Former-Education Minister criticizes Congress' stance on education in Rajasthan

Former state Education Minister Vasudev Devnani on Thursday accused the Rajasthan government of doing "Congressisation" of the state's education system by following a policy of minority appeasement. Addressing the media at the state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office here on Thursday, he said: "It is unfortunate that Education Minister Govind Singh Dotasara has a hesitation in accepting the fact that Maharana Pratap was a 'great' emperor... It's an insult to those who sacrificed their lives for the sake of the nation." "Pratap was brave as he fought with Akbar till his last breath," he added.

Referring to Kothari Commission, he said this commission had also recommended for the transformation of the Indian education system, as according to it, the education in the country was made Europe-centric by the Britishers. "That's why the panel recommended that the education system is converted into an India-centric one. The Commission said it is important to make the transformation. "Hence, we added stories of bravery of Guru Govind Singh, Veer Savarkar, Prithviraj Chauhan, Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar and many others," he said.

On the Education Department's decision to change the school bicycles' colour from orange to any other colour, he said that saffron is one of the colours of our national flag which stands for sacrifice and dedication. Why is Congress allergic to this colour, he asked. He recounted the achievements made under the former government and said that Rajasthan's rank in education was elevated to second from 26th in the country, board percentage was increased from 57 to 80 per cent, school registrations saw a rise and the staff crisis was successfully addressed.

"If the Education Minister still has doubts about our performance, questions will be asked on his own intelligence," he added. The Congress had left 4,400 high secondary schools which were increased to 13,000 in the state under the BJP rule. "We built schools in each village panchayat, connected anganwadi centres to schools and took all measures to enhance education standards in the state. It would have been good if the state Education Department had initiated steps to take it forward, he added.

(With inputs from agencies.)