PANAJI
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has justified the State government’s policy on the Medium of Instruction (MoI) of continuing grants to the 132 minority-run English medium primary schools, even as he strongly batted for primary education being imparted in one's mother tongue.
Speaking at a function, Parrikar said, “People want Konkani/Marathi schools, but quality of education is very important. There is a need to create quality schools. Some English schools have been given grants and if they (grants) are stopped suddenly where will the 29,000 students go? How will they be accommodated in Marathi/Konkani schools? There are many administrative problems like these.”
He, however, stated that the real problem for children to shift from Marathi to English is poor quality of government Marathi schools.
“During the last several years, the condition of the schools was poor so parents started admitting their children to other schools. If the quality schools is maintained, students will definitely rush to Marathi/Konkani schools”, he opined.
Taking a dig at Bharatiya Bhasha Suraksha Manch (BBSM), he said, “Instead of wasting energy on burning effigies, their leaders should use their energy to improve the quality of schools so that it results in the betterment of the mother tongue and also the next generation. This should be the direction instead of playing politics over the Medium of Instruction issue.”
Meanwhile, Parrikar also said that funding to NGOs who move courts against government projects needs to be probed.
“When any developmental projects are taken up by the government, hurdles are created by approaching courts over minor technical issues", he said.
Urging all Goans to keep the development agenda in mind and move forward, the defence minister lamented that "efforts were being made to halt public projects". He wondered "why it is being done? Who gives them money to fight the cases in the Supreme Court?".
"Through my experience, for fighting a case in the Supreme Court, one requires at least Rs 5 lakh per hearing. Similar is the case with NGT. Somebody has to probe the funding of NGOs who fight these litigations”, he said.
