An Open Letter to the Prime Minister of India

To

The Prime Minister of India
With due Love and Respect


Sir, as we inch closer to August 15, with our country turning 64, let me as an honest citizen, dare to put forth to my government some recommendations.

Though I am in no authority to do so, I am still presuming that it is a people’s government. I advocate an increased funding and regulation for higher education, especially in the engineering and technology sections.

There are thousands of private Engineering colleges forced on Indian youth today, and most of them are owned by the powerful elite. This powerful elite in the process of bending laws to meet their suitability turn out more as a money churning institution rather than a centre for learning. It is for this reason that most of the HR managers globally take Indian Engineers as nothing better than supervisors (any diploma holder can also do the needful). I am not talking about fine engineers from IITs or NITs here. With more than 11 lakh students giving the All India Engineering Entrance Exam, consisting of a few thousand seats, one cannot blame an individual for a bad rank based on his performance in a 3 hour objective exam. I don’t think everybody has a fair chance in this fierce competition. Therefore sir, everybody turning out towards private Engineering Colleges is not a looser. There is enough talent in those students as well. But given the infrastructure, frustratingly ill qualified faculty and equally frustrating high fees, their talents go wasted. They end up being engineers only by name, jobless or a job of like 6000/- rupees or so.

Whereas on the other hand there is an intense demand for Engineers both in the domestic and international market. The problem Sir, is not unemployment but unemploybility. There is no dearth of employment opportunities but there is a dearth of employable engineers. Just a little done from your side sir, can help millions.

I am one of the greatest admirers of the loan interest subsidy scheme of your government but Sir please also ensure that these shopkeepers turn so called deans follow some minimum quality standards, and this minimum should be decided in the most judicious manner possible. An Iron Hand is needed for this purpose. These people are well capable of getting away with weak and feeble laws. It is good to have private public partnership, but something that is most important is public welfare.

One more thing sir, Ayurveda- the ancient Indian Medicine Science deserves our special attention. This particular style of medicine is so special not only because it has no side effects but also because it has stood all tests of time. Although there has been practically no investment in the R&D facility of it and still the measures directed by Charak are still used, it is serving as an excellent alternative to the current Allopathic form of treatment which is backed by tremendous funding.

These two moves will not only improve self confidence of Indians but also enhance the confidence of others in India.

This will also strengthen India’s role as a world Leader.

Jai Hind.
Adish Aggarwal (A concerned Citizen)

The Great Indian Education System :- From Gurukuls to IITs.

“Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school.":-Albert Einstein


In the context of above mentioned - simple but deep lines, let us evaluate the current system of education in India. The Indian education system, despite being the second largest in the world, has poor international standing. It emphasizes and produces quantity, not quality. Ironically, even that quantity is insufficient because half of India remains illiterate. In addition to this unfortunately, we are stuck with the age-old examination system to assess the student’s capabilities. The understanding of the subject is not important until and unless you are able to score 80-90 marks. As my friend Rohin Dogra would time and again comment, “We overeat the night before the exams, so that we may sit and vomit easily in our answer sheets.” The way we are made to attempt the paper is nothing better than vomiting. Instead of monitoring our progress at regular intervals, we are judged only in the examinations.

Knowledge, as they say is imparted in these institutes. Let us first elucidate this very term, knowledge as is mentioned in our sacred texts,
विद्या नाम नरस्य रूपमधिकं प्रच्छन्नगुप्तं धनं
विद्या भोगकरी यशः सुखकरी विद्या गुरूणां गुरुः॥
विद्या बन्धुजनो विदेशगमने विद्या परा देवता
विद्या राजसु पूज्यते न हि धनं विद्याविहीनः पशुः॥

Meaning:- Knowledge is certainly a man’s greatest beauty. It is a safe and hidden treasure.It provides prosperity, fame and happiness. Knowledge is the teacher of all teachers.It acts as one’s friend in a foreign country. Knowledge is the Supreme God. It is the knowledge, not wealth, which is adored by kings. Without knowledge one remains animal.


