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The interim FY25 budget shows decreased spending on higher education while school education allocation increases, reflecting governmental priorities amidst India’s class divisions. Highlighted by “12th Fail,” it underscores systemic challenges like corruption and caste barriers hindering equal access to quality education and exacerbating socioeconomic disparities.

“If the citizens were educated, it could be a real problem for the leaders.”

-(12th Fail)

In the interim budget proposed for FY25, the government has decreased spending on higher education. From 1.27% of its budget to FY24, the allocated amount is 1% for FY25. Contrary to this, the allocation for the School Education Department increased from 68,804.85 crore to 72,473.80 crore. What does this tell us about the priorities of the government emerging on the grounds of the existing class division prevalent in India?

12th Fail, built upon the sentimental-driven idea of success in India, showcases the perpetual state of the caste system, the prevalent corruption, and attaining success by meritocratic means amidst disparities. Manoj Kumar Sharma, the protagonist of the story hailing from the infamous region of Chambal, is the middle child from a poverty-stricken household whose only earning member lost his job because of the existing corruption. Portraying the reality of the lowest-income class, the family struggles to arrange two square meals to feed the children and elderly.

The layers of stifling segregation in our society make it impossible for people of the lowest strata, in comparison with the elite and the middle class, to acquire the highly competitive job positions in the country. This population pyramid outlines the division of resources, where the top 10% holds 77 percent of the total national wealth. According to the available data, it would take 941 years for a minimum-wage worker in rural India to earn what the top-paid executive at a leading Indian company makes in a year. It is necessary to provide equal access to education for all to tackle the existing inequality. Even after the Right to Education Act of 2009, the increasing enrollments in the school are inversely related to the decrease in the quality of education. In government schools, absenteeism of teachers, unfair means of conducting exams, lack of basic study materials like proper pen and paper, and the motivation among students and authorities to improve are some of the challenges. According to a report by UNESCO’s International Institute of Education Planning, high rates of absenteeism (at 25%) show evident corruption and its negative influence on the vulnerable years of a student. The aspirations of the lower-income students are wiped out under these circumstances, forming a mass majority of the students in these public schools who cannot recite correct answers to basic questions. Painted through the movie ‘12th Fail’, Manoj exhibits to the interviewers the meek reality of his background when he says, “Our teachers helped us to cheat.”.

When compared with other South Asian developing countries, India is performing exceptionally well in terms of collective economic growth, whereas the human welfare indicators are struggling to meet the average measure. Turning into a melting pot and dealing with problems on multiple fronts, the government juggles to prioritise the spending of the limited available resources. In this year’s budget, we saw a sharp decline in funding for the Ministry of Education, which conflicts with the New Education Policy 2020, which seeks to spend 6 percent of the GDP on education. The allocation to education for FY 24–25 is 7 percent lower than the revised estimates for the current fiscal year. The University Grants Commission has received a cut as the centre reduced its grant by 60 percent. The funding to the IITs and IIMs faced a reduction of Rs 60 crore and Rs 119 crore. These narrowed avenues at the top-tier colleges increase the cutthroat competition to secure a seat. The budget for school education has received an increased amount of Rs 73,008 crore from Revised Estimates (RE), which is almost Rs 3,250 crore more than last year’s allocation and is the highest of all time. The government aims to use them to deliver quality teaching in a developed holistic environment for nurturing a future generation for the country’s future.

Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s ‘12th Fail’, a biopic, very accurately showcases the ground reality of our education system. Manoj gives up on cheating, but the environment he belonged to remains the same, where the Mafia is protected by political patronage, not only putting the lives of the young students at stake for the sake of personal monetary gains and regional control but also breaking the spirit of the man residing in these regions, the rural areas that comprise 70 percent of the Indian population.

India ranks 93 in the corruption index: ‘Ye jo fine ke naam par tu maang raha hai na…yeh ghoos hai’. This ailment is so severe and ingrained in our society in the form of privately owned, corrupt education institutions making extraordinary money with their skyrocketing fee structures to help students crack highly competitive examinations like JEE, NEET, and our very own UPSC. Contributing to the misery as demonstrated in the movie “2 lakh Hindi medium vidhyarthiyo mein kewal 25-30 hi ban pate hain IAS IPS,”  highlights the prevailing discrimination on the grounds of linguistic chauvinism, where the sophisticated Anglican tongue spoken by the elite draws a line that the people belonging to lower ethnic groups find difficult to cross to get to the respectable jobs.

