Politics: Does certified education really matter?

Congress leader Ajay Maken questioned the educational qualifications of Smriti  Irani, who has taken over as Human Resources Development Minister.  “Smriti  Irani  is not even a graduate!”,  Mr. Maken tweeted. The counter-attack by Union Home Miniser Uma Bharathi  challenging the qualification  of Sonia Gandhi only smacks of negative comparison and does not provide a fair equation.

Instances are plenty where the most academically qualified politicians have also failed to deliver. There cannot be a better example in the current political scenario than Dr. Manmohan Singh, the scholastic politician, who had to wait for Sonia Gandhi’s nod on vital issues.  Also, that Sonia Gandhi can never claim to know most of Singh’s academic credentials, yet commanded respect from the latter.  Does it not connote the “less educated” can wield more power than the “more educated”?

A politician cannot be measured by the “qualification”,  but  the quality, skills and integrity s/he possesses. Emitting the answer in the exams may fetch marks.  Application of education in life is altogether different, where education and intelligence often don’t go together.  Credibility and honesty are not friendly epithets in politics.  

A minister mainly seeks advice from experts and tries to fulfill people’s needs and expectations.  As for "degrees", it is common knowledge that our “academic” qualifications have limited job value. Not to be a graduate is not a crime.  When educated people can use their “education” and evil brain to subvert the system and extort money, hide their huge crimes and get away with them, seeking a mandatory need for education only slaps a cruel joke. We need dedicated and patriotic persons, not qualified cronies. Unfortunately, there is no such “degree” bestowed for exhibiting these qualities. This appears to be a non-issue in our country. Many ministers around the world are not qualified for the ministerial positions they hold, but can prove outstanding because of their unbiased outlook.    

Constitutional demerit

The fault lies with the Constitution-makers and the party who ruled India for over 60 years.  Why the relevant article was not amended to specify the qualifications of the ministers and elected members?  It is the demerit of our Constitution that it does not require any qualification for politicians.  We, as a country, are always lagging behind in primary education.  The other democratic countries give the right to vote and elected only those who attained certain qualification. In India, we overlooked it.  The result is we are good in higher education, but at primary level we are struggling to attain literacy.

Can we judge the unschooled Thomas Alva Edison through his educational qualification?  The first American President George Washington did not hold any degree.  Can we question the ability of Bill Gates?  On the contrary, highly educated people like Manmohan Singh have proved that education is not a guarantee for good governance and leadership.  Certification does not necessarily makes a person educated.  It is something one learns on a daily basis. 

Literacy for leadership quality

Leadership quality is vital to be a good politician, which means you need to take decisions, empathise with the people and have a vision for the future and ready to handle unforeseen calamities and disasters.  None of those things are taught at school or college.  Literacy is necessary, but not a degree.  Abraham Lincoln never had a full year of schooling and one cannot deny he was an amazing leader.

Logic also demands explanation for the other side. While a manager is appointed with minimum MBA qualification to run a small firm, why our politicians should be allowed to run such a big country without any minimum qualification? Chartered Accountants, doctors, architects etc. have to study and train for their chosen profession in order to minimise mistakes, malpractices and unethical decisions and so on.  For running public office positions, it is only sane to introduce a minimum set of subjects like communications, economics, management, political science etc.

In developing democracies, bulk of the population may not only be uneducated and ill-informed, but illiterate, and it is easy to fall into the trap of half-truths and half-baked ideas sold to them by some unlettered but charismatic dumbos.  On the other hand, the relevant qualification for the selection of Indian cricket team is not attainment of degree, but the ability to do well.  Here insisting on educational qualification is ridiculous.  

Politicians need to know the pulse of the society and the standing of the country in international stage.  It is vital for them to ask the right questions in the parliament.  They must understand the gravity of the problem and the strategy that should be adopted to mitigate the problem.  All these warrant an analytical mind. Though there are bureaucrats, it is always better to have an intellectual leader rather than one who is heavily dependent on the former.

Designing a relevant curriculum

Why a politician, prior to taking office, should not be asked to take a basic education test?  If they fail, they should undergo the basic education and repeat the test.  If the politician does not have basic idea of finance, economics, history, political science, why would anyone in the society want that person representing them? The nation’s destiny and the fate of the people are determined to a fair extent by the politicians.  For anything to be accomplished, it is important that is done according to established procedure, and that takes some education, which is a benefit to a politician both in getting elected and in doing his job.

