WNTA urges minister to push for right to education bill

07 May 2008

New Delhi: A delegate of Indian anti-poverty network Wada Na Todo Abhiyan led by Member of Parliament and National Secretary, CPI, D. Raja met the Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh last week on May 3. The delegate presented a memorandum urging the government to adopt the Right to Education Bill.

The delegate meets the minister /Photo credit: WNTA

�This Parliamentary session is almost over but I assure you that we will table it in the next session,� said Minister Arjun Singh. �I will present it at the Cabinet meeting next week so that it is approved for the Monsoon session.�

The memorandum was signed by participants at a recent consultation held at the capital on the right to education and the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, the government�s flagship programme aimed to achieving universal primary education. See related OWSA story.

�The Bill is already overdue,� said D. Raja, �and should be made into law immediately.� He also told the Minister that the government�s expenditure in education should be increased to 6% of the GDP, as promised in the UPA government�s Common Minimum Programme.

D. Raja /Photo credit: WNTA

Ashok Bharti /Photo credit: WNTA

�The government has to ensure that every child irrespective of his or her ethnic background gets basic schooling and quality education across states,� said Ashok Bharti, Convener of the Abhiyan.

Already 3 lakh children have sent in their signatures to Finance Minister P. Chidambaram under the �9 is Mine� campaign led by the Abhiyan, to demand the government keeps its promise to invest 6% and 3% of the GDP into basic education and public health respectively.

Wada Na Todo Abhiyan is a national campaign to hold the government accountable to its commitment to end poverty, social exclusion and discrimination as promised in the Millennium Declaration, the national development goals and the National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP).

Source: WNTA

User comments

There are no comments