This embedded segregation and socioeconomic inequalities are only widening due to the failure and lack of incentive to take up the righteous implementation of the policies. The drastic difference in access to education is a mole on the flags bearing the’socialist’, ‘justice’, and ‘equal’ society whose ecosystem aims to provide uniform opportunities to all. At this crucial phase, when the government wants us to aim high, it is also creating these loopholes that are only going to leave the nation-building roots hollow. Our Manoj made it to the top ‘without oxygen’ support, celebrating the UPSC struggle of an aspirate. The dehumanising reality of our times and the plight remain shrouded under ‘Ye hum sab ki ladai hai, ek ka jeet hoga toh karodon bhed-bakriyon ka jeet hoga.’, developing an ‘Indian Dream’ of millions of people aspiring to climb the social ladder.

Read Also: Just Looking Like a “How?”: Questioning SC’s Stand on Regulating Coaching Institutes

Image Credits: The Week

Divya Malhotra

[email protected]

Having bid adieu to uniforms, daily lunchboxes, and travelling in school buses, college is when you learn how and where to spend money.

Coming to college is a step towards becoming an adult; but it can be a tough nut to crack when it comes to managing finances. Here are some tips to manage all this, smartly and efficiently: 

Budget

In all the excitement to go to college all prepared, we do not realise how much money has been spent. When the realisation begins to kick-in, it is best to not have an ambiguous figure in your head; rather, a clear image of how much money is spent on different four major things – clothes, travel, food, and books or other resource material. You can also modify this budget list by adding or removing fields, based on your spending or interests. 

Spending Smartly and Saving

Now try and identify expenses which can be moderated. Instead of purchasing books every semester, borrow these from your seniors or even buy them second-hand. This is a smart choice, given that there is a possibility they will have notes, or important points marked. 

Instead of buying whatever clothes please your eye, make sure you try them on in the store, so there is no possibility of them being the wrong size, or something you are not comfortable in. 

Ishita of Kamala Nehru College (KNC) gave a good tip and said, “I live in Dwarka where rickshawallahs ask for a lot of money even if you go in the shared ones, I discovered that Ola and Uber cost less and were more convenient.” It is important to try out different routes or transports to rule out the most tedious ones. 

Student Discounts and Offers

Today, there are endless online stores, apps, offers and combos that allow you to spend smartly, and save plenty. You only need to become aware of these avenues, for example, waiting for sales to buy clothes. Devyani Arora, a student of KNC, shared, “Many food apps have discounts that can be availed, and there are coupons that reduce the cost further. If you do not have coupons, you can also pay through Amazon Pay or Paytm to get some cashbacks.”

When going out with friends you can look for restaurants offering “1+1” deals. Arora went on to add, “Using online portals or payment through credit cards can also help get points for you to redeem later.”

Feature Image Credits: Akarsh Mathur for DU Beat

Shivani Dadhwal

[email protected]

 

Having bid adieu to uniforms, daily lunchboxes, and travelling in school buses, college is when you learn how and where to spend money.

Coming to college is a step towards becoming an adult; but it can be a tough nut to crack when it comes to managing finances. Here are some tips to manage all this, smartly and efficiently:

Budget

In all the excitement to go to college all prepared, we do not realise how much money has been spent. When the realisation begins to kick-in, it is best to not have an ambiguous figure in your head; rather, a clear image of how much money is spent on different four major things – clothes, travel, food, and books or other resource material. You can also modify this budget list by adding or removing fields, based on your spending or interests.

Spending Smartly and Saving

Now try and identify expenses which can be moderated. Instead of purchasing books every semester, borrow these from your seniors or even buy them second-hand. This is a smart choice, given that there is a possibility they will have notes, or important points marked.

Instead of buying whatever clothes please your eye, make sure you try them on in the store, so there is no possibility of them being the wrong size, or something you are not comfortable in.

Ishita of Kamala Nehru College (KNC) gave a good tip and said, “I live in Dwarka where ricksha wallahs ask for a lot of money even if you go in the shared ones, I discovered that Ola and Uber cost less and were more convenient.” It is important to try out different routes or transports to rule out the most tedious ones.

Student Discounts and Offers

Today, there are endless online stores, apps, offers and combos that allow you to spend smartly, and save plenty. You only need to become aware of these avenues, for example, waiting for sales to buy clothes. Devyani Arora, a student of KNC, shared, “Many food apps have discounts that can be availed, and there are coupons that reduce the cost further. If you do not have coupons, you can also pay through Amazon Pay or Paytm to get some cashbacks.”

When going out with friends you can look for restaurants offering “1+1” deals. Arora went on to add, “Using online portals or payment through credit cards can also help get points for you to redeem later.”