A separate curriculum must be designed that would ensure a politician to think, reason and analyse.  After all, an educated person can look at a certain issue from various perspectives.

If politicians become statesmen, then the formalities and certifications become a matter of irrelevance, hypothetical though.

                                                                               

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Congress, good riddance

“India has won.  Good days are coming again”, tweeted  a beaming and victorious Narendra Modi.

The Congress touched its lowest ever tally in the 16^th Lok Sabha election, raising  serious questions about its political future.  The party failed to open its account in some states and could not reach the double digit in any state.  The 128-year old party has been pulverised, the results corroborating it as a rejection of “dynastic politics”.  The last nail has been hammered on the coffin of the Congress party’s brand.  People showed that they can be ruthless in punishing erring parties.  The Congress party is synonymous with corruption.  On the poll day, the people dutifully discharged their electoral obligations, remembering  2G scam, coalgate, CWG scam, DLF-Vadra scam …. the list is long.

The BJP has finally become an all-India party, winning seats all over the country on its own, not in just a few states.

The Sonia Gandhi’s Congress fought this LS polls not to win, but attempted more on a negative agenda – to prevent Modi  from becoming the PM.  They also mistakenly believed that the Advani-Modi fraction will play to its political gain.  They did not show anything to convince about development, containing inflation and job creation. 

Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination over two decades ago created sympathy wave for his widow Sonia Gandhi.  No such tragedy happened this LS polls.  The Nehru-Gandhi label has lost its sheen in India.  This election has recorded more of youth electorate, for many of whom Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi are mere historical figures, and for others also it becoming a distant memory. 

It is also not surprising that Rahul Gandhi, given his political IQ, is unable to bring any significant impact for the Party in the recent polls.

The anti-corruption movement initiated by Anna Hazare and subsequent emergence of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) firmly generated the anti-Congress mood.  The 2G scam (2010) triggered the momentum for the impending disaster.  The think-tanks of the Party failed to foresee the writings, let alone take any corrective measures.  They sucked and looted India like parasites.

 A serious wake-up call

It calls for a forthright introspection.  If you think of internal reforms, this is the first reform: Self-critique.  The party is rudderless.  When you are routed in an election so badly as the Congress has been, you might not even see yourself in the Opposition. “Enough was enough” is the resounding message of the people.  A BJP victory can be synonymously dished out as Congress decimation.  Interestingly, the verdict says it loud and clear that no price is to be paid to any LS Member to help forming a government. 

If Modi, in the next  5 years, doesn’t commit any blunders, even if he doesn’t do anything good to the nation, it will be good enough to bury the “dynastic party” to its abysmal depth.

The political role of the Indian National Congress must have been long over.  Mahatma Gandhi demanded this soon after India attained independence.  The Congress today is only a fake avatar of the original Congress party of stalwarts and freedom fighters.  Sadly, the bankruptcy of Congress has seen to it that it had to rely on foreign origin, once led by Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel and the likes.

Can new leaders be created?

Is “Charismatic Priyanka” , wife of the land baron who is the very definition of cronyism, the answer for the future  of the Party?  That opens up a bigger debate.  If yes, will it tantamount to undermining the Rahul’s role?    Rahul Gandhi, probably a boy was sent to do a man’s job?  The Gandhian appeal, name and dynasty suddenly and instantly crumbled.  Or, Congress sans dynasty can make a better equation?  Or does the equation opens up a choice of a defunct outfit?

Let the national party sit in the Opposition for a full term and contemplate on quality governance.  A tall ask, of course.  For the Congress, the task is to rediscover itself.  One way is the Party must cooperate in the House.  A rethink from the Party’s perspective is certainly warranted, urgently. 

If you see in a different perspective, the Congress party has no worries about its future.  If Congress tows the Nehru dynasty, the party has no future and has no worries.  Whereas, if it builds up a new party independent of the Nehru family, then it needs to worry about how to contest and win the elections in the future.

It was arrogance to the extreme when the Congress President and Vice-President showed no respect or appreciation of Indian voters for their democratic maturity.  The two have clearly demonstrated that they don’t belong to this land. If any self-respecting Congressmen from the original Indian National Congress  is still left in the Party, he should file a petition with the Election Commission to bar the trio (Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka) from using the Congress name any further. Those who offered tea-boy’s job will have to stand in queue to apply for sweeper’s job in Modi’s office.

