, schools locate n trbal areas

an sprea o trbal eucaton. in ths context,

eucatng trbals nees concerte eort o the

goernment an ocals, ecaton an sncerty

o the teachers, awareness o the trbals an ther

nolement. further, there s a great gap n the

normaton an awareness or whch the trbal

parents an trbal chlren coul not know about

the mportance o eucaton an goernment

polces an benets accrue rom them. So

awareness generaton n the trbal communty an

trbal areas ether through goernmental agences,

non-goernmental organzatons or publc s o

tal necessty to brng chlren rom the house

to school. Eucaton o the trbals s not a mere

learnng process rather, t shoul be a process or

creatty an occupaton as per the requrements

o the trbal communty an natonal necessty.

The author is Assistant Professor In

Political Science) Mody Institute Of Technology

& Science (Deemed University) Lakshmangarh

(Sikar), Rajasthan. e-mail. sanjaypradhanjnu@

rediffmail.com, [email protected]])




T tr y cm t m r

mmty ater the mornng assembly

an blurte lookng straght nto my eyes,

“Sr..Sr yester-eenng i saw two minivets

the slope close to the tuck-shop…. You know Sr

minivets on’t lke huge trees or nestng an that

slope s so ull o brush an wee……don’t you

thnk Sr t s qute surprsng to sght minivets t

ths heght.”

Hs eyes were stll rete on my ace.

Unoubtely he expecte me to react n an equally

excte manner. Wearng a ‘say cheese’ look on

my ace i late my eyes an sa, “Wow! You are

lucky, keep a watch on them rom stance. i they

nest here by the comng autumn we shall hae

plenty o them here.”

ALLOW THEM TO BE TAUGHT BY NATURE ALSO

Rajshekhar Pant

Wth a beamng ace he ouble up to hs

class reassurng me,

“don’t worry Sr, no one eer steps on that

slope…..they are sae.”

it rm m r m trct-

it t p t

he ha hs brthay. Wth a pack o ‘Perks’ he

cm t m t qr r t rc.

w m my ppy rtr t y

i notce that he was tryng to crush a lay-br

that sat on hs toe. desstng elberately rom

m pt rtct t tr m rm

ong so, i pcke up the nsect sotly. Lay brs

hae a tenency to creep on your uprght palm tll

ty pt t tp yr r. Ty ty tr r

a bre spell an then ly away. Showng hm the




cr tt ty t crp my pm i

sa,

“Look! how nce a T Shrt wth ths amber

cr t cr t- t cr

on the rest woul look lke.”

Ptt my cr t r

the chocolate box i allowe the nsect pass on to

hs thumb. He shuere or a whle an then

kept on lookng at t tll t lew away. That ay n

the thr pero when i went to class iX, a class

o reshers assgne to me or the rst tme, i

saw hm occupyng a seat n the ront row. A bre

nteracton wth the ks reeale t to me that the

mjrty tm r rm t ct

plans. Stayng atop a erant hllock- the alley

ew whererom s oten eclpse by the speeng

lakes o the amous brown-og o the Central

hmy r mt r

tt mr sr-

l – mr trmt mp tr

enthusasm than arousng a sense o chllke

r tm. ay rtct t

k he, whle ntroucng hmsel, not mnce

hs wors n crtczng blatantly the rghtenngarkness, “especally when the ranrops platter

rtp rr rt tr

the eoar trees.”

Whle talkng to hm i suenly notce a

chck o laughing thrush knockng the wnow-

panes wth hs yellow beak –a popular pastme

t t ry pc t t t

room are on an the outse s all enelope

n og. interruptng hm i aske the class qute

abruptly, whether they knew anythng about that

br. No one seeme to be aware o t an i tol

them about t beng the last n the aan raternty

to go to be an rst to announce the crack o

t . Ty r qute excte to know that

t t t t tt c

among all the Hmalayan brs an t can mtate

qt t cmptrt.

Trggere wth the chance arral o a thrush

r ry ct-ct t y t cm

t mr t my tr trttm. i t tm t ry river-

chats, i jt c my t t r

c trm t p t t

Nanae Bosphere Resere. Passages lte

rom the stores o Jm Corbett or comprehenson

exercses woul charm them an exctng tales o

the chance scoery o Nantal by a lquor-baron

traersng oer seen hunre mles across the

Hmalayan regon way back n 1840 woul oten

be nstrumental n runnng ther magnaton wl ttmpt rt cmpt. it

t rt pr tm

ty foxglove rm larkspur; talkng o

blotches an aregatons n the newly arre

pt zinnia t c r rt t tr

parents about the bloomng o the Rhododendrons

r Azaleas when they were back ater the wnter

acatons. One coul een see that ther statonery

was tucke rather more properly nse ther bags

or esks an the jostlng crowe n the elongategallery wth the row o classrooms on ether se,

mmeately ater a pero was oer, was thnnng

graually. The urnture n the classroom, wth ts

twn wnows always open, was narably to hae

prct yt y i tr p

rom the copy o a boy to substtute the mssng

uster he not mss to norm me n prate that

at least two kg o woo s consume n makng the

ctr pr cpy.

‘A sprt rom the ernal woo’ was teachng

tm ‘mr m’ t r t i t

my eorts put together coul eer o.

(The author is associated with one of the

leading public schools at Nainital e-mail: pant.

