April Fools' Day 2010

April 1, 2010 is a historic day for India. It has wisdom and vision written all over it.

Today the Right to Education (RTE) becomes a Fundamental Right. The Constitution of India contains a Charter of Rights, which guarantee civil liberties to every citizen. Rights mean those freedoms that are essential for personal good  as well as the good of the community. Thus far, the Indian Constitution guaranteed the following Fundamental Rights to each Indian.

1. The right to equality
2. The right to freedom of speech and expression
3. The right to freedom from exploitation
4. The right to freedom of religion
5. Cultural and educational rights
6. The right to constitutional remedies
And now:
7. The right to education

It now becomes the duty of the State to ensure that every child in the age group of 6 to 14 years goes to a school. This is poised to benefit over 10 million children in India - children like Azharuddin and the anonymous girl from my photo archives. Azharuddin was pictured loitering around the tomb of Bahlol Lodi in the Chirag Dilli area of New Delhi. He did not go to school, but loved playing cricket and getting his picture taken. The girl, a polio victim (notice the stick in her hand; she uses it to walk) was pictured in the Charminar area of Hyderabad.

Azharuddin - Chirag Dilli, New Delhi

Girl child - Charminar, Hyderabad

There will be problems, issues of logistics, not enough schools, not enough teachers, not enough trained teachers, etc. etc. etc. We now have the will and therefore we will solve these problems.

Thank you and well done Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Education Minister Mr. Kapil Sibal.

Stand up and be counted

This All Fools' Day the 15th Census of India was also kicked off. This is the largest counting exercise ever done. Over 1.2 billion people will be enumerated and everyone over 15 years of age will be photographed and fingerprinted, issued a unique identification number (UID) and issued a biometric card.  Over 2 million volunteers will span the length and breadth of this land to do this over the next year. For more information on this unique exercise see:

Official site: http://www.censusindia.net/; http://censusindia.gov.in/
News Reports: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8598159.stm
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Counting-a-billion-India-begins-new-census-/articleshow/5749740.cms
UID Authority: http://uidai.gov.in/

Way to go India. This April Fools' Day is truly historic for us.