Reviving our public institutions
Here is an idea.
Every politician talks about strengthening the public schooling system and public health system.
Often it is just lip sympathy. Their real sympathy lies with the moneybags and the corporate education institutions and corporate health institutions for whatever the reason.
We ought to demand that in the new Telangana that this ‘lip sympathy’ and real sympathy for crony capitalists and corporate institutions must be annulled.
We should demand that any public servant whether he/she is a bureaucrat or a politician, especially a politician ought to use public institutions.
I do propose that every MLA/MP ought to use government hospitals whether at the primary, secondary or tertiary level.
I do appreciate both AB Vajpayee for getting his knees replaced in an Indian institution in Mumbai (though a private one). Dr. Manmohan Singh went one step ahead and got his heart related procedures done at AIIMS, which is very appreciable.
Can our politicians irrespective of who forms the government take a call on this?
All MLAs’ and MPs’ children should study along with other children who study in public schools (government schools) or residential schools. If they send their children to private schools they must be debarred from holding public office.
Same must be true for the public employees – Government servants or officers and employees belonging to the public sector.
That’s is true democracy and democratization.
If the public servants and politicians do not have confidence in public systems it is like they have no belief in government and those who do not have belief in publicly elected governments and the institutions created by the government have no right to enjoy power in the government nor jobs in the government.
One of the reasons why public systems were weakened is because of the middle-class and the newly rich classes abandoning public systems among others. Symbolically the political class and the public servants stopped using the public institutions.
We must demand that this be ameliorated.
Not too long ago the Governor of AP used to utilize the services of Osmania General Hospital.
Since KCR is promising that KG-PG education would be made world-class with CBSE syllabus why should be there any issue of public servants including politicians sending their children to public schools?
Same must be true for health needs.
The High Court was right in demanding that the government share the details and circumstances under which a minister like Sake Sailajanath had to go to US to receive medical services at public expense of 46 lakh+ INR!
Now can KCR and his party be bold in making this happen? They can break the mould and the rot that was set by successive Congress and TDP governments.
I invite your comments and thoughts.