[email protected]







aequate an balance nutrton rghtrm ry a key nput or human

cpt rmt t r

sustanable an equtable economc growth o

t t. Cr r r-r

hae substantally lower chances o sural. They

r pr t r rm r ct

are more lkely to e rom comm c

llness, such as arrhoea, pneumona, an

Alarming State of Child Nutritionin India

In India 20% of children under five-years-old are wasted [too thin for their age] due to acute under-

nutrition and 48% are stunted [too short for their age] due to chronic under-nutrition and 70% of

children between six months and 59 months are anaemic. The percentage of children below five

years of age who are underweight is 42.5% as compared with 4% in Brazil and 6% in China.

Arpita Sharma

measles. Nutrtonal nterenton s a sine quanon mtr r prt r

chlren’s rst two years o le, ater whch the

opportunty or chl’s eelopment potental s

lost oreer. Ten proen eence-base, hgh-

mpact essental nutrton nterentons that

t prct rct c r-

nutrton, as recommene by UNiCEf, nee to

be popularze among women an elere




ty. T c [] tmy tt

breasteeng wthn one hour o brth [] excluse

breasteeng urng the rst sx months o le []

tmely ntroucton o complementary oos at sx

months [] age-approprate oos or chlren sx

months to two years [] hygenc complementary

eeng practces [] mmunzaton an b-annual

vtm a ppmtt t rm

[] approprate eeng or chlren urng an

ater llness [] therapeutc eeng or chlren

wth seere acute malnutrton [x] aequate

trt pprt r ct r t

preent anema an [x] aequate nutrton an

support or pregnant an breasteeng mothers.

Proson o unersal preente health serces

an nutrtonal nterentons or chlren uner

t tr mtr r prcy

lactaton can reuce uner-nutrton by 25% to

36%. Assure access o poor to pulses an cookng

ols at subsze rates can reuce proten an

cr ccy m t pr.

Indian Scenario: T c r-trt

ina s a major threat to chl’s sural, growth

an potental or ull eelopment. Accorng

to thr Natonal famly Health Surey o 2005-

06, n ina 20% o chlren uner e-years-ol

r t [t t r tr ] t ct

uner-nutrton an 48% are stunte [too short

r tr ] t crc r-trt

an 70% o chlren between sx months an 59

mt r mc. T prct cr

below e years o age who are unerweght s

42.5% as compare wth 4% n Brazl an 6% n

C. Mr t tr t cr

age e years or younger can be attrbutable

t r-trt. icy t r 53 pr

1000 le brths n 2008.The Prme Mnster Mr.

Mm s c rrr t r-

trt ‘matter of national shame’.

The Global Hunger inex [2010] ente

chl uner-nutrton as a major contrbutory

actor behn ‘ persistent hunger ’. accr t

wt-base internatonal foo Polcy

Research insttute ina, s among 29 countres that

c ‘alarming’ tt r. Mtrt

m cr r t yr

the serous challenges to reuce hunger, whch

t tmy tt c c rm t

chl’s health, prouctty an earnng potental.

ina, acknowlegng that the problem o

malnutrton s mult-mensonal, mult-sectoral

an nter-generatonal n nature, an that a sngle

ctr cm ct r t mtct

problem, ntrouce a number o schemes to

mproe nutrton nees o chlren an pregnant

mtr rm tm t tm r rt

Mnstres, such as [a] Ministry of Women and Child

Development: [] integrate Chl deelopment

Serces [] Kshor Shakt Yojana [] Nutrton

Program or Aolescent Grls [] Raj Ganh

scm r emprmt act gr;

[b] Ministry of Human Resource Development

[] M-y M Prrm [c] Ministry of Health

and Family Welfare [] nt Rr ht

Msson [] Natonal Urban Health Msson

[] Ministry of Agriculture [] nt f

scrty M [] nt hrtctr M

[] Ministry of Rural Development [] Raj

Ganh drnkng Water Msson [] Total Santaton

Cmp [] srjyt grm srjr

Yojana [] Mahatma Ganh Natonal Rural

empymt grt Prrm; [] Ministry of

Food [] Targete Publc dstrbuton System []

atyy a Yj [] apr. T

schemes hae ha lmte success to mproe

nutrtonal status, ue to ragmente leaershp

crt rct ntrt

noboy’s responsblty. They nee to be re-looke

an a more ocuse an comprehense eort s

c r.

R pr cpt gdP i r

by nearly 4% per annum oer the past 15 years




chlren examne. in the next three years more

than hal the numbers o chlren were n arous

malnourshe categores, exhbtng some n

grae three an our, whch s ery seere. The

stuy o the project area reeals that ths area

represents the hghest uner-e mortalty

rate, especally malnutrton-relate eaths n

Mtr. T cmm c mrtty

morbty among nants an chlren, among

others, nclue neonatal sepss, brth asphyxa,

low brth weght, arrhoeal seases, respratory

tract nectons, proten energy malnutrton an

mr.

T ty t tt mtrt

reeale 6.98% n 19 Melghat llages. The Bomay

Hgh Court has oten passe seere strctures on

the Goernment or ts neglect. At the nstance o

a wrt petton le by the actst on malnutrton

eaths n Melghat n 1997, the Bombay Hgh

Court sa ‘we are prma ace o the ew that t

s the prmary responsblty o the Goernment to

proe aequate oo, health care an aequate

employment opportuntes to Korku trbes an

other trbals n Melghat area. The court speccallyponte to Artcle 47 o the Consttuton, whch

postulates a uty on the State to rase the leel

o nutrton an stanar o lng an to mproe

publ health. Twele years later, the court once

rm t stt t cttt

oblgatons.

