ManishChand:UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF NCPCR ,ITS FUNCTION AND HOW IT ENVISIONS RTE

First of all, I would like to discuss about NCPCR ( The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights ) which has been mentioned in RTE (Right To Education ) chapter VI ‘Protection of Right of Children’. After that I will look into the details critically of its goal, role and functions. I will also mention how the NCPCR is working currently. Having said all, I will offer some considerable suggestions but valuable at the end which could be meaningful for further enhancement of capacity of the NCPCR.


The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Bill, 2008, passed by Rajya Sabha in July 2009, which defines the right to education as right to free and compulsory education for 6-14 years age group of children. This can be translated into reality through required infrastructure, good governance, trained teachers and adequate funding. Salient features of RTE Bill The Right to Education Bill comprises 37 clauses, 17 definitions. It defines the dimensions of what it means to provide for a child's right to education in the Indian context. In Chapter VI, RTE has given enough space for NCPCR for ‘Proctection Right of Children. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) is a larger body that monitors the right to education and there is a finance sharing arrangement also stated in the bill.


Since RTE opened the scope saying that there has to be a body to monitor the right to education. It says that appropriate governments have to ensure that no child from weaker sections is discriminated against and to also monitor the functioning of schools. There should be steps to ensure the admission attendance, completion of elementary education and attendance of records of all children up to the age of 14. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights is to monitor and to act with quasi‑judicial powers. Rules have to be made comprehensively by each state with guidelines that will be issued by the central government and all the appropriate governments will be making specific rules.


The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) was made in March 2007 as a legal body under the Commissions for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005 (4 of 2006), an Act of Parliament (December 2005). Basically, it was set up to encourage and protect child rights in the country. This commission will protect all children who come under between 0 to 18 ages. This policy gives more preference to those children who are vulnerable, marginalized and backward children. The NCPCR believes that all children should enjoy their right till 18th year according to their entitlement given in Indian Constitution.

Roles and Functions of the NCPCR

The Commission will do following activities.


(i) It will look at given under any law for in force for the protection of child rights and recommend measures for their effective implementation
(ii) It will make inquiries into violation of child rights and recommend introduction of trial in such cases

(iii) It will scrutinize all factors that become problem in the enjoyment of rights of children affected by terrorism, communal violence, riots, natural disasters, domestic violence, HIV/ AIDS, trafficking, maltreatment, torture and exploitation, pornography, and prostitution and recommend appropriate remedial measures.


(iv) It will look into matters related to children in need of special care and protection, including children in distress, marginalized and disadvantaged children, children in conflict with law, juveniles, children without family and children of prisoners and recommend appropriate remedial measures.

(v) It can also undertake and promote research in the field of child rights.

(vi) It will extend child rights literacy among various sections of society and promote awareness of the safeguards available for protection of these rights through publications, media, seminars and other available means.

(vii) It will make look over any juvenile custodial home or any other place of residence or institution meant for children, under the control of the Central Government or any State Government or any other authority including any institution run by a social organization, where children are detained or lodged for the purpose of treatment, reformation or protection and take up with these authorities for remedial action, if found necessary.

(viii) Inquire into complaints and take up motto notice of matters related to:
• If there is any deprivation and violation of child rights.
• Non compliance of policy decisions, guidelines or instructions aimed at mitigating hardships to and ensuring welfare of the children and to provide relief to such children.
• Non implementation of laws providing for protection and development of children.

Capacities of NCPCR

The Commission, has all powers of the Civil Court trying go under the Code of Civil Procedures, 1908 and in particular, with respect to the following matters:

1. It can give call and enforcing the attendance of any person from any part of India and examining them on pledge.
2. It can requiring the discovery and production of any documents
3. It can receive evidence on affidavits.
4. It can requisition of any Public Record or copy thereof from any Court of Office
5. It can set commissions for the examination of witnesses or documents
6. Forwarding cases to Magistrates who have jurisdiction to try the same.
7. On completion of inquiry, the Commission has the powers to take the following actions:
a. To recommend to concerned Government for initiation of proceedings for prosecution or other suitable action on finding any violation of child rights and provisions of law during the course of an inquiry
b. To approach the Supreme Court or the High Court concerned for such directions, orders or writs as that Court may deem necessary.
c. To recommend to concerned Government or authority for grant of such interim relief to the victim or the members of his family as considered necessary.
8. The basic thrust and core mandate of the Commission is to inquire into complaints of violations of child rights. The commission is also supposed to take suo moto cognisance of serious cases of violation of child rights and to examine factors that inhibit the enjoyment of rights of children.
a. Complaints may be made to the Commission in any language of the 8th Schedule of the Constitution.
b. No fee shall be chargeable on such complaints.
c. The complaint shall disclose a complete picture of the matter leading to the complaint.
d. The Commission may seek further information/ affidavits as may be considered necessary. (www.ncpcr.gov.in)


It is significant to make a note of that at the time when the bureaucracy was preparing the groundwork for introducing the much diluted bill in Parliament, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) had passed a resolution for the abolition of child labour and realisation of right to education, adhering to three non‑negotiable core principles: (a) any person below 18 years of age is a child; (b) all forms of child labor need to be abolished; (c) all children who are out of school are child labourers and all work whether hazardous or non‑hazardous is detrimental the growth of a child. The NCPCR looks to the State to subscribe to these recommendations as guiding principles while formulating policies and legislations towards abolishing child labour and realizing the right to education.

But it is the biggest paradox that the core recommendations made by the NCPCR, which is a national level body having the mandate to monitor the implementation of the new Act. If it comes through, were not even taken note of leave alone incorporated into the text of the new education bill. Further, inclusion of the NCPCR recommendations would have altered at least certain important definitions such as ‘child’, ‘working child’, ‘child labour’, etc. But its opposite , even the definitions that were there in the February 2008 draft bill relating to ‘working child’, ‘out‑of‑school child’, ‘migrant family’, etc. were removed by the government in the education bill tabled in the Rajya Sabha.


We find that the structure has to be constructed in a particular manner. Another point that needs to be mentioned is that the whole exercise of making education justifiable rests upon the fact that a child must first have a lawyer to take a case to a court. For this, a lawyer must be sensitive to the fact that the child is being deprived of education. Those children who cannot afford a teacher can hardly afford a lawyer. The entire exercise of justifiability is depending upon the idea that a lawyer would come forward to take the case for the child's right to education. Yet there are hardly any lawyers fighting public interest litigations for the right to education. The absence of a follow up of legislation is not material, as there is nothing to prevent lawyers from taking cases to the higher courts. So it interprets the Constitution in harmony with convention on the Rights of the Child.


Now we can see that how NCPCR is working through its public hearing in villages. No doubt, there is demand among poor parents for education throughout the country. For them, education is an important tool to break the cycle of poverty and marginalization. They see education bringing in equity and justice. They are willing to make enormous sacrifices to get their children educated. About six months ago, a team from National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) visited the residential bridge course (RBC) set up by the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan in a remote tribal pocket at Jhajha (Jamui district) of Bihar. At the public hearing it was heard how an intense programme of social mobilisation with active role of the local youth and the gram panchayat members motivated over 400 tribal girls who had never been to school getting ready to join the RBC. However, the government had place only for 50. It was decided by the community that all the girls, aged 14, would go for this bridge course as once they turned 15 they would lose their educational opportunity.


Similar case, after the meeting and a drive of two kilometers, a group of tribal women stopped the procession and told the NCPCR team that they wanted their children to complete at least class X but had no school after class V in the vicinity and their children, had to walk 16 kilometers to go to the nearest school which was only up to class VIII. The NCPCR team asked them why they had not raised this issue at the public hearing and the women answered quite strongly whether the authorities have to be told and did not know that their children too required education up to class X and more. This shows that the conventional wisdom that tribal parents are not interested in getting their children educated and especially they do not want their girls to go to school.