Mahatma Gandhi saw its birth.  It will be Sonia Gandhi who will be overseeing its demise.

It is a fall which will be good for the country. Amen.

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Also read:

http://kmurthy608.blogspot.in/2014/01/mani-shankar-aiyar-hosts-tea-party.html

http://kmurthy608.blogspot.in/2014/01/congress-then-and-now.html

CONGRESS – THEN AND NOW

Soon after India attained independence on August 15, 1947, the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi suggested to the then Congress leaders that the main purpose of starting the Congress party was to fight for freedom.  In the process, the Congress completely dedicated itself to this herculean task amidst enormous stress and distress. Subsequently, we became Free India, delinked from British clutches.  The goal of freedom was accomplished and it was time to wind up the party.  Senior Congress leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhai Patel, and Rajendra Prasad, should meet, review, and expeditiously take a decision in this regard, said Gandhi.

Gandhi would have probably forethought that in the latter days, Congress party leaders of subsequent generations would recall the party’s active role in the freedom movement and gain political mileage, which he felt was wrong and ought to be halted.  The aforementioned senior leaders of the party did not pay heed to Gandhi’s suggestion to close the shop.

The Congress party plunged into the electoral battleground.  India was proclaimed a Sovereign Republic on January 26, 1950 and the Indian Constitution came into effect.  Accordingly, parliament at the Centre and legislative assemblies in the states came into existence.  On the basis of the Constitution, the Congress party appealed to the people to elect their representatives.

The Party highlighted their role during the freedom struggle, amplified the sacrifices made by the Nehru family, and enticed the electorate.  For over 30 years since Independence, the Congress party reigned in the Centre and in many states.  During that period, the opium of power slowly but surely raised its head.  Corruption also in small and definite doses started showing up.  The leaders of the Congress party during the freedom struggle movement were spotless nationalists.  When they jumped into the freedom struggle, they sacrificed all their comforts and luxuries.  They even forgot their families. 

Due to the selfless sacrifices of the erstwhile leaders, we initially had corruption-free governance.  Sardar Patel was a remarkable leader-cum-administrator during that period.  Due to his diplomatic efforts, many princely rulers surrendered their sovereignty and agreed to annex their jurisdictions to streamline with India.  

During the Nehru era, the India-Russia pact was signed.  Also, the other leaders - Abul Kalam Azad and Rajendra Prasad, in particular – played an exceptional role in the discharge of their administrative duties.   India began to advance in many sectors.  However, after the departure of these leaders, subsequent generations deviated from the path of honesty and integrity, eyed only power, and indulged in corrupt practices.  Corruption which started in small trickles began to multiply to the highest proportions.  Whenever elections approached, the Congress party would highlight the past struggles of their predecessors, the sacrifices of the Nehru family, and of the Indian National Congress leaders to hoodwink the voters, and they merrily exploited the electorate.

  

However, over a period of time, people identified their true colors and slowly stopped voting for them.  Result:- The 30-year Congress rule at the Centre was disturbed. 

New political parties emerged in the states captured power.  In spite of all these,  Congress continued to remain a reasonably powerful party.  At the same time, the party tried to cover-up the corrupt deals indulged by its representatives while in power.  A stage has come that they cannot fool the people by singing the old songs.   There is a huge difference between the Congress prevailed during/soon after Independence, and the Congress ruling today. One need not look at BJP and other political parties for Anti-Congress forces.  Make a simple comparison between the Congress that stood for Indian freedom and the corrupt-tainted Congress of today.  The latter is a distinct Anti-Congress in itself.

Dissolve the Congress party

Keeping this in mind and to cherish the historic Indian national ethos, the present-day Congress leader, Sonia Gandhi, in deference to the original wishes of the Mahatma should dissolve the Congress party.  Let her start a new political party under a different name.  Though she is of Italian origin, she has become a naturalized Indian.  She has all the competencies to start a new party.  After all, the original Congress was started by a British civil servant, Allan Octavian Hume.  If Sonia Gandhi can initiate a decision to that effect, she would be rendering yeoman service to the cause of Indian democracy in general and the Indian National Congress in particular.  Referring to Mahatma Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi in the same breath is akin to equating Swami Vivekananda with Nityananda!

Happy Republic Day Greetings.

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Also Read:  http://kmurthy608.blogspot.in/2014/05/congress-good-riddance.html

                   http://kmurthy608.blogspot.in/2014/01/mani-shankar-aiyar-hosts-tea-party.html