On a PiL petton le, the court sa on January

15, 2009, ‘we hae no hestaton n obserng

that the progress n preentng malnutrton an

t t ry tctry. Mt

tr mt t stt mtrt my

be hel but so ar results are not shown an as

matter o groun realty, the pcture s smal. We

r r t stt n ts uty to proe

prtct t t pr ct t

whereas oer the same pero, the malnourshe

t rc rm 52% to 46%. The report

‘Lifting the Curse: Overcoming Persistent Under-

nutrition in India’ by Lawrence Haa relects

a alure o goernance at seeral leels o

mplementaton an entes a number o

shortcomngs n nutrton serce elery system,

such as [] serces are not proe where they

are baly neee [] some really eserng

groups o ctzens are systematcally exclue

rom serces [] serces are o low qualty []

accountablty or serce proers s weak []

leaershp an coornaton s ragmente []

awareness o the publc to eman serces s

poor [] annual nutrton ata are not aalableto enable montorng o progress. Nutrton

s noboy’s responsblty. The Goernment s

expanng unng to the iCdS, the man program

taske wth malnutrton reucton among nants

but wthout goernance reorms. The Worl Bank’s

stuy on the workng o iCdS [2005] hghlghte

three mportant msmatches, namely [] the gap

between esgn an mplementaton, [] the

neglect o the poorest an the most ulnerable,

an [] the poor qualty o serces.

Melghat: Ms Meena Menon an expert whle

stuyng the case has aptly terme Melghat,

a synonym or malnutrton: Melghat regon,

comprsng Chkhalhara an dharn talukas

n Amraat strct o Maharashtra, nhabte

mostly by Korku Aass ocally reports rom

2005 eery year 400-500 eaths o chlren

between the ages o 0 to sx. Ocal statstcs

or malnourshe chlren rom Amraat strcthealth oce reeale that there were 11,343

[32%] chlreen wth normal weght out o

35,431 chlren examne n March 2005 at PHCs

an as many as 68% were n arous graes o

malnutrton whereas n 2006, 13,168 [35.4%]

r t rm t out o the 37, 215




Public policy even needs

to be reordered to improve

nutrion right from the

period spanning –9 months

to +24 months [i.e from

concepon to the second

birthday] as against

past policies targeng

children under the

age of ve.

stt. T r t c r ccr r

rmt r Mrtr. vr rr

the court hae really not persuae the authortes

concerne to take eecte steps.’ Accorng

t t pttr Mrtr t it

Mortalty Rate s 38 per 1000 le brths whle n

the Melghat regon t s 74 to 78. The court aske

the Atonal Che Secretary, Publc Health an

the Trbal department or lng etale aets

t r tt.. T crt t tt

there was persstence an een an ncrease n

mtrt t t t ppr

that none o the competent authortes took ts

rct ry. T crt t rp

qt. it t tt

crores allocate by the Center

t t iCds r t prpry

spent. The court ha aske

c r t rp.

it s eare that absence o

ptc ccmp

by oo nsecurty, lack o

mpymt pprtt

rt trcy

contnue a eastatng eect

o seere malnutrton on thetrbal o Melghat.

Suggestions

Publc polcy een nees to be reorere to

mproe nutrton rght rom the pero spannng

–9 months to +24 months [.e rom concepton

to the secon brthay] as aganst past polces

targetng chlren uner the age o e. Beses,

mtrt cqc mtp

epratons a comprehense polcy aressngall relate ssues mpactng multple epratons

s neee to tackle malnutrton eectely. Ths

s eent rom a stuy by the Oxor Poerty an

Human deelopment intate, whch showe

that whle 38.9% o the poor n ina were uner-

nourshe they were also ace wth seere

epratons n other speccally relate areas,

such as cookng uel [52.2%], rnkng water [12%]

an santaton [49.3%]. Eorts to ght creepng

nutrton nsecurty accompane by poerty an

gener nequalty hae to be reouble.

fel stues an obseratons by experts on

the current mplementaton o programs suggest,

inter alia, to [] unertake socal auts o the

iCdS wth reerence to eecteness o serces

elere [] montor the Goernment’s role &

acton on nutrton by empowere authorty [] to

mpy mpmtt iCds tr r t

many nterentons an too many age groups. it

s complex to mplement, especally n relaton to

seeral an erent contexts.

At present, t tres to o many

t r my pp

t prc t c ty .

[] put n place an eecte

cr-mtry mcm

to eler oo, care an

health n combnatons that

work. Eorts to lt the curse

o malnutrton must be

une. [] nole hstorcally

exclue groups n the esgn,

outreach an elery o

nutrton programs, reachng

out to women rom these groups n partcular []

ese smpler but more requent montorng o

nutrton status mechansm so that cl socety

an the mea can hol the Goernment an other

mpmtr t cct r yr yr pp

an rewar them or goo progress [] eelop

y tc rrc

to mproe nutrton.

(The author is Ph.D Student of Dept.

of Agricultural Communication College of

Agriculture, G. B. Pant University of Agriculture &

Technology, Pantnagar – 263145 (Uttarakhand),

e- [email protected])




ina suers rom oer goernance. A naton

wth soco-economc, ethnc, lngustc

erstes ns t cult to eler qualty

publc serces. The goernance ssues specally

eelopment plannng, polcy makng an

mplementaton mechansm hae become complex

enough to be resole only by the Execute.

T r Pcyt Rj ittt

trr m rtr cc

eelopment process at grassroots leel. So ar,

t prtcpt Pcyt p

mplementng eelopment agena has been

lmte to strct, ntermeary an llage leel.

it s now mperate to rope n the nsttuton o

Gram Sabha or better results.

