Just where the swadeshi spirit will strike in India, and when, is hard to predict. But one thing seems clear: the randomness of the way it pops up here and there to become an obstacle to good policies suggests that it is more of an instrument rather than a deeply held belief. | |
| Viewed this way, it becomes easier to explain the HRD ministry's objections to allowing FDI in education. Its department for elementary education and literacy is reported to be of the view that there is no need for FDI in this segment because India has enough technical expertise and doesn't need foreign help. |
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| This argument is bogus for two reasons: one, no country ever has "enough" technical expertise because there is always room for improvement in anything anyone does; and two, if there is a segment in Indian education that requires some help, it is elementary education and literacy. |
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| Our own efforts have been pretty dismal and if new ideas can make a difference, why object to those who might bring them? What possibly can the Indian people lose if someone helps improve their schools and the skills of teachers? Nor, indeed, is education a restricted sector. |
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| It is on the automatic approval list and the department for elementary education and literacy has no valid reason to block a proposal in this sphere. It is, of course, possible that the real objections to considering proposals in this area are different, in which case they should be made public. |
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| The case that makes this issue relevant just now is that a company, Centre for British Teachers (CfBT), has been trying to get government approval for its investment proposal. It does not wish to run any schools. |
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| It simply wants to improve skills. Its website says it delivers accelerated professional development programmes to fast track teachers and provides school improvement services. |
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| It is, moreover, a "not-for-profit" organisation and is a registered charity in Britain. It has been around since 1965 and has worked with the World Bank and the ADB, to name two of the most acceptable names in India. |
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| In other words, it has a clear track record and unexceptionable objectives. There is simply no reason to block its proposal, or similar proposals, that will help improve educational standards in the country. |
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| Indeed, if the subject is under the automatic approval list, it isn't even clear whether the government has to say "yea" or "nay"; the applicant should in the ordinary course be able to go ahead with its plans""as a finance ministry official is reported to have suggested. |
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| At the heart of the kind of objection that has been raised here lies the belief that the government needs no help in meeting basic objectives""even when this has been proved to the contrary. |
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| This conviction is giving way in at least some cases (the Delhi state government, for instance, has formalised public-private partnership in several areas, including education), but elsewhere the old attitudes prevail. |
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