In ancient India, we were the pioneers of quality education. We excelled both at primary as well as higher education level. The concept of participative education was prevalent. In a gurukuls, formal education of mathematics, physical fitness, spirituality and moral science was imparted. The teachers (gurus) used to set examples of high moral character and sacrifice. There was no system of unnecessary examination as it is prevalent now. When the teacher felt that his pupil has attained enough knowledge to be promoted, he would do so.

However I would never suggest reverting to this type of system now. Neither the teachers are qualified and corruption free nor the students devoted and obedient to resort to such type of learning environments.

During the time of Chandragupta we had the famous Nalanda University. At its peak, the university attracted scholars and students from as far away as China, Greece, and Persia. The great library of Nalanda University was so vast that it is reported to have burned for three months after the invaders set fire to it.

There is no need of a survey or world rankings to know the present condition of Indian universities. To quote Prime Minister Manmohan singh ..
"Our university system is, in many parts, in a state of disrepair...In almost half the districts in the country, higher education enrollments are abysmally low, almost two-third of our universities and 90 per cent of our colleges are rated as below average on quality parameters... I am concerned that in many states university appointments, including that of vice-chancellors, have been politicized and have become subject to caste and communal considerations, there are complaints of favoritism and corruption."
– Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

India is home to many universities which have been founded with the sole objective of making easy money. Students from rural and semi urban background often fall victim to these institutes and colleges. In January 2010, the Government of India decided to withdraw Deemed university status from as many as 44 institutes as they did not qualify for elevation by any standard and that "they were being run as family fiefdoms".

What we need today is increased accountability from these so called centers of higher learning. Increase spending on primary and high school education. Increase the salaries of teachers and bring more accountability by implementing the concept of performance driven promotions and salary.

Regarding technical education, I was studying a survey yesterday which highlighted the poor condition of our Technical Institutes and prompted me to write this article. As of 2007, there are 1522 degree-granting engineering colleges in India with an annual student intake of 582,000, plus 1,244 polytechnics with an annual intake of 265,000. However, these institutions face shortage of faculty and concerns have been raised over the quality of education. Most of them are by all standards grossly below standards.Focus should be more on original thinking and problem solving then on comprehension type learning.Hope you understood what I meant.

As far as moral education is concerned, no textbook can teach a child to be honest, while he observes that his government, his parents and his teachers are corrupt. What moral lessons on honesty can an immoral and corrupt person give?

All these things are better said than done. None of this is possible without a strong political will to improve and strengthen our country. The future of the country lies not in the old but in the children. If we can inculcate the feeling of devotion, patriotism and hard work in our children, we can surely forecast a strong and powerful future ahead.

न हि ज्ञानेन सदृशं पवित्रमिह विद्यते!
Here (in this world), there is nothing as pure(sublime) as knowledge.

Jai Hind.

Kashmir: The nature's veil

"If I were to look 25 years back (said my grandfather in his usual calm and meaningful tone) whenever I thought about Kashmir, some very beautiful and exoting pictures of nature figure in my mind. I always consider it something everybody must visit atleast once in his life, a Mecca for nature lovers. I visited it once, son. How beautiful it is, just as if you are in heaven, far away from miseries and tensions. It seems as if you are sitting in the Lap of God itself. That's what made Shah Jahan to title it as "Paradise" It is in fact a Paradise."He went on comparing it with Singapore and explaining how there is immense scope of development of its tourism. "Whenever I think of Kashmir I always picture out a young boy pelting stones and shouting anti Government slogans." I said and left the room conforming my willingness to search and study the current political situation of the state. In this process I met many kashmiri students studying in our college and internet of course is a great source of information. So, thank you friends and internet. However at times I felt very angry and irritated seeing some videos on YouTube and reading some separatist articles and meeting with those separatist people. However this is the ground reality and we will have to cope up with it.

One thing which I asked myself after all these reading was that why is Kashmir seen only as a terror factory? Why we only talk about the increasing terrorism and not the declining tourism in Kashmir. We in rest part of India might think that both of them are closely interrelated but a close research will show that it is not true. There is surely a lack of political will among our leadership. Maybe our leadership want to keep us in a false illusion that everything is normal in Kashmir. Maybe they donot want us to hear Kashmiri’s shouting “Bhuka Nanga Hindusthan – Jeeva Jeeva Pakistan.” Whatever the reason may be, the ground reality is that a good leadership both at center and state is needed to restore peace in paradise.