T mt c t rct

rural poerty. The practcal opton s to mproe

rural lelhoos by moblzng local resources an

enablng the rural poor. The recently one stuy

by Oxor Poerty an Human deelopment

intate presents a stressng scenaro. The

magntue o poerty n eght inan states namely

Mahya Praesh, Chhattsgarh, Jharkhan, UttarPraesh, Bhar, Rajasthan, Orssa an West

Bengal has been measure hgher than the most

chroncally aecte poor natons o sub Saharan

Arca. interestngly these eght states contrbute

cty t i’ t r cmy.

The mult mensonal ew o poerty n these

states takes nto account the multple epraton

Improving Rural Livelihoods –The Gram Sabha Approach

Awanish Somkuwar




o rural poor rom basc serces, rghts an

enttlements. There s a contnuous ebate about

exactness an accuracy o ata on number o the

poor an extent o poerty. interestngly agan

s the mplementaton o well-esgne poerty

eracaton programmes both by the Centre an

the States. Yet expecte mpact elues. Ths s

here nterenton o the Gram Sabha becomes

rt.

Gram Sabha and Rural Poverty

ina obsere by the year 2009-10 as

the year o Gram Sabha. The Gram Sabha s a

consttutonally manate boy so powerul

that ts ecson s bng an nal. Members o

the Gram Sabha hae amply emonstrate ther

t m rr tr rt

o poerty an ratonal utlzaton o resources.

There are poerty eracaton projects lke dfid

ae Mahya Praesh Rural Lelhoos Project

that has aopte the Gram Sabha approach

to poerty alleaton n 23000 remote trbal

llages. When ina s wtnessng ncreasng

number o grassroots leel goernance ssues.

There s no opton but to strengthen the Gram

Sabha. Unquestonably, ecentralze plannngan mplementaton o rural eelopment

agena can not be one eectely wthout

nolng the Gram Sabha. There are certan

mt prc tt pprt t

Gram Sabha lke well-beng rankng, partcpatory

plannng an ecson makng, selecton o

actual benecares, communcaton channel,

llage leel montorng network, socal autng

tc. Tr r pr ct tt c t

perormance o ambtous rural eelopmentprogammes meant to mtgate poerty.

Capacity Building of Gram Sabha

The Gam Sabha enjoys extense nancal

an amnstrate powers regarng plannng,

montorng an mplementaton o eelopment

ntates. The learnng o workng wth Gram

Sabha clearly unerlnes the urgent nee or

capacty bulng o Gram Sabha. for example

Mahya Praesh Rural Lelhoos Project

ntally ece to work on the rural wsom-

base poerty alleaton strateges esgne

an suggeste by the Gram Sabha. it was starkly

a bottom up approach. A specal component o

Gram Sabha strengthenng was to be ntegrate.

Capacty bulng o Gram Sabha s a stupenous

task, ina must take up n ew o reachng out

to people an targetng the genune stakeholers.

The capacty bulng agena must concentrate

on contnuous orentaton o Gram Sabha towars

eelopment ssues, consttutonal manate,

rghts an enttlements, utlzaton o human

an natural resources, reenue generaton an

c trcy tc.

NRLM and Gram Sabha

The Natonal Rural Lelhoo Msson (NRLM)

prm t r t 6.5 crr rr

poor househols an proposes to brng substantal

changes n the les o the rural poor. As the

M cmt y t c t pp

pp-ctrc rt. it

eman ren approach or release o uns on

recept o state leel acton plans. About one crore

rural youths wll be coere. The queston s that

such an ambtous targets can be achee only

wth the acte support an cooperaton o Gram

Sabha. The vllage, Block leel an Zla Panchayats

can eal wth operatons but unerstanng at

Gram Sabha leel must preal.

Ths reesgne programme urther seeks to

mproe lelhoo optons by strengthenng SHGs

s gong to make a unamental erence. The

rural lelhoos hae got so much promnence

r t rt tm t pt-pt r.

n tr trt pprc t rr

lelhoos. The concept o ncluse growth




rp c. T prmt rr

enterprse through Sel Help Groups nual

an communty base lelhoos ntates or

trt rr cmy cm tp.

in orer to optmze the mpact, the phenomenon

o SHG ormaton nees to be unerstoo by

the Gram Sabha, whose ault members are

the members o SHG an encourage ormaton

prc. My shg tr prct t

or want o marketng acltes. The SHGs can

sure only when they hae soun nancal

base. inter-loanng or consumpte nees an

pretty requrements cannot help the longety o

shg. Tr prct t cmc

scale cannot resst the nlow o brane

proucts n the open market economy. The Gram

Sabha has to take up responsblty o bulng a

aourable atmosphere or sural o SHGs. Buy

rural proucts as they come rom ellow llagers.

Ths sprt shoul be the core theme o aocacy,

whch Gram Sabha must take up.

Legal Literacy and Development

Legal unerstanng quckens the eelopment

processes. The Gram Sabha has a crucal role

t py pr trcy m t

rural masses. it s the most sutable nsttuton

an nees to be strengthene to take up such

a challengng responsblty. There are enough

logcs why Gram Sabha can eectely sprea

t trcy. it –

1. A constuonally manate boy.

2. A cornerstone o grassroots leel emocracy.

3. instrumental n plannng, mplementaon an

montorng o eelopment programmes.

4. An nstuon enjoyng extense

amnstrae an nancal powers.