 

Feature Image Credits: Skymet Weather

 

Shivani Dadhwal

[email protected]

The Parliament of Republic of Hindu College presented its annual budget for the present session on 29th October 2018. But the day was not without some political friction.

In a crowded auditorium amid cheers and jeers, the Republic of the Parliament of Hindu College presented its annual budget finally, on Monday. The budget session was delayed due to the non-submission of important documents in accordance with the Republic of Parliament of Hindu College. The inauguration-cum-budget session of the cabinet for this session was however, not organised without controversial intervention. The oath taking ceremony of the newly elected Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition and cabinet ministers was interrupted by the questioning of the legitimacy in the claims of the Prime Minister Shreyash Mishra in his agendas as issued before the elections last month.

To revisit the election campaign, the Shreyash Mishra team was proud to wear the badge of reservation of 40% seats in the cabinet for women candidates as the highlight of his campaigning. Even in the Prime Ministerial Debate, the current Prime Minister had outrightly mentioned the same agenda in his speech. However, hours before the election day in the college, two candidates merged to form an unprecedented coalition. The coalition government, having won the highest number of votes, came to power after the elections. The same government was expected to work its thoughts into actions through the capturing of power. But as it appeared to the students sitting in the auditorium of the college on Monday, only two ministers and two secretaries are female. As opposed to the promised 40%, approximately 18% of the cabinet comprises of women now.

The list of ministers and secretaries was only displayed on the day of inauguration of the Parliament. As a group of students raised their voice against the deceptive promises and non-fulfillment of agendas — amongst them Ananya Bhardwaj, a Prime Ministerial candidate herself a month ago — the highly supervised environment of the auditorium grew tense. The repeated questions shouted out were about women representation in the cabinet. Many students agreed with the questioning of inappropriate representation. However, the dissent was met with fierce indifference and later ordered to die lest the dissenters be shown the way out of the auditorium. The Prime Minister addressed the audience then, explaining the questionable representation. Also, he stated that if any woman displays the initiative to work, he will never begrudge her the opportunity. He went on to discredit Ananya Bhardwaj for never volunteering to take the charge or responsibilty and instead only opposing and raising questions now for the sake of it.

As for the allocation of the budget, the maximum increment that can be allowed to a society is 25% as per the rules. While the Literary Society received only a tenth on the 25% increment from last year, with a hike of a mere ?50, the appeals to increase the budget were ignored in the second and third rounds of updates. Likewise, many other societies received minimum increments. All in all, the total budget allotted to all the activities was a significantly small amount. The Leader of Opposition, Naveen Kumar, said regardingrthe allocation of the budget, “The allocation of budget has been quite appropriate for the societies, keeping in mind that only 25% can be increased in each consecutive year.”

Even as it is very difficult for everyone to be satisfied with democratic decisions, the financial element just adds to the mess. As many societies maintained their appeals, and as those appeals were filtered by the supporters of the coalition, never to reach the higher authorities, the budget session came to an end.

As the speaker for the Parliament, a faculty member, announced departure of the session, the group of dissenters went up on the stage to discuss the betrayal. But the accountable man in question chose to walk away.

The dissent erupted in the evening with a renewed fervour as Ananya Bhardwaj posted the entire story of the same discussion with Shreyash Mishra on her Facebook timeline, with the words, “…it was said explicitly by me that if he doesn’t find women in his panel, he should approach me. And of course, he never did. E-mails were written to him along with messages by women of the college to which there weren’t any replies.”

Naveen Kumar, the Leader of the Opposition posted on his Facebook account, “He rightly pointed out the fact that previous governments have been no better in giving women representation. Alas, he had to follow the same legacy.” Shreyash Mishra also announced that this was the “maximum number of women representatives in the cabinet”. Also exonerating himself, he said that the team could not harvest the incentivised and necessary number of women candidates willing to take up positions of responsibility. Kumar also mentioned in the same post, “Progressivism was talked about in his agenda but it clearly has not been interpreted well for progressivism stands for inclusiveness. But Mr. Mishra was anyway, proud to have given the maximum token representation so far.”

In the same post, Kumar works on subtlety. “Congratulations to his team, for not standing up to their promises, for reassuring Hinduites that Politics and Power is not a woman’s job and for not letting the voices be heard. Congratulations Hinduites, patriarchy will once again drive your student body around the vicinity of the boys hostel.”

As the new cabinet celebrates power, all Hinduites look forward to their exercising the same. Kumar writes, “With a hope that the same will not happen with the other agendas mentioned in your manifesto, and voices of students will not be suppressed by calling it an opinion of ‘a particular group’, I, Congratulate your entire team once again for indeed a very successful inaugural session.”