Another case we heard in, Dantewada district in Chhattisgarh is an area that has been caught in a situation of civil unrest with the presence of naxals as well as the police, making it impossible for the local population to articulate their difficulties in accessing their entitlements. In the last six months, about five gram panchayats in the Sukma block have mobilised children in their villages to join the local schools with support from NCPCR and in coordination with the district authorities and NGOs. The news of children going to schools in these gram panchayats spread around in the neighbouring blocks. Finally, several tribal parents sought education for their children to take out them from adversities once and for all. They did not want their children to suffer the same fate as they did.


The NCPCR team found during its visit to the northeast that at the relief camps of displaced persons in Tripura and Assam there was a crying demand for education. In Manipur too, where despite suffering from HIV and AIDS children want to be educated. Among the migrant child labourers from Rajasthan to Gujarat, Orissa to Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra to Gujarat, Bihar to Mumbai, it has been found that if only the education system had the capacity to reach out to each of them, these children would not have joined the labour force. In all the public hearings, the NCPCR heard voices of rescued child labourers yearning for education and struggling hard to win their battle for schools. It is clear that education alone can realize the possibility for the poor to change their future.

Suggestions
1- Regular supervision of schools to protect the child rights by NCPCR
2- Regular public hearing
3- Promote and encourage the RBC(residential bridge course) schools
4- Provide freeof cost lawyer take up the case of victim(child)
5- Need to do publicity for awareness of NCPCR like RTI(right to information)

CONCLUSION
In this way, we see that the successful accomplishment of ensuring that children's right to education is guaranteed would need a wholehearted attempt by all forces/institutions, both within the government and those that lay outside. We need to strengthen and publicity of NCPCR in our country do that people can get benefitted. Having sensitized, people will not engage their children in domestic or send to hazardous work. Eventually, the dream of Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act can be realized in proper way without drop out and absenteeism.


REFERENCE
www.ncpcr.gov.in

Banerjee et at (2007) Can Information Campaigns raise awareness and local participation in Primary Education ? EPW April 14,pp 1365-1373.

Subrahmanian, Ramaya (2003), Community at the centre of Universal Primary Education Strategies: An Empirical Investigation, in Kabeer et an (edited) Child labor and the Right to Education in South asia : Needs versus Rights? Sage, New Delhi.

Combate Law ,May-August 2009, Volumje 8, issue 3& 4

ManishChand:ASSESS THE ROLE OF AUDIO VISUAL AIDS IN EDUCATION

Audio-visual aid is the best tool for making teaching effective and the best dissemination of knowledge. Audio –visual material can be included tape recorder, radio, movie, projector method etc. If we use the audio-visual material for elementary education as curriculum, the objectives would be followings.
Augmented Instruction
This is one of the important objectives of using audio visual material, using the application of slides and films in the classroom. Here teachers can use the audio visual aids to reinforce their teaching in the context of a lecture or activities based lesson. Thereafter, teachers can demonstrate any motivational movie according the needs of situation and relevant topic.
Independent Learning
In the classroom, films, audio tapes and video tapes can be used instead of personal student teacher contacts. This forms of instruction can be used in continuing government schools where the teachers are not available adequate. Typically, informative and motivational films on selected topics and video tapes transmitted via various TV networks are typical of these types of material.
Self-assessment, Evaluation and Role playing
At the elementary school, the introduction of video tape recording equipment which does not require elaborates production facilitates stimulating the use of television for the self-assessment of children. Tape recorders can be replayed for the purpose of self-analysis by the children or peers analysis with their classmates.
Therefore, “small group is an integral part of the Problem Based Learning approach, used consciously and conscientiously to achieve the learning outcomes”. (Benson et al., 2001).


Enhance capacities for learning

It is argued that purposefully designed and successful small group learning facilitates learning through the development of audio-visual material that supports and promotes both cognitive and meta-cognitive development. Teachers may show some movie, cartoon and slow-motion animation for the use of teaching. Having finished, teacher can instruct children to sit in small group and tell what they saw. The ‘structures’ in small group can be applied as problem based learning, along with the tutorial process and the use of scenarios, help the students to learn how to learn in groups and learn how to anticipate, prevent, cope and deal with the difficulties that they will experience working in this way.

Manner of Using Audio and Visual Aids

Learning of children can be influences effectively by the audio-visual aid. Teachers can use television or projector method to explain the scientific phenomenon. It will take less time in describing the minute details of the things comparatively traditional method. Through television children can watch the big image of the object such as solar eclipse, use of water cycle , vermi composting, vermiculture , stories , drama, and composting in elementary education text book etc..
Audio visual will very useful and meaningful for those students belonging to literature background. All the genre of literature (novel, drama, tragedy, comedy etc.) can be shown easily through this device. Students will learn to understand it very soon without reading. Reading may seem little boredom but audio visual aid will maintain and hold the interest of students. The impact of television would be hundred times more than book.
Nature of learning

Audio visual aid will serve effective method in disseminative knowledge even in overcrowded classroom. Without this technical device, poorly teacher prepared cannot hold the class properly. If teachers use the help of audio visual in class such as projector, which would definitely stimulate imagination and catch the attention of students. Teachers often give instruction heavily loaded abstract verbalisms which seem meaningless sometime. So in case, teaching should be in simple and lucid manner. Hence, use of audio visual aid in classroom, will lead towards learning with understanding, learning by watching and learning as fun not as burden. Teachers should know which things of it are relevant and which are irrelevant, specially which how audio visual aid may contribute to an understanding of the lesson being taught. Therefore, it is essential for any teacher who wants to be successful teacher, must plan carefully and worked out in advance.

Benefit of Audio Usual Aid

Teacher may demonstrate in many types of slide and movie in the classroom. It will enrich their understanding and vocabulary about the uses of language. Through recording, radio and tape, teacher can tell telecast many interesting and informative news, history and story. These will build a creative environment in elementary class children. Apart from that “an understanding of the arts-painting, sculpture, the dance, handcrafts-can readily be taught by means of television. And both radio and television are valuable media for teaching musical forms”. (R. Murray Thomas,chapt. 4 p. 116)

There is no doubt that technical device have greater impact and dynamic informative system. No other than this, can excel in providing knowledge. education, informative, knowledgeable, and motivation movie may be the milestone in imparting the quality education in lowers classes. Audio is a very effective medium of communication, which catch the heart and mind of people. audio visual aid may also lead towards wrong path way if it is misused. If children are shown excess movie, it could also bring serious repercussion in the life children. Therefore, teacher should not totally dependent upon audio visual aid. They should also encourage and promote self learning and textual culture.

It is needless to say that in certain area of schools at elementary level, the use of audio-visual materials is essential to the dissemination of the information and the skills or technique which is being taught the children. When audio- visual material are compulsory for the teaching –learning process, then it is obvious that the teacher could be replaced for these schools by a well-trained projection , functioning equipment and well-prepared self-explanatic material, such as audio visual software materials. When such areas of curricula can be identified in advance, it is clear that a great saving of time and talent of the teacher can utilized in another creation of innovative work.

It is important to note that utilization of audio-visual aid is very much dependent upon the ability of the teachers to be aware of their ability and have access to them.