5. Responsble or rasng awareness an ensurng

sustanablty o knowlege about ssues o

publc nterest.

Some States hae alreay capacty bulng

o Gram Sabh on legal ssues. The Gram Sabha s

an mplementng agency or many eelopment

prrmm tr cttt tt

rm c prm. i grm

Sabha becomes ale to the legal ssues an

eelop legal unerstanng wth a constant legal

lteracy campagn, the partcpatory emocracy

wll attan maturty wth greater sustanablty o

eelopment ntates.

Rght To inormaton Act, Mahatma Ganh

Natonal Rural Employment Guarantee Act,

Trbal Rghts Act, Gram Nayalaya Act, Panchayats

(Extenson to Scheule Areas ) Act 1996 an

prp t r f scrty r tmt t pt-pt try i.

Ty t t r c jtc

arrest rural poerty. Access to normaton an ts

constructe applcaton are two erent thngs.

T RTi act ry m t cr crrpt

practces an promotes greater accountablty to

people n the goernment machnery use as tool

mprmt. T RTi act tp tr

creatng transparent systems o goernance. The

Gram Sabha can use t so constructely wth tsr rt.

Keepng n ew the ncreasng work loa

on the goernment agences an amnstrate

unts an expectatons or perormance,

tr r mt pt. vtry ctr

has alreay been opene up. Strateges lke

Publc Prate Partnershp an Publc Prate

Communty Partnershp are also beng tre out

t t mtt. T y prmty

remanng nsttuton s Gram Sabha. its strengths

must be respecte.

(The author is Assistant Director, Directorate

of Public Relations, Government of Madhya

Pradesh, Bhopal - e-mail : awanishsomkuwar@

gmail.com)




when we talk o ina’s mammoth work

orce, be t n rural or urban scenaros

t try cm t m t

‘unorganse’ sector. They orm the multues

that o not ‘belong’ to a sector goerne by a

slew o measures n accorance wth labour laws

or employment terms ene by polcy measures.

These are the multues then whch all outse the

ambt o Central Goernment legslaon pertanng

t r. it t t tstate goernments to coer them.

in an urban scenaro the two sectors stan

out snctly. Whle a peon or a clerk or a securty

r r y tcr t r ctr

woul hae no benets, no perks or job securty, hs

or her counterpart woul n the organze labour

orce woul be cushone. As we go own the socal

r t get tougher. for a egetable

seller or a shoe-polsh boy or a han-cart puller any

srupon n the serce woul mean loss o a aly

cm r sural.

What woul be nteresng woul be to

oerlay ths clearly segmente work-orce n a rural

scenaro. Here the ng lnes are not so much

the ‘outse’ nuences say the corresponng

enty o an ‘employer’ but the relaonshp wth

the means o ownershp o resources, n most cases

s lan. Thus n the rural scenaro, one ns t s the

lanless who orm the bulk o the ‘unorganse’

sector, ekng out a lng by workng on other

people’s arms as agrcultural labour. it s another

maer that t s ths ‘lanless’ segment whch ns

ts way nto construcon stes n urban or sem-

urban centers, outse the purew o the ‘rural’.

The ‘rural unorganized

T ‘rr r pr’ r t

that narably mgrate. They are the ones that

Unlocking the potential of ruralunorganized sector

Sunil Amar




orm bulk o the agrcultural labour not only n

ther home states but prosperous regons lke

western Uttar Praesh, Haryana an Punjab.

Gen the act that the system o contractual

labour woul be explotate, not beng goerne

by any Central laws or state-leel measures, t

neertheless contnues to be ren by the nees

o both, the owners o lan an those who labour

t. it try tt y mr t

augment rural lelhoos woul come nto conlct

wth ths neatly balance system. The lagshp

programme o the Central Goernment, Mahatma

g Rr empymt grt act prp

t rt t c pcc tt

nact been the ‘spoler’ n ths game.

i we really care to examne the content, the

MnRega r cmpty t t t

r ctr t rr cr. By rthat poor househols n a mnmum number o

100 ays employment or one member or a xe

rate o Rs.100/- n eect means that mgraon o

ths work-orce woul stop or slow own. Ths has

ha a rpple eect n the areas where the rural work

orce woul mgrate to an has been the sngle-

most eece mechansm to push up wages or

agrcultural labour n these lans.

The rpple eect s eent n other ways

as well. Now the poor llterate, unsklle rural

labourer has more than one opon open. Whle

one person n the amly can aal o the MNREGA

proson an thus brng home a steay ncome,

other able-boe persons n the amly can sll

mgrate. Gen the enhance wages n agrculture-

rch areas or woong the labour espte MNREGA’s

arace package, woul mean a substanal boost

o oerall ncome o the amly unt. The scope o

the agshp programme thus expans an goes

beyon ts ntene targete benecary. in eect

t r t t r rr

sector. Sans laws whch goern urban nustres or

establshments, t these soco-economc ynamcs

that set the tone or beerng the conons o the

agrcultural labour orce.

in many areas n UP, the results are tangble.

icr prprty t an nual or amly leel

has le to cemente nullahs, concrese roas,

street lghts, cemente wells, pons, oer-hea

water tank to supply rnkng water ; trappngs o

a sem-urban semt. Ty Tv t

d Tv t r cyc /r mtr cyc

parke n ront o the house s not uncommon n

llages. House construcon has gone rom mu

as a basc materal to brcks an concrete. Ths

transormaon s ue n substanal measure to theexpanson o the powers o the Gram Panchayat’s

t ct rrc c ry cm t

ts own oer the last one ecae. The rght to plan

an execute eelopment works has contrbute to

the change rural scene to a large extent.

