Rapid urbanization
Rapid urbanization has immensely affected the climate change in the world, and hence rural life is still our choice. Deforestation has led to our life being completely unsustainable, and population growth is also a cause of concern. There was a time when no environmental issues needed to be addressed. People were physically more industrious than the present generation. Science and technology have made our life more comfortable, but people are now prone to many health problems. We are deprived of fresh vegetables and fruits that were available in the past in our villages, but the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides makes the same not consumable for people and animals. Moreover, due to urbanization, our lifestyle has changed. The present generation has shunned physical activities and instead engaged in spending more time on computers and smartphones, leading to serious health issues. Urbanization is the call of the time, but we're not to disassociate ourselves with rural life.
Benudhar Das,
Galiahati-No. 2, Barpeta
Plight of school education in Assam
The news article that ‘Union Ministry of Education's Project Approval Board (PAB) urges Assam to improve enrolment & access to schools,' which was published in your esteemed daily on July 5, has made every educated individual of the state deeply worried and anxious about the alarming situation of the school education when the ministry in its review meeting expressed dissatisfaction with the enrolment ratio and gross access ratio (GAR) in single-teacher schools in the state. It also observed that 222 villages have no access to primary schools and 221 villages are without access to upper-primary schools. It shows clearly that the right of children to free and compulsory education (RTE) norms are not implemented in such habitations within the prescribed distance. The topic now occupies much more than casual consideration. Let us take a simple example. When we see a shop well-decorated with various items with a well-behaved and smart salesman, customers are attracted to the shop. Similarly, when there is proper infrastructure in schools with basic facilities like proper classrooms, furniture, toilets, and safe drinking water, children will be attracted to the school, and there will be gradual improvement in enrolment and access to schools. But, sadly, what we find today is a different picture. Most schools in rural areas are not well-equipped to meet the needs of our students. There is also the issue of teacher shortage, which not only affects the quality of education but also leads to a high dropout rate. The situation is compounded when many rural students are deprived of a proper education due to untrained teachers and a shortage of staff. The main task before the education department now is to improve both enrolment and access of children to schools by meeting infrastructural challenges, which will definitely pave the way for providing quality education to the rural students. The role of community in improving enrolment and access to rural Assam's schools cannot be overstated. Educating communities about the value of schooling and creative awareness about the opportunities it brings is critical in improving enrolment, access, and education in rural areas. Teachers working in remote areas need regular professional development opportunities and support systems, which would go a long way in improving the quality of education. The introduction of practical subjects, agriculture, rural development, and vocational training holds great potential to provide students with skills, and it will work wonders to improve school enrolment. Local organizations, NGOs, and community-based groups need to play an important role in removing all sorts of bottlenecks in the access to schools, as improvement of enrolment and access to schools remains a major concern for the state. Let us realise the ground realities in rural Assam and try to resolve the issue as per the direction laid out in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. One thing is clear: without children's enrolment and access, whom will the well-paid teachers of the state teach in the class? The need for the government is to remove the bottlenecks that hamper the educational development in the state, as we cannot play hide-and-seek with the future builder of the nation.
Iqbal Saikia,
Guwahati.
Police beat
man to death
A contractual temple guard in Tamil Nadu’s Sivaganga district, Ajith Kumar, was beaten to death by the police over an issue of missing jewels from a car. What could have been a simple case of routine inquiry, first information report, and follow-up turned nasty. There were more than 40 external injuries, including to the skull bones and brain, and plenty of internal injuries on the deceased body. So much so that the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court said that the case was like "the state killing its own citizen." Most custodial deaths in India go unreported because the police pick and choose their targets based on their socioeconomic status. In custodial detentions, mandatory documentation and the presence of legal counsel are compulsory as per the Supreme Court.
Additionally, every police station should have CCTV cameras installed at strategic points. But the Thiruppuvanam police thrashed the hapless man at various places other than the station. There are, on average, as many as five custodial deaths per day in the country. Though India has signed the UN Convention Against Torture (CAT), the absence of a uniform central law has emboldened the perpetrators. Only when retributory and preventive justice is offered to victims' families through fast tracking of such cases and speedy verdicts can one hope the police torture of the worst kind will decline if not cease.
Dr. Ganapathi Bhat,
(gbhat13@gmail.com)
A Correction
I inadvertently made a mistake in my article "Ajanti Muluk," published on the OP-ED page of The Sentinel in its July 6, 2025, issue. The name mentioned in the first sentence of paragraph 3 in this article should have been Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and not Muhammad Jinnah as published. I regret the error.
– Shantanu Thakur