Limitation
Due to use of audio visual aid in the classroom, many teachers feel fear making embarrassment errors. They do not feel comfortable. Using of audio visual aids decreases teacher’s autonomy in the classroom. They find themselves as motor which is run by remote control. It also creates frustration and panic fear of committing more mistakes. They do not find natural environment where they deliver their knowledge. This technical device leads disappointed performance. “ Electronic equipment may frighten teachers with its apparent complexity. At least part of this fear comes from the expectation that something may go wrong during the lesson causing the instructor the embarrassment of appearing inept, unable to control the teaching situation’’(R. Murray Thomas, Chapt. 4,p.118)

Regarding facilities, equipment and capabilities required for extend use of audio-visual materials in schools will differ depending upon a wide variety of factors like space, funding and electricity. The biggest factor is to note that it is not problem of hardware or software but the educational objectives of the teachers and the motivational issues of the children. Audio-visual aid is necessary to be typically and regionally in order to assist in gaining optimum learning. It is somewhat hard to achieve such learning if there is only one centre it is because of schools locations, educational objectives differ from place to place.

Purpose of learning
It is matter of fact that still teacher have old notion regarding use of audio visual instruction as only entertainment. They do not proper use of these modern technologies and its implication. They are out of sympathy with modern educational philosophy and psychology, both of which stress the vital part interest plays in learning. For those teachers, any electronic devices are made to reduce learning difficulties and make it more “soft pedagogy” entertainment and not education. But it’s real use and purposes something different. Audio visual aid not designed to amuse the pupil but to increase his interest in and their comprehension of the topic being studied by presenting several different slants on it especially through his most used senses-sight and hearing.” (Mckown and Robert, 1949,p.6)

Audio visual materials have always been used for instruction in hope of reducing the heavy teaching loads that have been increasing stress for children . it is seen that audio visual materials has been teacher oriented mechanism. It is not good thing. In such atmosphere, teacher either projects the visuals or plays the audio from a central position at his/her desk. After that, students are supposed to look or listen to the programme presented. It should not be like that rather teacher should encourage among students for healthy and fruitful discussion in the classroom. For growth of learning, interaction is dire of between students and teachers.

Specific subjects
As for as specific subject is concerned in schools’ curriculum, in practical there is no separate subject included for audio visual By and large, audio visual aid is part of teaching method which is designed to assist in the classroom along with presentation of material (concept, knowledge, and ideas). Audio visual aid is basically admired for best in the literature, mathematics, science, shopwork and other field, both as curricular and extracurricular. In these fields, with the help of technical device, children can have understanding and replicate it.

Age of students
Audio visual aid may be used by after 6th old age. Children can play play games and learn computer, typing functions. Children can learn at early age, faster than later period of their life. Children find computer as toy and like to play with it. Use of electronic device, can make learning fun and easy for children under 6-14 old age.
Socio-cultural context of learners

It is an important factor which impinges upon overall personality. It is very necessary for the use of electronic devices such as, tape recorder, television, computer, and radio, children‘s family must be educated and sensitive towards implication of these operation. After that, it is possible to make best use of these electronic devices in purposeful and meaningful way. Otherwise, it may bring complex repercussion for children. Children belonging to WSS (weaker section of society) may not be able to facilitate these things at home and send their children in decent school where these modern technologies are equipped.

Conclusion
In this way, we understood that audio-visual aid is the best tool for making teaching effective and the best dissemination of knowledge. Audio –visual material can be included tape recorder, radio, movie, projector method etc. Not to say that it has also some limitation that all schools cannot afford this modern technological devices because it is difficult to adopt this approach in government schools where still no adequate teachers, funding and proper infrastructure of classroom and water,toilet facilities. If this audio visual material is provided to govt. school, it will be a only show piece because teachers are also not very acquainted with it. Audio-visual material can be afforded by elite schools and also its use can be realized truly.



References

Benson, G., Noesgaard, C. and Drummond-Young, M. (2001) Facilitating small group learning. In Rideout, E. (ed.) Transforming Nursing Education through Problem-Based Learning. Sudbury: Mass, Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 75–102.

Thomas, M, Kobayashi, (1987), Educational Technology-Its Creation, Development and Cross-Cultural Transfer, (Chapter 4, “Educational Radio and Television-Their development in advanced countries” and Chapter 5, “Educational Radio and Television-Their transfer to developing societies and Chapter 10 “The meaning of Educational technology in the modern world” Pegamon Press.(two articles)
Mc Known C. H 7 Roberts B. A (1949). Audio-Visual Aids to Instruction, Mc Graw Hill Book Co. Inc

ManishChand:EXAMINING THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL INSTITUTION IN THE LIFE OF DALIT WOMAN, URMILA PAWAR'S 'THE WEAVES OF MY LIFE'DAILY LIFE' AND SCHOOLING EXPERIENCE.

Umila Pawars’s Aaydan, is translated by Maya Pandit into English as The weave of My Life, denotes the as testimony and weaves of complex relationship between official forgetting, memory and identity. ‘Aayadan’ is generic term used for all things made from bamboo. The other meanings of aayadan are ‘utensil’ and ‘weapon’. Outside the Konkan, the job of weaving bamboo baskets has traditionally been assigned to nomadic tribes like the Burud. In the Konkan region, it was the Mahar caste which undertook this task. Her book is forgetting a right to speak both for and beyond the gendered individual. It is contesting clearly the official forgetting of histories of caste oppressions, struggle and resistance. At the same time, this book is a self-consciously dalit feminist testimonial which is against the brahmanical and neo-liberal practices of the state, The weave of My Life violates both bourgeois individualism and communitarian notion of the singular dalit community( dalit panther).

Urmila ( Manjula) challenges views that see caste as a social institution frozen in time. She restates the intellectual contributions and agency of dalit women. She brings together private lived experience and the public practices of anti-caste struggle. The Weave of My Life in the classroom is empowering for subaltern students. It also allows the dominant to interrogate their complicity in deep-rooted privileges without freezing in guilt.

Urmila (Manjula) father died when she was in the third standard, in 1954. He was just fifty-eight. After her husband’s death, mother involved herself in weaving baskets. Urmila’s baba took on a lot more work. He was prone to jaundice. But he told Urmila’s Aaye ‘ Educate the children’. Urmila had great interest to school. She was youngest child in the family. The next day was a Saturday. She had morning school. She said, I don’t know but I packed my school bag and asked Aaye, ‘Shall I go to school today?’ (pp.31).). Uremila’s bhai got a job at the age of eleven at Lucknow in the railways. That time she was enrolled in the pre -primary school. Urmila’s Aaye used to live in very dilapidated state like torn saree, unkept hair and cracked feet. Urmila always maintained some distance with her so that when her classmate of her, Shyamala Chavan asked her, Who is that women in your house who looks like this? She replied,’ ‘Oh that women? She is our maidservant! (pp.43). Urmila liked her mother to wear clean saree but it was not possible due to poverty and that was the reason she had to feel emrrassment in front of her friends..

When she grew up as adolescent. Aaye began to urge her Bhai in letter to look for a good boy for Urmila. Her tai wanted her husband to be a lawyer who would later climb to the position of a judge. Aye used to say about Urmila, “This daughter of mine will count even the feathers of a flying bird.”(pp. 139). Later she enrolled herself in a college. At the same time she did a few temporary jobs. She got married with Harishchandra, a working person. The name Urmila was given by her husband. Both shifted to Mumbai because it fascinated them. And also they believed that what Ambedakar had said: ‘Leave the village, the village will never help you progress. Go to the City’. (pp.158). She joined job and grew her interest in writing stories. She would keep pen and paper near the pillow and write whatever came to her mind. Thus she continued her progressive literary career. She was first invited in Sahitya Sammelana at Vikroli.She had completed B.A. and ,M.A. with second class. Then she joined Maitrini-female friends-in dadar. After joining, she started looking from dalit feminist perspectives. She usually began her speeches with a few quotes from Krantiba Phule besides citing babasaheb ambedakar’s Hindu Code Bill. She said that “ the manusmriti has imposed many restrictions on women and built the caste system. That is why Ambedakar said that women is the gateway of the caste system.(pp. 263).