T tr r prprty m

o these llages, yet t oes seem ragle. Aer all

t has arsen more rom a set o ‘market’ orces n

py t rr cr t tt pcy

ntent. it also oes not absole the system o laws,

state polcy or programmes rom takng care o thenees o the agrcultural labour orce. The most

that can be sa that n the absence o that, these

trens, boosng o-arm ncomes are welcome an

at all nee to be strengthene. The seng up o

small-scale nustres on a bg scale can certanly be

a step n the recon, one that nees polcal wll

t t t r t cty mp p t

who hae somehow been le out rom these ‘mega’

lelhoo opons Ulmately t s unacceptable that

a country lke ours to shut our eyes to the enormous

potenal o the unorganze sector n rural ina

nor to oerlook ts genune emans to strengthenan stablze tsel. it s smply unacceptable that

the growth an lng stanars o rural an urban

ina shoul be so markely ergent rom each

tr.

Growth nees to be equtable an moern

eelopng naons nee to make that an ntegral

prt tr p prc. . Ty t crc

element s obously lackng. Large segments o

our populaon, the aass, an the nomac

communes, those lng n remote rural pockets

may hae an enty an a menon n ocalrecors but reman exclue rom the ruts o

eelopment. Unless polcy s able to proe them

wth opportunes or growth an nclue them,

prosperty n pockets o urba i r t t

organze sector alone wll be meanngless.

[courtesy Charkha features]




Baby corn, a specalty maze hang a nche

market n ina an abroa, has become apotenal money spnner or inan armers.

Ths s thanks to the maze scensts eelopng maze

arees an hybrs that are sutable or baby corn

proucon. They hae also rawn up packages o

agronomc pracces or growng ths crop nerent

prt t ctry.

T drctrt M Rrc (dMR)

t i Cc arctr Rrc (iCaR)

pro mong the culaon o ths ancy oo tem

to mproe armers’ ncome. Whle earler, the localeman or baby corn came largely rom e-star

hotels, arlnes, shppng companes an restaurants

serng Chnese an East Asan oos, now ts

househol consumpon an processng has also

begun to look up, leang to ncrease eman. its

exports are surgng raply. Baby corn growers can

now easly earn n excess o Rs 1 lakh per hectare n

yr.

Baby corns are bascally young, small an

slener unerlse cobs o maze that are tenerenough to be eaten raw as well as n cooke orm, or

can be presere or eerre consumpon. These

cobs are usually plucke rom the plants wthn one

to three ays o the emergence o cob slk when ths

har-lke growth s just 2 to 3 cms long. The baby corn

crp rmy cmpt t cyc t t tr

mt.

farmers n seeral states are showng great

tm t r t crp. T r r t r

many, apart rom the hgh prces t etches n the ast

expanng omesc an export markets. for one,

the short growng pero o baby corn crop allows

r my tr t r crp yr

the same pece o lan. Beses, almost all parts o

the baby corn plants can be ulse ganully.Whle

ts small cobs o 6 to 11 cms n length constute the

man prouct, the stalks an leaes o the plants,

beng nutrous an easly gesble anmal ee,

Growers Adopt Baby Corn for ‘Fat’ Income




c pre oer or cale throughout the year.T rmr c, thereore, use the lan, whch they

normally eote to oer culaon, to grow other

crops or aonal ncome.

Moreoer, as many as 20 erent crops o

egetables an pulses an een some owers lkeglaolus can be grown as nter-crops n between the

rows o baby corn to ncrease net ncome rom baby

corn els. There s also scope or alue aon o baby corn through preseraon an processng to

prepare chutneys, pckles an other proucts. Baby

corn can be consume n seeral other ways, suchas sala, pakora, soup, rata, kheer, an the lke, n

i m.

“due to ncrease o urbansaon, change n

oo habts an rse n ncomes, specalty corn has

gane sgncant mportance n per-urban areasaroun major towns o the country”, says iCAR’s

Project drector (Maze), dr R. Sa Kumar, who

heas the New delh-base dMR. Expanson o babycorn culaon woul help check mgraon rom

rural to urban areas by enhancng the protablty

anlelhoo securty o armers, he mantans.

T t prt T t r’

top proucer an exporter o baby corn, ina hasa goo chance o not only compeng wth t but

also emergng as a omnant exporter o ths much

sought-aer up-market oo. Low cost o prouconan strategc locaon o the country ges ina an

aantage oer other exporters to cater to markets n

the Asan, European an Gul naons.ina exporte

oer 267 tonnes o baby corn, worth nearly $1mllon,n 2008. Snce then the exports are belee to

hae rsen sharply to cross 750-tonne mark, earnng

oregn exchange worth oer $3 mllon a year.

Hgh nutronal qualty s the man asset o baby

corn that lens t a superorty ege oer many otherseasonal egetables as a oo tem. Beses protens,

tamns an ron, t s one o the rchest sources o

phosphorus. Moreoer, t s a goo source o etarybrous proten an s also easy to gest. Most

sgncantly, t s a sae oo, ree o any pesce

resue hazar. Een pesces are spraye onthe crop, they cannot penetrate through the natural

egetae wrappng o the cobs, makng baby corn

sae to eat. Maze hybr HM 4, eelope by theHaryana Agrcultural Unersty at ts Karnal research

centre, has been oun to be a ery goo hybr or

proucng baby corn n the northern regon. Ths

‘sngle cross hybr’ s the rst generaon o cross

between two snctly erent parents. “The mazehybr HM 4 possesses all the esrable trats o

eal baby corn. The culaon o HM 4 s ganng

momentum not only aroun the naonal captal

delh but also n per-urban areas n other states”,dr Sa Kumar ponts out.Ths hybr s preerre

oer others because o ts esrable cob length, anarace cob colour an a sweet taste beses, o course, hgh yel potenal o aroun 12 quntals o

baby corn a hectare. its cobs hae arace cream

to lght yellow colour an the most esrable szeo between 6 an 11 cms length an 1.0 to 1.5 cm

mtr. it r r t tt.