I am an engineer by profession and always try to reason everything. We engineers are keen to solve all the problems practically and not theoretically. But this problem seems much more complex than any typical Fluid Mechanics or Heat Transfer problem. So, that’s the reason to worry! When Engineer fails tension prevails. Yes friends I am honest enough to acknowledge that I failed to derive any substantial result on this issue. I am not willing to give any practically impractical solution to the problem and add up the heap of articles from all sections of the society, which are grossly unpopular ones or autocratic authoritarian and undemocratic.
Lets discuss all the possible solutions to the problem and discuss that why these are not possible/acceptable.

First one and the most debated one is the option of plebiscite. Well I have read it all, the promise of Jawaharlal Nehru on AIR , UN becoming independent observer and all those things. Look, we have to understand the difference between the conditions then and now. There is a huge difference in both of them. Then, way back in 1947 we could have cushioned this blow of loosing our own Kashmir to Pakistan or as a independent state, because at that point of time, India was in the making but now after 60 years we cannot just do that.
Just think of possible outcomes of Plebiscite:
1. Unification with India ,which is a welcome move, but I am not sure that procuring P.O.K will be that easy (and not to forget Aski-Chin), and if we don’t want to get into conflict with two Neuclear Weapon states, it is better not to think of POK & aski-chin merger with India.
2. Unification with Pakistan: - Well first of all India is a secular state and we cannot afford one more partition based on religion. Just imagine the condition of those 150 million Muslims spreaded across India. They already have tough time proving their patriotism time and again to some senseless pseudo nationalists. Some unsocial elements try to play with the emotions of Indians and riots will prevail all over making us more venerable and very weak. It is thread to our multiethnic identity.
3. Granting Azadi/ Independence:-Granting Independence to Kashmir?????????????
Will Pakistan and China agree to surrender territory occupied by them? As the partition is somehow on religious lines, what will happen to Hindus (non Muslims) of Jammu and Buddhists of Ladakh. We have to understand one thing very clearly that India is a secular country and muslims are living happily and can live happily here, however Hindus and Buddhists will have a tough time there and things like 1989 Kashmiri Pandit Massacre could be repeated.
Secondly a landlocked country and surrounded by three nuclear weapon states will make its economy venerable and I seriously doubt if communist China will spare Kashmir given its vast water resources and tourism.

Thirdly Taliban and Al-Quida will find a easy heaven in Kashmir which can make Kashmir another Afghanistan.

Now having explored first option lets move on to second option that is making LOC as international Boundary.

This option will leave the things as it is with a little adjustment in the maps of both India and Pakistan (Both of them show the whole Kashmir as their own territory). The chances of restoring peace in this option are very less. Separatist element will continue to spell hatred. Training camps in POK will continue to function and infiltrations will continue to happen. So, why this futile exercise, as this will only add tensions and constrains.

Third option is to keep Kashmir under United Nations watch for 10 years and then conduct a plebiscite. Well this option may seem viable and just to few third parties but it is not so. UN generally work according to interests of developed countries (completely personal opinion). What if even after 5-10 years UN feels that time is not ripe for plebiscite or comes under Pakistani/Indian pressure and keep on delaying plebiscite. Then situation will become extremely dangerous.

Therefore the only option available with us is to maintain the positions as it is and bring about the development works, improve literacy rate, provide them with employment so that slowly and gradually we may win the hearts of our Kashmiri brothers and eventually they will proudly proclaim themselves Indian.

My article will not be complete if I will not mention the role of security forces in Kashmir. Think at least two times before saying something against the people who are safeguarding you, who have left their families and are constantly fighting with enemy on one hand and separatist leadership on the other. Just put yourself in their position and think. We must respect our Indian Army and must not say any thing objectionable against them. Let them function properly.


I will be back soon with something new,
Till then good bye

Cheers,
Adish Aggarwal.

Jai Hind.