Memories of food, culinary skills and meals times draw a picture of the moral economy of dalit families in the Konkan region. Being born in low family and caste she had to face many times public humiliation. Once she went to attend a wedding at her sister-law’s place, along with two of her nieces. When they stout girls sat down to eat and began asking for rice again and again, the cook got angry. ‘Whose daughters are these anyway?’ he burst out. ‘They are eating like monsters.’ (pp. 116).

She mentions in this book, memories of labor, camaraderie’s and tension between women who used to climb hills daily to take their wares to the market. Their pains and labor within the homes presents an archive of complex relations between sexual and caste-based division of labor. Memories of humiliation and resistance to reproduction of caste ware as a form of modern inequality both in the village and the city. For example, people would first purify the aaydan, the basket woven by dalits by sprinkling water on it. Even in Mumbai, children of Urmila experienced caste inequality through their interaction with friends invited home to eat the cake on the birthdays. When the children who were invited would describe the figures of the Buddha and Dr. Ambedakar they had seen to their mothers. The latter would be quick to take action. They warned the dalit families that even if their children did visit them they were not to be given any eatables.

She had been discriminated in her school life. At school, teachers would pick on dalit girls to clean the dung on the school verandah when it was the turn of their class to undertake the clean. Urmila was very bold girl since childhood. “One day Gurruji asked Urmila to clean the mess. It was not even the turn of our class. Still he told her to clean because she was late. It so humiliating that she refused even to budge. Guru ji ordered her again. But she did not move her place. Guruji came close and slapped her hard. Then he told her to get out. Howling she ran home when she told to her aaye she was enraged. She said,” Let’s go to your school.’ I will see him’. Her she quoted a proverb! When it is the widow’s son turn to receive alms, the giver gets a boil on his palms!’.(pp.68). Aaye’s complaint against Guru ji became problem for Urmila. Guru ji shouted and announced her name as ,Fail’ ! Guru ji told her that “Show that progress card to your mother !” (pp. 70).

She mentions that when she was in the fifth standard, she had a Brahmin teacher called Biwalkar madam. She used to make all students stand in a line and closely examine their nails, figures, teeth, eyes and ears and nose. Clean students received a pat on their backs whereas dirty students got scolded by her. Another issues, children began to refuse, risking beating and swoolen cheeks. When schoolmates planned meals, dalit children would be asked to contribute money instead of food stuffs and were not allowed to touch the food that was being cooked.

After marriage, she joined nad became acquainted with dalit literature, dalit movement and participated in Maître Sangadana. She would give speech and encourage women’s to join them. She also made awareness among women about women’s issues and rights. She used go lecture in slums so that woman can get self-awareness. Many people of society belonging to non-dalit tried to creat hurdle in her way but she faced boldy. She has achecved several awards like, Priyadarshani Award(2004), Padmashre Vikhepatil Puruskar(2004), Maharastra Foundation Award (2004).

The process through which dalit women agitated into the Ambedkarite publics of the 1970s and 1980s are archived in memories of Hira Bansode, Urmila Pawar’s friend and well-known poet, who came up with the idea of a dalit women’s literary conference. In may 2004, in a letter to the Maharastra sahitya Parishad (Marathi Literary Conference) shows her political stand in refusing the Laxmibai Tilak award for the best published’autobiography’. She refused it taking because ceremony was to be happened by Saraswati Worshing which is ritual of Hindu religion.

We find that this book draws upon dominant disciplinary understanding of caste an ideological system based on a conflicting binary of the principles of purity and pollution as against testimony like The Weave of My life. It reflects with rich experiential documentation of power and material exclusions of the structures. Similarly, the practice of caste and patriarchy reduce these supposedly objective models of what they are: brahminical views from ‘top to down’ (Chakravarti 2003).

Conclusion

The Weave of My Life is a self-consciously dalit feminist testimonial which is against the brahmanical and neo-liberal practices of the state. This book as a Dalit memoirs presents to the readers a records of meanings and values of dalit modernity as it is figured in the interweaving of nostalgia and critical memories of the three generations of dait men, women and children. She has been greatly influenced by her Aaye’s weaving of basket. Her family (aaye, tai, and brother) always encouraged her to educate. Urmila herself never felt disappointed before humiliation and discrimination of caste during school days. Her political journey with ambedakarite philosophy gave her own stand in the society. As she believed what Ambedakar had said: ‘Leave the village, the village will never help you progress. Go to the City. It is in true sense, changed her life. Had she been in city, she would never been able to get such opportunity to grow and stand herself. Therefore, Urmila Pawar’s memoir represents the struggle of dalit women who has travelled on a long journey from a small town to huge metropolis and became one of its leading intellectuals and writes. And who tried successfully to make values like justice, equality, freedom, rationality, citizenship, progress and democracy from her dalit feminist imagination.

REFERENCES

Chakravarti Uma .2003, Gendering Caste: Through a Feminist Lens. Street: Kolkata.

ManishChand:UNDERSTAND AND EVALUATE A PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHER'S STATEMENT"I TEACH FROM THE TEXTBOOKS PRESCRIBED IN MY SCHOOL. I AM A CONSCIENTIOUS AND SINCERE TEACHER AND TRY TO TEACH AND EXPLAIN TO THE FULL CONTENT OF THE TEXTBOOK. I EXAMINE THEIR LEARNING BY GIVING THEM PERIODIC TESTS THAT SEEK TO FIND OUT IF THEY REMEMBER WHAT HAS BEEN TAUGHT" INCIDENTLY, THIS TEACHER WAS AWARDED THE BEST TEACHER AWARD BECAUSE ALL HER STUDENTS GOT HIGH SCORES IN THE EXAMINATION.

Above statement is not startling because now a day’s classroom practices are, in almost all schools, dominated by textbooks. All premises of flexibility of the curriculum and syllabus and freedom of the children and teacher are completely forgotten. It happens when the time an educational plan reaches the classroom. The teachers are seen as either incompetent or lack of accountability or both.  The school is seen as devoid of all learning.  Material and the environment are seen wild goose chase for child’s learning. The textbook appears as the single tool of best learning in schools.  It is expected to receive the entire knowledge child at a given stage. Child does not need to look beyond the four walls. Therefore, ‘teaching the textbook’ becomes the sole concern of schools.

Objectives of learning:

The school of classroom can be considered as traditional system of education which is devoid of interaction. Teacher seems to be meek dictator of textbook culture. There is no place for children voice and experience. Teachers’ main objective is to cover the syllabus in the time. Students are supposed to mug up whatever they have been taught. Teacher seems to be promoting rote learning. The textbook as part of bible, becomes one tool to engage the child in learning. The basic thrust of textbook is to enable children to become able to read write and remember in the main exam.  

But the teacher in such classroom practices can be used for variety of activities, concrete learning material, as well as textbooks.  What is to be learnt is planned as per the objectives of curriculum and the syllabus.  What is to be evaluated is decided on the basis of stage-specific objectives.. The purpose of learning through exam assessment is necessarily to improve the teaching learning process, materials, and be able to review the objectives that have been identified for different stages of school education. Another, objectives of learning should be meant to gauge the degree to which objectives are achieved and capabilities of the learners are developed. It is not just to know how many bits and pieces of facts have been memorized by children in the classroom. There must be full autonomy for the teachers in the classroom in pedagogical level. The textbook should not be considered as final order. Here it would insist the same Gandhi as said “If the textbooks are treated as a vehicle for education, the living word of the teacher has very little value. A teacher who teaches from textbooks does not impart originality to his pupils. He himself becomes a slave of textbooks and has no opportunity or occasion to be original. It therefore seems that the fewer textbooks are, the better it is for the teacher and his pupils.” (M.K. Gandhi, 1939)

Nature of Knowledge:

The teacher’s thinking is very confined into textual knowledge. The teacher needs to understand other dimension of knowledge. Teacher opines that textbook teaching, memorization and successfully writing in the exam are the nature of knowledge? Is this form of knowledge to pass out with excellent grade in the exam? Later on, forget all about, no matter. Teacher needs to understand that textbook as bundle of knowledge is useless through memorization unless it is understood in a practical sense.