Other sutable hgh-yelng baby corn arees

are also aalable or growng n other regons o the

country. The Punjab Agrcultural Unersty (PAU),Luhana, or nstance, s recommenng maze

hybr Parkash or baby corn proucon n the

regon because o ts ery hgh proucty potenalo aroun 17.5 quntals per hectare an unorm

an goo qualty o boy corn ears. Another arety

suggeste by the PAU s Kesar whch has a yel

potenal o aroun 14.2 quntals a hectare.

Accorng to a booklet on the proucontechnology an alue aon o baby corn, brought

out recently by the Maze Research drectorate, a

sngle crop o baby corn, nolng an expenture o about Rs 15,420 a hectare can yel a gross return

o about Rs 67,500 per hectare, nclung the alue

o baby corn an oer n two to our months.

Ths esmate s base on the assumpon that onehectare’s prouce o aroun 12 quntals o baby

corn can be sol or aroun Rs 60,000 at the rate o

Rs 5,000 per quntal (Rs 50 per kg), an about 150quntals o oer or Rs 7,500 at Rs 50 per quntal. A

armer growng three to our crops o baby corn n a

year can, thus, easly earn between Rs 1,00,000 anRs 2,00,000 per hectare annually, whch s ar hgher

t t rtr rm mt tr crp.

Howeer, markeng s sll a problem or baby

corn, especally n the areas away rom bg ces. At

present, there are only a hanul o nustral unts

engage n processng an packagng o baby cornor omesc market an export. Some baby corn

processng unts aroun Karnal n Haryana hae,o course, begun exporng baby corn pckle to

the USA an some other esnaons. Once more

prc t cm p near uture, the baby

corn culaon s boun to get a bg boost.

(courtesy Indian Council of Medical Research)




goraya, the house-sparrow, the lle sweee

n countless poetry, lyrcs, songs an olk-

songs an panngs, s toay acng a crss

o sural. it’s been seeral years now that we mss

the amlar “ch-ch-ch” eery mornng an the

loely sght o Gorayas ancng aroun.

followng nspraon rom a rere orest

ocer n Gujarat, a moement s on to sae house

sparrow. People get arcal nests or sparrow,

parrot an squrrels ether n terracoa or romwaste o corrugate boxes, hang them at ther places

on trees or passages, plant them n arms, els an

een resenal bungalows. An regularly put water

r.

Unersally amlar n appearance, the

wesprea an once abunant house sparrow has

become a mystery br an s becomng ncreasngly

rare all oer the Worl. Perky an bustlng, house

prr hae always been gregarous, mnglng

wth nches n the els n autumn an wnter,

especally when stubble s aalable to them. for

years we elt rrtate by ths permanent resent

n our garen takng more than a ar share o oo

urng the wnter, but now weeks pass wthout a

sngle one pung n an appearance. That took me

to my school ays when we rea the well known

Hn wrter Mahae verma’s story ‘Goraya’. That

me t elt surprsng- nether a kng nor a ary

nor a great leaer was the subject o a story, but a

small Goraya! Subramanyam Bhar also sa , “A

br o reeom...”

A sprngme hazar was sparrows’ unexplane

lkng or estroyng owers, especally yellow

prmroses an crocuses. Kckng up ust an bathng

n new seebes was a urther rrtaon. Nosy an

House Sparrow–Population Crash

Kalpana Palkhiwala




gregarous, these cheerul exploters o human

bengs’ rubbsh an wasteulness hae colonze

most o the worl. foun rom the centre o ces,

ktchen garens, acant places n houses to the

armlan o the countryse, sparrows ee an

bree near habtaon. They are anshng rom the

centre o many ces, but are not uncommon n most

towns an llages. Sparrows mght appear to be

opportunsts, but they are now strugglng to sure

eerywhere on the earth along wth many other

once common brs. Ther recent eclne has earne

tm pc t R lt t ntr.

ina has seen a masse eclne o sparrows

n recent years. Once a common- place br n large

parts o Europe, the sparrows’ populaon has now

seen a sharp all n Unte Kngom, france, Germany,

the Czech Republc, Belgum, italy an fnlan.

The house sparrow s an ntellgent br that

has proen to be aaptable to most stuaon, .e.

nest stes, oo an shelter, so has become the

most abunant songbr n theworl.Sparrows are

ery socal brs an ten to ock together through

most o the year. A ock’s range coers 1.5-2 mles,

but t wll coer a larger terrtory necessary when

rc r . T prr’ m t ct

o gran sees, especally waste gran an le stock

ee. i gran s not aalable, ts et s ery broa an

aaptable. it also eats wees an nsects, especally

urng the breeng season. The parasc nature o

the house sparrow s qute eent as they are a

seekers o garbage tosse out by humans. in sprng,

owers – especally those wth yellow colours- are

oen eaten; crocuses, prmroses an acontes seem

to aract the house sparrow most. The brs also

hunt bueres.

