Saturday 18 July 2015

Tales Of Two Gajendra's

           Not long ago a farmer named Gajendra committed  suicide in full public view at AAP rally in the presence of CM Arvind Kejriwal. He was supposedly a distressed farmer and was agitating against the  the Modi government's Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill, although his family refuted claims as bogus as there family is perhaps financially better off and it was discovered Gajendra wasn't a typical farmer but an aspiring politician. His unfortunate death, though is under investigation and will be ascertained if he committed suicide or was a attempted stunt gone horribly wrong, what though is apparent is the distress in rural economy in India and level of disinformation spread over LAB. Share of public expenditure on agriculture and allied sectors declined from about 6 percent in 6th Plan to about 4.5 percent in Tenth plan,Irrigation, which is a leading input for agricultural growth, expenditure also witnessed a declining trend (10% in Sixth plan to about 8%) in Tenth plan ,this alone can summarize the disenchantment and dismay among rural population. Farmers suicide are rampant and no state is immune to tragic deaths of debt ridden farmers.Farmers deaths unfortunately doesn't hog limelight till some Gajendra has to do something extraordinary to get attention while all political parties are in same boat in offering lip service and condolences to grieving families. I am discussing it because these things aren't considered fashionable to discuss and is devoid of glitz n glamour our media and to some extent we all are more inclined towards.
         The tale of other Gajendra is even more interesting. Gajendra Chauhan was appointed as the new Chairman of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) Governing Council that seems to have hurt the pride of students thus mobilizing  students bodies from different universities including JNU in Delhi and SRFTI in Kolkata mostly leftists organizations who were up in arms against appointment. Students are unrelenting in there demand of Gajendra's removal as his credentials were questionable and short of FTII  standard. The strike by students and pouring of support from many quarters including film celebrities is being discussed at length in our media with eminent media wallahs have expressed there opinions on it .
         What's important to know is the spending of Rs 12 lakh per student a year on FTII, a film student is subsidized more than one studying medicine, management or engineering. A cost review by the I&B ministry found that the extent of recovery through fees, hostel rent and other expenses as a percentage of expenditure in academic activities in FTII has decreased from 25% in 2006-2007 to as low as 11% in 2010-2011. In a country like our's where resources are scarce doesn't judicious allocation of resources is required ? Do we need and afford to run such white elephants on taxpayers hard earned money?
         I am unperturbed by affiliation of protesting students organization or credentials of Gajendra Chauhan to be appointed as Chairman, but spending on medical education at Rs 6 lakh a year per student (AIIMS), around Rs 3.4 lakh a year on engineering education (IIT) , while Rs 12 lakh spent on budding filmmakers makes me wonder the priorities of government.

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