Congress accuses Raman Singh govt of ruining education in Chhattisgarh

The Congress Sunday accused the Raman Singh government in Chhattisgarh of ruining education in the state and thus committing a social and political crime for which the people of the state would give a befitting reply to the ruling BJPAddressing a press conference here senior Congress leader Ajay Maken alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Partyled governments at the Centre and in Chhattisgarh were enemies of the Scheduled Caste SC Scheduled Tribe ST and Other Backward Classes OBC people and the cut in their budget was an ample proof of that The Raman Singhled government of the BJP is fully responsible for ruining education in the state which is not only an injustice to all categories of students but also an attack on their fundamental rights Maken said He alleged that the future of lakhs of students was ruined for which the Raman Singh government was fully responsibleIt has committed a political and social crime for which the people of Chhattisgarh will give it a befitting reply the Congress leader said He alleged that the Raman Singh government had not only turned politics into a business but made allout efforts to privatise education in Chhattisgarh as a result of which education would remain an unfulfilled dream for the poor and middleclass people Quoting statistics the former Union minister said on one hand around 6100 private educational institutions had started operating in Chhattisgarh while on the other hand the number of government schools had decreased with 2516 such schools shut down by the Raman Singh government in rural areasThis he said was a gross injustice and a big crime to the poor and middleclass students The Delhi Congress chief said the 280per cent rise in the number of students in private schools justified the opposition partys charge against the Raman Singh government He claimed that 35300 posts of principals headmasters and teachers were lying vacant in the state besides a reduction of Rs 300 crore in the budget for the Centres Sarva Siksha Abhiyan for the state Maken said while educated youngsters were without jobs in Chhattisgarh due to the suppression and antipeople policies of the Raman Singh government around 54000 posts of assistant teachers and 22644 of panchayatlevel teachers were lying vacant in the stateHe alleged that these vacancies were deliberately not being filled to give a big boost to privatisation of education in Chhattisgarh Maken said due to the incompetence of the Raman Singh government 525 vacancies of principals in colleges of higher or technical education were not filled adding that the condition of the engineering colleges was even more serious as 375 posts were lying vacant He claimed that 1214 posts of assistant principals were also lying vacant in the stateThe Congress leader further claimed that the Raman Singh government had totally failed in the education sector as institutes like the ITIs had 1582 vacant posts and in the Swami Vivekananda Technical University in Bhilai of the 140 sanctioned posts only five were filled Citing the example of the Indian Institute of Technology IIT in New Raipur Maken said of the 156 sanctioned posts of teachers only 111 were filled in the prestigious institution Accusing the Narendra Modi government at the Centre of destroying the education sector the Congress leader said in the current financial year there was a heavy reduction in the budget for the sector and during the BJP regime the spending on education was reduced to only 36 per centMaken alleged that the BJP governments at the Centre and in Chhattisgarh were enemies of the SCST communities and OBC people as the saffron party did not want the children of these communities to progress through education He alleged that there was a 45per cent increase in the fees of educational institutions and in the scholarships for the students of SCST categories there was a reduction of Rs 348 crore the handiwork of the Modi government which raised a big question on its attitude towards the underprivileged class Maken accused the BJP of always doing injustice to the SCST communities and OBC people which was evident from the fact that there was an arrear of Rs 8000 crore in the scholarships for SC students while the arrear in the scholarships for the ST community was around Rs 3156 croreHe also alleged that it had become a habit of the Raman Singh government not to honour its promises and to sell halfbaked dreams The Congress leader said the prime minister wanted the youth of the country to sell pakoras while Singh wanted to make the youth of Chhattisgarh labourers He claimed that medical services as well as all other schemes connected to the common people had gone haywire and the andher nagri chaupat raja saying had become true in the case of Chhattisgarh The 90member Chhattisgarh Assembly will go to the polls in two phases on November 12 and 20 and the results will be announced on December 11Catch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also 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