Nesting

House sparrows are generally aracte to

bulngs or roosng, nesng, an coer. They look

or any man-mae nook or cranny n whch to bul

tr t. otr prrow nesng stes are clothes

lne poles wth the en caps open, los, garen

ktchens, or oerhangs on a roo wthout a sot. The

sparrow makes ts home n areas closely assocate

wth human habtaon. it s a common resent o

agrcultural, urban an sub-urban communes. The

male house sparrow s hghly terrtoral, aggressely

eenng the nesng ste urng breeng season.Speces that aempt to nest wthn the sparrow’s

terrtory are oen be ecte; ther eggs estroye

an at mes ncubang emales are klle. The nest

s a ball o re egetaon, eathers, strngs an

papers wth an openng on one se. it s a bulky

mass also lne wth grass, wees an har.

T h sprr (Pr mtc)

s a member o the ol worl sparrow amly

Passerae. Some conser t to be a relate o

the Weaer fnch famly. A number o geographcraces hae been name, an are erentate

on the bass o sze an cheekcolour. Cheeks

r ry t t t t t. T

shae o the colouraton, partcularly o the

ctt r t m cr.

Br t tr mpr r rr t

t t trpc st a ppt.

Some aretes are the passer omestcus n

Europe,in ina, t s popularly known as Goraya n

the Hn belt. in Taml Nau an Kerala t

s known as Kuru. Telugu language has

gen t a name, Pchhuka, Kannagas call t

Gubbachch, Gujarats call t Chakl where

Mrtr c t Cm. it

known asChr n Punjab, Chaer n Jammu

an Kashmr, Chara Pakh n West Bengal,

grct or. i ur t

c Cry s trm t

as Jhrk.

Features

Ths 14 to 16 cm long br has a wng span o

19-25 cms.it s a small, stocky song br that weghs

26 to 32 grams. The male sparrow has a grey crown,

cheeks an unerparts, an s black at the throat,

upper breast an between the bll an eyes. The bll

n summer s blue–black an the legs are brown. in




wnter the plumage s ulle by pale egngs, an

the bll s yellowsh brown. The emale has no black

colorng on the hea or throat, or a grey crown; her

upper part s streake wth brown. The juenles are

eeper brown.

T prr’ mt cmm c rt

ncessant, slghtly metallc ‘cheep, chrrup’. it also

has a ouble call note- ‘phllp’ wheren orgnate

the now obsolete name o ‘phllp sparrow’. Whle

the young are n ther nests, the oler brs uer

a long churr. At least three broos are reare n a

.

The nesng ste s are uner eaes, n holes,

n masonry or rocks, n y or creepers on houses

or rerbanks, on sea-cls or n bushes n bays an

nlets. When bult n holes or y, the nest s an uny

ler o straw an rubbsh, abunantly lle wth

tr. lr - ctrct m t r

oen bult when the br nests n trees or shrubs,

pcy rr r.

fe to sx eggs, prousely uste, speckle or

blotche wth black, brown or ash-grey on a blue-

nte or creamy whte groun, an usual types. Eggs

are arable n sze an shape as well as markngs.

Eggs are ncubate by the emale. The sparrow has

the shortest ncubaon pero o all the brs: 10

-12 ays, an a emale can lay 25 eggs each summer.

The reprouce success ncreases wth age an

ths s manly by changes n mng, wth oler brs

breeng earler n the season.

Causes of Decline

varous causes or ts ramac ecrease n

populaon hae been propose, one o the more

surprsng beng the ntroucon o unleae petrol,

the combuson o whch prouces compouns suchas methyl ntrte, a compoun whch s hghly toxc

or small nsects, whch orm a major part o a young

prr’ t. otr tr cr rc

areas o ree growng wees, or reucng the number

o baly mantane bulngs, whch are mportant

nesng opportunes or sparrows. Ornthologsts

an wlle experts speculate that the populaon

crash coul be lnke to a arety o actors lke the

lack o nesng stes n moern concrete bulngs,

sappearng ktchen garen, ncrease use o

pesces n armlans an the non- aalablty

o oo sources. The recent threat s rom moble

towers. The emsson they sent out s sturbng

to the sparrows. Whch also eects the nsects an

the hatchng o br’s eggs.

K.s. gp sr t i Cr

Wetlans Workng Group says: “Although there s

no concrete eence or stuy to substanate the

phenomenon, the populaon o house sparrows

has entely eclne oer the past ew years.”

He arbutes ths to a number o reasons lke

wesprea use o chemcal pesces n armlans,

ncrease preaon by crows an cats whle crows

grow n number as a result o garbage accumulaon

t cty.

Accorng to dr. v S vjayan o the Combatore-

base Salm Al Centre or Ornthology an

Natural Hstory, though the aan speces can sll

be spoe oer two-thrs o the worl’s lan

surace, “roncally, there has been a rap eclne

n the populaon o these once abunant brs.”Changng lestyles an archtectural eoluon hae

wreake haoc on the br habtat an oo sources.

Moern bulngs are eo o eaes an crannes,

an couple wth sappearng home garens, are

py prt t ppr ct.

Ty i m t prr crp pp

rom branch to branch n the bushes outse my

house an remember Mahae verma’s amous

poem Goraya - n whch a sparrow s eang grans

rm jmp r r

playng he an seek. it s as as t were beng

py rt m. i tt t t rm

conne n the pages o Mahae verma’s story an

comes back to us as eer beore.

(PIB Features)



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Kurukshetra May 2011