In a special interaction with The Hindustan Gazette (THG) Bahutva Karnataka’s Advocate Vinay, who is one of the forerunners of the organization in leading several social causes, talked about the release of the ‘charge-sheet’ against Karnataka’s Primary and Secondary Education Minister B.C Nagesh. The press release or the ‘charge-sheet’ demanded the resignation of B.C Nagesh.
Our staff reporter on contact with Adv. Vinay enquired about the reason for seeking the Education Minister’s resignation, to which he responded that, Mr. Nagesh has failed in his duties. There are several aspects of his duty that he has failed to undertake, there was a loss of education for children during the Covid crisis, especially in government schools.
“As children did not go for school for two years there has been a learning gap. There is a bridge course that the they (the government) have made but it is not effective”.
He said that “schools also started fifteen days earlier than usual, but there are no textbooks because of the text book revision process”, which itself is problematic. First of all, the committee that was set up, did not have the order to revise the textbook, it was only asked to “review and recommend”, but they have now revised it, and “the revised textbooks are against the constitutional principles. Section 29 of the Right to Education Act stipulates clearly that the curriculum has to conform to constitutional principles”.
“According to a government survey 46,000 children were out of school but in March only 35% have attended, so there is no special programme to bring those children back to school. Many surveys also showed that many students are not interested in continuing education, what is being done to address that”, that way also the Education Minister has failed us.
“Even in terms of Hijab, there was a misinterpretation of the court order as girl students wearing Hijab were not allowed in the examination hall”, he said.
He was asked about his other demands other than seeking Mr. Nagesh’s resignation, he said that their demand firstly is in terms of mal-nutrition, “we want the government to provide eggs every day in schools, five days a week in all districts of Karnataka. The eggs are being provided only in seven districts, and for two days a week, we are asking to expand that programme”.
The Bahutva Karnataka also demands that the revised textbooks be withdrawn and old textbook be brought back.
Adv. Vinay also said that the Bahutva Karnataka also demands that “special steps should be taken to ensure that Muslim girls are not harassed and that their constitutional rights are not denied”, speaking with the backdrop of the Hijab Controversy.
On enquiring about the further plans of the Bahutva Karnataka, he said that they would wait for some days and after holding discussions with everyone within the organisation and with other organisations working for similar cause, they decide what step is to be taken next, if the Education Minister does not resign; he signed off with that.
Bahutva Karnataka, which was established in November 2021,is a broad coalition standing for social justice, harmony and works on issues of casteism and communalism. It works to preserve the plural nature of the country.
