Education is the key

We all relate education to white collared and desk jobs, little realising the importance of education in all walks of life. We may all have heard about the incidents where an educated farmer has not only transformed his and his family’s life but contributed to the transformation of the entire community and village by transmitting better farm practices, water conservation, cleanliness, finances etc.

We all lament about the well maintained cabs and buses, liveried and well behaved cabbies and bus drivers abroad. Why we have rickety, bug infested, smelly and unclean cabs, unkempt and misbehaving cabbies, rude bus conductors and drivers, caring a hoot about traffic rules? Because we associate all jobs outside the domain of executive jobs as being meant for those who are not interested in pursuing any education or any further education! They don’t dress smartly in the prescribed uniform, chew tobacco and spit on the roads, don’t maintain vehicles well , are rude to passengers and other vehicle owners on the road. And this is not only about drivers and roads, general conduct in public places, urinating/defecating in open, Eve teasing, procreating to have large horde of children, water and resource wastage etc all are linked to the education ( and let me clarify not to any religion or caste) or rather lack of it!

Government is trying hard to uplift poor, which should be appreciated. But this monetary aid (DBT, pension schemes, doles) should not be at the cost of investment in the field of education! Minimum academic qualification should be made mandatory for all kinds of professions touching public or community in any form – drivers, labourers, guards, sweepers, courier boys, delivery boys, peons, (farmers I have already touched above – in any case to my mind farming is the toughest and the noblest of the professions and farmers’ education can change the destiny of this country) .. and the list is endless and we shall have a similar pleasant experience of living in India that we have in an advanced country! Also, the country will be cleaner, children fewer, resources abundant and a general feeling of goodness that we currently experience abroad!

Of course, education system itself will also have to be strengthened to stop churning out of educated illiterates- sons of VIPs treating roads and girls as their personal property, affluent classes treating poor and other person from not so privileged class as dirt, religious extremists behaving rabidly, corrupt bureaucrats and politicians …and we can create heaven on the earth! The idea sounds little idealistic but unless we aspire for such utopian India, we shall not be liberated in true sense!