25th March

Make it better

The article welcomes the reforms introduced by UGC for the overhaul of higher education system in India at University level. However, it expresses concern over the implementation of the same.

While the move towards implementing the semester system into universities and allowing students to opt for elective courses was much needed reform for the universities in India, it would also enable faster learning for students and help them develop diverse capabilities to compete at international level. However, very ambitious but the reforms aren’t adequate considering the history of poor implementation of some of the best plans in the education sector. While semester system is already in place in some of the universities theoretically, teacher absenteeism and insufficient weightage to internal assessment are the major problems. Although UGC addresses these problems by linking funding to adoption of reforms, the central problem still remains at its place. 

Though we boast to have a significant chunk of our population under 18, but if we do not provide them quality education and make them employable, we wouldn’t be able to reap the demographic dividend. Reforms in higher education are necessary for the country to benefit from its workforce. 

Future at stake

While the article expresses surprise at the sudden change of stance of BJP over Varun Gandhi controversy, it asserts that such tactics may help the party at the short term, but on a long run it can isolate them nationally and make it difficult to gain allies. 

BJP showed a mature response by isolating itself from the Varun Gandhi comments but the later support to the youngster can prove detrimental to party’s future prospects. The comments of Varun Gandhi reflect the contradiction in the BJP politics. Communally biased comments cannot be defended by any means, but BJP is in a fix here. It depends heavily on Sangh Parivar heavily during elections to mobilize people while others like RSS, VHP and Bajrang Dal posit the idea of Muslims and other minority religions to reinforce Hindutva agenda. Varun Gandhi’s comments are in perfect alignment with their perception. Although Varun’s comments have polarized the electorate in UP which has worked in favor of BJP in past but the strategy can be self-damaging on a long run. With much diversity in the country, exclusivity can isolate BJP nationally and make it difficult for them to gain allies. Even NDA happened when BJP dropped, albeit temporarily, the issues like Ram temple and uniform civil code. 

Leaders like Varun Gandhi can help BJP and Hindu radicals but not unite party nationally as it narrows down its vote bank to a narrow band of Hindutva supporters. At the end it’s party’s future which is at stake.