We have repeatedly drawn the attention of the civil society to the frozen habit of the State Government to trivialize and underestimate many important and consequential schemes of the Central Government aimed at raising the quality of life in the State. We have said that a lackadaisical attitude of State authorities towards some of the more important Central schemes sponsored and financed by the Centre has put the State at a disadvantage if not peril. We had even gone to the length of suggesting that a Committee comprising State and Central representatives or legislators should go into the matter of J&K State generally falling short of completing Centrally sponsored schemes. We want to know the reason why this has become a recurring practice and we also had said corrective and suggestive means should be proposed. We have a glaring example of official inertia causing serious damage to the interests of students in the State for whose benefit at least three schemes were floated by the Central Ministry of Human Resource Development during past few years. These schemes encompassed hundreds of thousands of students of the State belonging to Backward and economically weaker students. Their non-implementation for whatever reasons has deprived the State of crores of rupees that the Centre had committed to contribute for successful completion of the schemes. Succinctly put, these schemes–Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) are aimed at providing quality education to the children at the secondary and elementary levels. Under RMSA, the model schools of the level of senior secondary are established to provide quality education to the rural children in educationally backward blocks while as under SSA, Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas are set-up at upper primary level for girls belonging predominantly to the SC, ST, OBC and minority communities. In addition, under SSA, there are provisions for training of teachers, research and evaluation for assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the educational practices so as to move towards the goal of achieving quality in education. HRD had even sanctioned 100 model schools for the State and sanctioned 50 crore rupees for the purpose as 50 per cent share of the Ministry. The HRD even transferred 25 crores or fifty per cent of its committed support to the State. But the State Education Department failed to open even one school under the plan on the pretext that land was not available. How can one rationalize the negative attitude of the then Government for reasons not known to us? One is at wit’s end whether the State Government’s apathetic attitude towards the Centrally sponsored schemes is deliberate and calculated policy to downplay the assistance and then raise hue and cry that the centre is not benevolent to the State. This is not the only Centrally sponsored scheme that has come under our scanner; earlier we have exposed Government’s policy in regard to many more Central schemes. It is a mindset and needs to be changed. Minister of Education has taken serious note of this situation and asked the Commissioner-Secretary Education Department to prepare status report on such Central schemes as have been put in cold store or abandoned. We are of the view that these abandoned or pending schemes can be revived if the matter is taken up in all seriousness and sincerity with the Human Resource Development Ministry in New Delhi. We know that land is scarcely available for various schemes and the land owners are reluctant to part with their landed holdings. Despite the existence of Land Acquisition Act which amply safeguards the interests of the land owners, there are still hundreds of court cases pertaining to disputes on land acquired by the Government. The issue of land acquisition is very much in debate in the public domain at the moment. Policy planners are deeply involved in finding a solution to the dilemma of scarcity of land and the imperative of developmental programmes. A middle way has to be looked for. We cannot ignore the right to education of our youth especially the weaker segment.
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