Disclosure: Ananya Bhardwaj has previously worked with DU Beat as a correspondent.

Feature Image Credits: Kartik Chauhan for DU Beat

Kartik Chauhan

[email protected]

 

You’re on a tight budget. But that shouldn’t stop you from enjoying life, should it? So, we here, have got your back. No, we don’t loan money, but yes, we can get you a list of places to visit when running on a tight budget.

 

Connaught Place, New Delhi

Want to get a glimpse of the cosmopolitan culture that the Capital has to offer? Then this should be a definite item on your bucket list. It offers everything, from shops with loaded showcases to sunglasses that cost less than a dollar. An added attraction is ‘Gupta Ji ka Fire Pan’ if you want to experience fire burning in your mouth. Lying in the center of the city, this place is easily accessible and is generally crowded.

Image Credits: NDTV
Image Credits: NDTV

National Zoological Park

Planning a day-long outing with your gang of friends? Then this probably is the most interesting place you can visit. Placed at a pebble’s throw from the Purana Quila, this place offers you prepossessing sights at very nominal rates.

Image Credits: Delhipedia
Image Credits: Delhipedia

Majnu ka Tila

If all that you need is a nice café, a glimpse of the Capital’s night life, some excellent momos and an insight into a Tibetan Settlement, this is exactly the place you need to visit.

Image Credits: D for Delhi
Image Credits: D for Delhi

Chandni Chowk

An Epicure? Wanting to satiate your lust for food with some authentic cuisines of Delhi?  Then put a tick against Chandni Chowk. Here, not only do you get a glimpse of what Delhi is like in reality, but also, you can rapture your senses with the delectable cuisine the place has to offer. An added advantage is the fact that you can always pay a visit to the iconic Red Fort. However, you must brace yourself for the crowd you are going to find, irrespective of the time or day in which you’re visiting.

Image Credits: Time
Image Credits: Time

Qutb Minar

Just in case you’ve fallen short of photos to upload on your social media handles, pay a visit to this place. A ‘selfie’ next to the iconic minaret will get you a hundred likes in a jiffy. More importantly, you’d be able to strike off a huge item from your ‘Things to do in Delhi’ list.

Image Credits: NDTV
Image Credits: NDTV

Nizamuddin Dargah

If Qawwali is your jam, you might want to pay a visit to this place. The enclosure that gave birth to some exemplary Qawwalis like Kun Faya Kun and is home to the ‘Nizami Brothers’, this place has everything you need if serenity and sanctity is what you’re looking for.

Image Credits: DU Beat
Image Credits: DU Beat

India Gate

If all you have is a metro smart card and a hundred rupees in cash in total, this is the place you should choose to visit without a doubt. Located at a stroll’s distance from the Central Secretariat Metro Station, this place is of ‘monumental’ significance. An ice-cream bar at this place is among the few ‘cheap thrills’ you would want to indulge in.

Image Credits: Cultural India
Image Credits: Cultural India

Agrasen ki Baoli

Remember the last scene from the fame-fetching Bollywood movie ‘Padmavat’? Care to visit a similar, but a non-identical place? Agrasen ki Baoli is one place which is bound to encapsulate you in a silent stupor when you witness its magnificence.

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 Image credits: LBB

Feature Image Credits: D for Delhi

Aashish Jain

[email protected]

Right before elections, a photo uploaded by the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) had started making rounds on the internet. The picture alleged the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) of spending Rs. 22 lakhs out of the assigned 26 lakhs for the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) budget on tea.

Soon, there was an outrage in the student community regarding the blatant misappropriation of expenses. NSUI officials claimed that Mr. Mohit Garid, the Joint Secretary of DUSU, provided the information as he has got access to all DUSU official records.

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But when DU Beat reached out to ABVP, the other side of the story was unfolded. Mr. Amit Tanwar, president of DUSU, explained that the document making rounds is the budget of DUSU and not the expenditure. He further told DU Beat that many other events were conducted which didn’t fall in any of the other categories, hence, were included in miscellaneous sections.

Mr. Saket Bahugana, the national media convenor of ABVP, shared with us the original complete document, which clearly reflects the signature of Mr. Mohit Garid on the document.

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Image Credits: DUSU office

 

Mr. Bahugana adds, “Why didn’t the Joint Secretary object to the budget while it was being proposed?” He also alleged that Mr. Garid had taken more than Rs. 5 lakhs from the DUSU fund but failed to utilise the money towards an event with the money.

 

Feature Image Credits: NSUI Twitter Handle 

 

Sandeep Samal

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