Teachers must give space and opportunities to student to articulate their valuable reflection on the matter so that construction of knowledge could occur in the classroom. I am reminded of what Pratima Kale points out in her essay is very much similar with teachers practice with students in classroom, “the teachers projected symbol is of a profession nobly dedicated to the service of society, a body of trained and qualified men, confident in their knowledge of what is best for their clients, with full freedom to do what they think best in educational matters”.

Knowledge is so called intellectual power, and internal powers (Phuko). A learner is supposed to possess good knowledge, competencies if s/he has to succeed in the examination. On the basis of this knowledge, competencies development can be dreamed otherwise it is vague idea. The more developed the power, the more the possibility of the person’s success becomes as a professional. So knowledge of learner is not a one-day play rather it develops throughout time. Knowledge of students depend on their clear understanding and evaluation of the following factors and their inter-relations- students, their family, the community surrounded, the society at large, the country‘s tradition, socio-political and economic situation. So students’ knowledge development is based on both theoretical and practical and also it is influenced by social factors. I find formation of knowledge similar view in Munby’s essay points that there are two major threads, on the character of teachers’ knowledge. “The first thread concerns the work that seems to have influenced to our understandings of teacher knowledge from a theoretical, even a propositional stance. The second thread moves us towards a more practical oriented conception of knowledge as we describe important milestone”.

It is very important to note that teachers should be aware of the future development of the forms of knowledge.  The learners’ experiences should be organized to develop basis for all areas. The learner neither needs to know learners can be actively engaged only when they are motivated to learn. The very choice of work needs to be such that it encourages learners to participate and apply themselves. It is true that only active engagement involves enquiry, exploration, questioning, debate, application, and reflection leading to theory building and creation of innovative ideas formation of knowledge can take place. The syllabus of textbook should select experiences that build a knowledge base, capabilities to think rationally, ability to learn, capacity to work and to participate in economic processes, sensitivity to others, and aesthetic appreciation. It should be suitable for the development of a rational commitment to the democratic values of equality, freedom, autonomy of mind, autonomy of action, care and respect for others, and justice.

Teachers’s assumption about learner:

Teacher in such a conventional classroom expects that learner as empty glass. She/he imparts his/her best knowledge to the students.  The Learner is perceived as a passive receiver who just learns everything by heart from the classroom and pours out during the exam. If there is no scope for interaction, discussion and conversation among learners, the class is not going to help as fruitful and activities based learning.  It is crucial in the classroom to motivate student-teachers to familiar themselves with the structures of school subjects and see their relation with standard-wise objectives, syllabus and mythology. It should be also necessary to help them to understand their students with the help of concepts, principles and theories in various faculties of knowledge.

It appears that it was traditional education (education as practice of domination) which focuses only over teaching rather learning. I realize that most of the students learned more during practical and classroom interaction. One might anticipate about such classroom, where  student could not be active role researcher, investigator and critical thinker. I find that nature of learning / learner should be based on Gandhian philosophy who advocates that self-reliance and self-dependent for learner, hand and heart experimental learning, and learners must have the freedom to create their own model of knowledge about the world. It means it could be a interactive session only if children experience and voices are heard.

 It seems that school (curriculum, textbook and curriculum) is meant of maintaining norms state authority in the form of I.S.A. (Ideological State Apparatus) according to Louis Althusser. Since nothing big changes have taken place since colonial and after independence in education system.  We remember as Shukla points out, “colonial policy used written examinations to evolve a bureaucratic, centralized governance of education. In our social life, the examination systems served the purpose of installing in the public mind the faith that colonial rule was fair and free of prejudice.” (S.Shukla(1978): 112-25,7-80.

Teacher understands of nature and use of teaching-learning materials:

In offered such classroom situation, where official control erodes the teachers’ autonomy by denying him/her to use innovative approach. It does not seem that teacher knows how to use teaching learning material because in traditional classroom. It is seen that T.L.M. are as model and kept for exhibition. Students are not supposed to touch and use. Teaching learning material appears in almost public and private school as show piece. According to Hridaykant Dewan, TML are material which can help in learning and also help in spreading the knowledge. It can be useful only if children will touch, feel, use it and play with it. T.L.M. can provide children an opportunity through which they can enhance their understanding about abstract thing.( Dewan’s T.L.M. vs Teaching Aid)

Textbook can be used as teaching learning material in two ways by teachers. In the first type, “teachers have the freedom to decide what the materials to use for developing a lesson. He /she is trained and expected to prepare own curricular plan and mode of assessment. He/she has authority over what happens in the classroom, in what order, at what pace and with the help of what resources.  The second types of education system ties the teacher to the prescribed textbook. She/he is given choice in the organization of curriculum, pacing and the mode of final assessment. She/he must ensure that children are able to write answers to questions based on the any lesson in the textbook without seeing the text, for this is what they will have to do in the examination.” (Kumar p.452).

What does mean it means to ‘know’-who is learning? What is being learnt?

Different kinds of situations provide different kinds of learning experiences to students. Exposure to a variety of learning situations such as self-work, small group work, and whole class (or large group) work helps in widening the experiential base. It also helps in developing diverse perspectives. Therefore, it becomes important to have opportunities for self-learning, peer learning, and learning through interacting with teachers nor could be expected to be aware that the experiences are chosen with forms of knowledge in mind. At the primary level there may not be enough conceptual basis for any clear demarcation of sciences and social sciences. But it could be possible to introduce ways of looking at the social and natural world in the form of practical activities, and making sense out of them.

Additions to that, the entire image of teachers’ practice involve in process of learning, the exchange of idea and healthy dialogue. I also find the teachers practice as same as Shulman argues in his article , the goal of teacher education is not to indoctrinate or train teachers to behave in prescribed ways, but to educate teachers to reason soundly about their teaching as well as to perform skillfully.

The curriculum framework 2000 enables schools and teacher to make choices and move towards greater autonomy. Such a movement towards school autonomy is seen in a positive light by all major policy and curriculum documents but it does not appear in the actual classroom teaching practices. When we come to decisions regarding methods of teaching, pace of learning, material, and concrete examples to be used, we reach the level of school and the classroom. These are concrete decisions that can be made only for specific classrooms and children, as the actual learning happens only in the child’s mind and depends totally on what has been learnt earlier. Therefore, the reinterpretation of the teaching pedagogy, content, and materials are completely within the sphere of practical decisions to be made by the teacher. Finally, what is needed is not a single textbook but a learning material that could be used to engage the child in active learning.  Similarly I find superficial statement on the ground and do not find any logic what National Curriculum framework 2005 articulates a new vision of the school curriculum as an inclusive space and the proactive engagement of the school teacher with processes of curriculum redesign is a necessary condition to ensure the success of the NCF. Therefore, we find that teachers do not find enough space for themselves so how one will imagine that children will be given full autonomy and freedom to share their experience and knowledge.

 Nature of school she/he is likely to be working in:

It is little difficult to assume that whether school was private or public. But it seems that school was traditional. But it is certain that still almost schools are following traditional methods of imparting instruction. Teachers still engaged in teaching textual knowledge, lecture method, chalk and walk method, encouraging rote memorization with least concern for developing creativity, logical thinking and decision making ability. The methods of teaching are mainly adopted to enhance the cognitive ability in theoretical concepts through frequent repetition method.

At present time, the global competition demands a paradigm shift from traditional methods of teaching to innovative methods of learning. There is urgent need to discourage the use of traditional method and to encourage effective teaching, democratic participatory and competent methods that focus upon inculcating creativity and imagination, critical thinking, curiosity and decision making ability and not rote memorization.  In India, there is a tendency to take too wide a definition of curriculum in much of recent literature. “All the publications under DPEP, many innovative NGOs, and recent discussions in curriculum seem to say too often that everything that happens in the school is part of the curriculum. Result of this, the teachers work is to cover the syllabus on time.” (Position Paper, 2005,).  Above teaching methods have to be emphasized that develop not only cognitive ability but also affective and co-native ability. It is necessary to use updated discussion methods, scientific methods, heuristic methods, project methods, digital presentations of lecture etc, could become a integral part of the teaching learning process. Therefore, it can help in retaining the students in the education system as well also train them for facing open challenges.

Conclusion

Let me confine my view in nutshell, having heard the statement of teachers, it seemed that there was paucity of learners’ voice and experience. The teacher was using traditional rote learning pedagogy in which it was felt that the children apply their accumulated knowledge (rote memorization) in order to answer the question during the exam. The basic objectives of teacher’s pedagogy is to examine their memory not co-native ability so that they can write during exam and get passed. The learner’s nature was passive and empty vessel where teacher taught the best his/her side. The teacher pedagogy of teaching was authoritarian and less democratic participatory. The teacher has used text as bible by promoting text culture. There was no scope for discussion between teacher, interaction among learners and practical activities. It seems that that banking / traditional theory of mind was being applied by teacher. The classroom seemed to me remind Freire ,Paulo who argues Tradition/Banking education and put emphasis on critical process of enquiry in his ‘Pedagogy of the Oppressed’.

References

S.Shukla,” education Economy and Socal structure in British India,” Varanasi National Journal of Education1,nos1 and 2 (1978): 112-25,7-80.

M.K. Gandhi [Harijan,September 9,1939)]

Pratima Kale; The Guru and the Professional: The Dilemma of the Secondary School Teacher.Lee S. Shulman ; Wisdom and Practice.

Hugh Munby ; teachers’ Knowledge and How It Develops.

Goel and Sharma, A Study of the Evolution of Textbooks, NCERT,  Delhi.

Kumar, K. 1988, “Origins of India’s Textbook Culture”, Comparative Education Review, 32 (4), 452-65.

Chapter 2, “Learning and Knowledge” and Chapter 4, “School and classroom environment” in. National Curriculum Framework-2005, NCERT, New Delhi.

Position paper on Curriculum, Syllabus and Textbooks, NCF 2005, NCERT.

Jarolimek, J, Selection and use of materials.

H.K. Dewan ,Buniyaadi Shiksha,April 2008.

ManishChand:MID-DAY-MEAL POLICY: A CASE STUDY ANALYZING JOHN W. KINGDON'S THEORY ON AGENDA SETTING

         

I will seek to critically analyze the mid day meal scheme being implemented in India. I will look into the details of the aims of the scheme, its target group, details of implementation. I will try to estimate and analyze the success of the mid day meal scheme. I will also try to look the scheme in meeting the objectives it set out to achieve through King don three model. Therefore, to know the  limitation of this mid day meal policy I will follow Kingdon’s theory of agenda setting, three streams of problems, politics and policy come together at the same time, a window of opportunity occurs, issue come into the agenda.

  

Kingdons’s theory suggests problem identification and politics put an issue on the agenda, and the policy alternatives  are a secondary factor in agenda setting.  The present study is an analyze of this aspect of Kingsdon’s theory by reviewing the policy on Mid-Day-Meal Scheme (MDMS). Kingdon’s model underlines the existence of three distinct, but complementary, processes, or streams, in policy-making. It is the coupling of these streams that allows, at a given time and in a given context, for a particular issue to be turned into a policy. These three streams are

• The stream of problems. The rationale behind this stream is that a given situation has to be identified and explicitly formulated as a problem for it to bear the slightest chance of being transformed into a policy. Indeed, a situation that is not defined as a problem, and for which alternatives are never envisaged or proposed, will never be converted into a policy issue.
• The stream of policies. The second stream used to explain how an issue rises or falls on an agenda has to do with the stream of policies. This stream is concerned with the formulation of policy alternatives and proposals. An extremely important aspect of this model is the belief that such proposals and solutions are not initially built to resolve given problems, but rather they float in search of problems to which they can be tied.
• The stream of politics. Although they take place independently from the other two streams, political events, such as an impending election or a change in government, can lead a given topic and policy to be included or excluded from the agenda. Indeed, the dynamic and special needs created by a political event may move the agenda around.     

When question comes how do an issue becomes part of agenda setting. It comprises of many things such as

(i)                 An event or crisis.

(ii)-Information/evidence from evaluations and existing programs

(iii)-Reveals that a situation (because of severity, magnitude, number of people affected, etc.) requires attention.

(iv)-Values, beliefs or motivations can turn a condition or situation into a problem.

(v)-Collective action of interest groups, protests, lobby, social movements around a particular topic.

(v)-Role of the media.

(vi)-Political changes.

According to Dearing and Rogers,“The agenda setting process is an ongoing competition among issue proponents to gain the attention of media professionals, the public, and policy elites.”  (Dearing and Rogers, 1996). On the contrary, other issue does not become part of agenda because it has following reason. 

(i)Problem Definition

(ii)Crowded Out (by other issues)

(iii)Problem not recognized as a relevant issue/problem

(iv)Deemed not to be a legitimate state concern.

(v)Non-decision-making

Background of Policy

Here, I would mention about background of policy which I am going to look at. Mid Day Meal in schools has had a long history in India. In 1925, a Mid Day Meal Programme was introduced for disadvantaged children in Madras Municipal Corporation. By the mid 1980s three States viz. Gujarat, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and the UT of Pondicherry had universalized a cooked Mid Day Meal Programme with their own resources for children studying at the primary stage.  By 1990-91 the number of States implementing the mid day meal programme with their own resources on a universal or a large scale had increased to twelve states.

The National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education known also as Mid Day Meals Scheme with a view to enhancing enrollment, retention attendance, and simultaneously improving nutritional levels among children.  The National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education (NP-NSPE) was launched as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme on 15th August 1995, initially in 2408 blocks in the country. By the year 1997-98 the NP-NSPE was introduced in all blocks of the country. It was further extended in 2002 to cover not only children in classes I -V of government, government aided and local body schools, but also children studying in EGS and AIE centres. Central Assistance under the scheme consisted of free supply of food grains @ 100 grams per child per school day. It had subsidy for transportation of food grains up to a maximum of Rs 50 per quintal.

In September 2004 the scheme was revised to provide cooked mid day meal with 300 calories and 8-12 grams of protein to all children studying in classes I-V in Government and aided schools and EGS/ AIE centres. In addition to free supply of food grains, the revised scheme provided Central Assistance for (a) Cooking cost @ Re 1 per child per school day, (b) Transport subsidy was raised from the earlier maximum of Rs 50 per quintal to Rs. 100 per quintal for special category states, and Rs 75 per quintal for other states, (c) Management, monitoring and evaluation costs @ 2% of the cost of foodgrains, transport subsidy and cooking assistance, (d) Provision of mid day meal during summer vacation in drought affected areas.

3. In July 2006 the scheme was further revised to provide assistance for cooking cost at the rate of (a) Rs 1.80 per child/school day for States in the North Eastern Region, provided the NER States contribute Rs 0.20 per child/school day, and (b) Rs 1.50 per child/ school day for other States and UTs, provided that these States and UTs contribute Rs 0.50 per child/school day.

4.  In October 2007, the scheme has been further revised to cover children in upper primary (classes VI to VIII) initially in 3479 Educationally Backwards Blocks (EBBs). Around 1.7 crore upper primary children were included by this expansion of the scheme. From 2008-09 i.e w.e.f 1st April, 2008, the programme covers all children studying in Government, Local Body and Government-aided primary and upper primary schools and the EGS/AIE centres of all areas across the country. The calorific value of a mid-day meal at upper primary stage has been fixed at a minimum of 700 calories and 20 grams of protein by providing 150 grams of food grains (rice/wheat) per child/school day. 8.41 cr Primary students and 3.36 cr Upper Primary Students i.e a total of 11.77 cr students are estimated to be benefited from MDM Scheme during 2009-10.

Today, Mid day Meal scheme is serving primary & upper primary school children in entire country. Sinha, Shanta (2004). 

Analysis

Problem Identification 

First of all, question comes to our mind why do policymakers pay attention to some problems and not others? The answer lies in the way officials learn about conditions and, more important, the way these conditions come to be defined as problems. There are three ways to identify conditions. First, indicators may be used to assess the existence and magnitude of a condition--for example, economic conditions or human rights practices of countries around the globes can be monitored either routinely or through special studies. The indicators then can be used to measure the magnitude of change in the hope of catching official attention. Second, dramatic events or crises can occasionally call attention to a problem. A military coup or a revolution acts as a powerful stimulant for more or less foreign aid. Third, feedback from existing programs can bring conditions to the fore. Letters from Letters from constituents and impact evaluation studies are two relevant examples. Actually, not all conditions become problems . As Kingdon (1995 , p. 110) categorically asserts, problems contain a "perceptual, interpretive element.”

Whereas, according to Porter, for a social condition to be a problem, people must perceive it is such, and also see it as the condition amenable to a government action (Porter, 1995). So mid day meal problem was identified by PUCL. They started campaign with a writ petition submitted to the Supreme Court in April 2001 by People's Union for Civil Liberties, Rajasthan. Briefly, the petition demands that the country's gigantic food stocks should be used without delay to protect people from hunger and starvation. This petition led to a prolonged; public interest litigation (PUCL vs Union of India and Others, Writ Petition [Civil] 196 of 2001). Supreme Court hearings have been held at regular intervals, and significant "interim orders" have been issued from time to time. However, it soon became clear that the legal process would not go very far on its own. This motivated the effort to build a larger public campaign for the right to food.  In 2001, the Supreme Court ordered that the states should provide cooked meals for all school-children up to the fifth standard.

So in this way,MDMS was the result of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by the People's Union for Civil Liberties, Rajasthan, before the the Supreme Court. The case was filed initially against the Government of India, Food Corporation of India (FCI) and six state governments, alleging that more than 50 million tonnes of food grains was stocked up with FCI while there was widespread hunger in the country, particularly in the drought-hit states of Rajasthan and Orissa. Eventually the list of respondents was extended to include all the States and Union Territories. The Supreme Court issued an order asking the states to implement eight different centrally-sponsored schemes for food security and to introduce cooked mid-day meals in all the government and government-aided schools. FAO’s latest report, The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2008 asserts that worldwide there were 923 million undernourished people in 2007, compared to 848 million in 2003–05. In 2008 the number of people suffering from chronic hunger is likely to have increased even further. According to a 2009 statement of the World Bank, the number of undernourished people exceeds now 1 billion. Shockingly, regression, rather than the progressive realization of the right to food, is the motto of the day.  

Policy Stream

It includes variety of ideas floating arounf such as the "policy primeval soup." Ideas are made by specialists in policy communities--networks that include bureaucrats, congressional staff members, academics, and researchers in think tanks who share a common concern in a single policy area. Then a policy get formed.  People thought together and came up with consensus that middaymeal is best possible solution. And this solution came from long struggle by PUCL through right to food. Later Super court gave the order to all the state to follow it. One truth emerges clear that judicial intervention is important in the fight for pro-poor policies. According to Jean Dreze "It is hard to imagine how mid-day meals could have been extended to 100 million children within three years without the firm intervention of the Supreme Court." He believes, however, that the right place to bring up issues like right to food is Parliament and not the courtroom. "The fact that it took public interest litigation in the Supreme Court to get political leaders to focus on children's nutrition rights is a telling reminder of the lopsidedness of Indian democracy." (Zaidie, Annie (2005)

Even we find that many states are not able to adopt it due to inadequate fund. If we critically analysis irrespective of the policies adopted by the State the poor have always found their own ways of overcoming the limitations facing them and their own reasons for doing so. The challenge of securing a better future for their children is in no way different from their overall struggle to access resources and institutions in general. The real issue is whether the policies and programs aimed superficially for their benefit recognize this and support them in their endeavor. MDMS can be realized only if there is a demand created for schools and such a demand can emerge through an intense social mobilization and public action programme against child labor and in favor of children’s rights especially the right to education through full time formal schools.

MDMS Objectives: to promote enrolment and elimination of hunger and Encouraging poor children, belonging to disadvantaged sections, to attend school more regularly and help them concentrate on classroom activities.

Strength

i-increasement in enrolment

ii- increasement in attendant

iii- improvement in nutritional status of children in classes

Limitation

i-very poor infrastructure facilities (e.g. cooking shed, water supply and

utensils);

ii-repetition of the same menu every day.

iii- inadequate fund.

 Political Stream

According to Kingdon, it may be it may not be favourable to the policy. There might be changes in government and there might be public protest against this policy which could influence it. Fortunately, there was public mood in favour of this MDMS policy. The MDMS policy was accepted which had a lot gain for the betterment of society. And there was no risk factor which could be prevented it from the getting adopted. But politicians and bureaucrats tend to be lukewarm about the free mid-day meal programme because there are very few rent-seeking opportunities in such low-budget schemes.  While it is an accepted fact that mid-day meal scheme has had a positive impact on some children. It must be recognized that it has not met the issue of freedom from hunger of all children. Thus if there has been a marginal increase in attendance of children due to the mid-day meal scheme this may have provoked only some children but not all children to be in schools regularly. While, those children who are out of school are left out of the scheme, even those who attend school regularly are not all reached out to by the mid-day meal scheme because the programme is confined only to the primary level and even this is yet to be initiated in many states.

So as of now there are only 50 million children  benefiting who avail of the opportunity for the mid-day meal scheme and about 150 million children in the 5-14 age group are not being covered under this programme. It is estimated that the overall coverage of the scheme as of January 2004, is only in half of India’s 31 states, with seven states with an aggregate of 400 million populations not implementing the scheme so far despite the Supreme Court order. It is being implemented fully in the states of Gujarat, Kerala, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu and in substantial parts of other states including Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and West Bengal, partially in Chattisgarh, Delhi, Orissa, and Punjab, but not at all in Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana (Third Report of the Commissioner, May 1^st,2003). The expected reason given by the states that have not implemented the scheme has been that of ‘lack of funds’.

 It has been seen that it is more lack of the political will to implement the scheme rather than anything else. For example, “it would cost the Uttar Pradesh government a mere Rs.300 crore per year to provide mid-day meals to all primary (upto class V) children. And if all the estimated 150 million children enrolled in government primary and secondary schools across the country are provided free mid-day meals (as in the US), the additional expenditure incurred (including the cost to the central government, transportation and state government costs) at Rs. 3 per student per day for 200 days would aggregate Rs. 9,000 crore annually — an 11 percent increment of the national education outlay of Rs. 80,000 crore.  (  Parika,2004). The programmes of Mid Day Meals deal with the phenomenon of hunger as much as with nutrition and school absenteeism. Therefore, there is a need for political consensus. Prosperity at one pole and hunger at the other was not sustainable. 

Problem in Policy Implementation and Scarce Resources.

Issues of exclusion and caste discrimination do afflict the MDMS’s precursor scheme of distribution of dry grain to government school children.  According to IIDS survey addresses the cooked, shared meal MDMS, data from the three states of the study in which the MDMS has been thus implemented (Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu) will provide the substance of the following discussion. Finally, to measure Dalit caste discrimination in terms of treatment in the MDMS, the seating or eating arrangement is used as a measurable indicator, with segregated arrangements indicating discrimination, and integrated arrangements indicating non-discrimination.  As a second indicator, subjective comments by respondents regarding preferential treatment or other informal methods of discrimination, are considered.( Joel, Lee and Thorat, Sukhadeo (2004)p.10)

There are many cases of social exploitation and discrimination in many school places. Caste-based discrimination was reported in two of the 63 schools that were visited. The absence of any evidence of caste-based discrimination in most schools is encouraging, and from this point of view mid-day meals have an important socialization value. Also, some discrimination is likely to have occurred in the selection of cooks. Although there were Dalit cooks in the sample villages, their number might have been higher in the absence of caste discrimination. Indeed, there have been media reports of Dalit cooks being removed in response to local protests, generally from parents belonging to non-Dalit castes.  Another problem in the provision of mid-day meals is that in some places supplies are irregular or inadequate. The supply of wheat for some schools is based on last year's enrolment, and since enrolment has risen quite dramatically, the amount of wheat provided is often inadequate. Khera, Reetika (2002).

The findings of our earlier studies (on the delivery of primary education in six districts of West Bengal) confirming varying degrees of social discrimination based on caste and religion. “ In two of the 15 villages under the study, upper caste Hindu children did not take food in the school, as the cook was a Muslim lady in one school and in the other she was a Dalit. In a school, children of caste Hindu families told us that they wanted to take the food but their parents forbade them from doing so. “Chan na kare ghare dhukte debena – [parents] won’t allow us to enter the house without having a bath.” Rana, Kumar (2004).

The major emerging obstacle to the success and spread of the mid-day meal programme comes from the upper-caste opposition to it. C. Chaluvaraju, headmaster of the Government Higher Primary School in Uramarakasalagere village, Mandya district, with his pupils. The mid-day meals served in the school were boycotted by upper-caste children as instructed by their parents, as the head cook was a Dalit. Several villages in Mandya district of Karnataka have boycotted the programme, protesting against the appointment of Dalit cooks. "The whole of our village consists of upper-caste people. Our children will not eat food made by a Dalit. If the government insists on retaining the cook, then we will reject the entire bisi oota scheme. Our children can eat at home," G. Sadasivaiah, the president of the SDMC at the Government Higher Primary School in Gowdeyanadoddi village, told Frontline. Menon, Parvathi (2003)  

It seems that the rationale behind hot cooked meals arises from the unsatisfactory trends in improvements in levels of under nutrition. Based on the three rounds of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), “the all-India average reveals that there has been stagnation in the percentage of children (0-3 years) who are underweight. The number has reduced in the stunted category and has registered an increase in the wasted category. While the reduction of the stunted category is positive, the increase in the proportion of the wasted category is worrying.”( Rama Baru, 2008 Economic & P 20 Political Weekly).

Similarly, we find view Jean Dreze agrees that the mid-day meals' impact on child health and nutrition is questionable, as of now. "The quality of the meals is inadequate. However, with the recent injection of financial assistance for mid-day meals from the Central government, there are unprecedented opportunities for upgrading the quality and diversity of the food provided.” Drèze, Jean and Vivek S. (2003). 

Probable Solution

Apart from playing a very important role of eliminating classroom hunger and reducing the level of under nutrition..

It has to be noted that the cooked Mid day Meal programme alone cannot change the whole schooling system increased attendance of the children does not necessarily mean a better quality of education. Efforts are needed to streamline the whole schooling system from allocating more funds for infrastructure to ensuring better teaching and learning in the classroom. Mere pious pieces of advice by the political leaders and government officials are not sufficient to put a stop to teachers’ absenteeism of various kinds, particularly under a ramshackle inspection system. Stronger supervision by the local community can be the best corrective measure to eradicate these evils. Parents’ involvement in the implementation of the midday meal programme armed with certain legal power (through the parent-teacher committees) can bring about a sea change in the actual delivery of education. Needless to say that the local communities, parents are the most essential driving force not only for the implementation of the Mid-day-Meal programme, but also for the governance of the primary schools as a whole.

While planning for implementation of mid day meal programme, the issue of universal coverage is seldom raised. It is assumed that all children may not be able to come to schools and therefore the mid day meal scheme can act as an incentive to increase the enrolment and attendance of children in schools. In doing so, unwittingly the issue of provision of midday meal is seen as a means to increase enrolment and therefore is satisfied when there is a slight shift in the enrolment figures as a consequence of the scheme. Since the issue of hunger touches each and every child, and since a large number of children still do not access schools.  Calculations made on the basis of some more children being in schools and not on all children requiring being in schools are just not enough. It is necessary to see that to achieve a universal coverage of the right to food programme there is a need for universal access of every child to schools.

Conclusion

It seems that the Mid-Day-Meal policy is an example of Kingdon’s theory of three independent streams-identification of problems, generation of policy alternatives, and finally politics-coming together during a window of opportunity to arrive at change.  In particular, hunger, wastage of grains the issue during 2001 became more critical matter for problem identification which was raised by PUCL. Public mood clearly favored this compaign (right to food)  so the interest groups, NGO, and the right to food is a human right (Indian Constitution) and is a binding obligation well-established under international law, recognised in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.  So they united through right to food campaigns and utilized the national mood to fight against hunger. The Mid day meal scheme definitely adds an incentive to the student to go to school. It needs to be directed in the right places so as to fulfill the objective of providing nutrition to the children. Most parties involved agree that the measures suggested by the National Advisory Council will lead to better running of the scheme. But it needs introspection and deliberation on the part of the policy makers as well as implementation agencies in making this scheme a success and incentivize it to motivate children to come to schools.

REFERENCES

Kingdons,J.W.(1995). Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies. New York: Harper Collins College Publishers.

Shantha Singh; Mid day Meal Schem and Schools-A Need for Universal assessment.

Aravind, H.M. (2003) “Parents ‘Caste’ Aside Govt Mid-day Meal”, The Times of India, 4 July.

Drèze, Jean and Vivek S. (2003)  Hunger in Classroom.

Drèze, Jean and Aparajita Goyal (2003)  The Future of Mid day meal,(EPW July 2003)

 Rama Baru, Rajib Dasgupta, Mita Deshpande, Aparna Mohanty,Full Meal or Package Deal? June 14, 2008 Economic & P 20 Political Weekly).

Ravi, Padmalatha School meals make slow progress (India Together, 5 December 2006)

Zaidie, Annie (2005) Food, for education ,Frontline, March 2005.

Parikh, Kalpana and Summiya Yasmeen (2004) Groundswell for mid-day meal scheme (India Together, January 2004).

Joel, Lee and Thorat, Sukhadeo (2004) Dalits and the right to food: discrimination and exclusion in food related government programs.

Rana,Kumar (2004) The Possibilities of Mid-day Meal Programme in West Bengal by Kumar Rana, Pratichi (India) Trust, p. 23).

Sinha, Shanta (2004) Mid-day meal scheme and schools - A need for universal coverage.

Menon, Parvathi (2003) Untouchable Lunch (Frontline, August 2003)

Khera, Reetika (2002) Mid-day Meals in Rajasthan.

( Rama Baru, Rajib Dasgupta, Mita Deshpande, Aparna Mohanty,Full Meal or Package Deal? June 14, 2008 Economic & P 20 Political Weekly).

AGENDA-SETTING: THE UNIVERSAL SERVICE CASE;Joanne D. Eustis, April 7, 2000

Blacksburg, Virginia.

www.righttofoodindia.org