Anil Sadgopal

1. This pro-people and boldly drafted manifesto deserves wide-rangin support in Karnataka and needs to be debated all over the country in preparation of the next General Elections.

2. Agenda Item No. 1: Putting a stop to mining (of not just iron, but all other ores as well) for exports will necessitate a complete review of the huge mining contracts signed with multi-national corporations during the recent decades under terms and conditions that amount to a total sell-out of India's rich natural resources to foreign capital.

3. Agenda Item No. 2: The long-pending demand for Common School System will be seen by the masses as a major political agenda if it shall,

• call for including the Common School System founded on the concept of neighbourhood schools in the Right to Education Bill under Article 21A of the Constitution that is likely to be placed soon in the Budget Session of the Parliament; insist on education of equitable quality by upgrading, as a first step, all schools at least infrastructure-wise to the level of Kendriya Vidyalayas (curricular and pedagogic transformation will have to be considered in the next step); this will also require putting a complete halt to the present policy of building multi-layered divisive education system (the XI Plan and this year's Union Budget is full of such proposals viz. 6000 special schools at Block level, opening more Kendriya and Navodaya Vidyalayas, extending Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas and promoting separate schools for religious minorities, apart from continuing with inferior quality EGS, Alternative Schools, Bridge Courses and Back-to-School Camps under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan);
• make elementary education up to Class VIII completely free (this means no direct or hidden costs pertaining to education under any pretext or any service provided to children whatsoever) in all schools, including private unaided schools;
• convert all private unaided schools into genuine neighbourhood schools (this means that we reject the diversionary agenda of 25% reservation in these schools for poor children from the neighbourhood);
• include pre-primary education of two years in all elementary schools;
• universal access up to Class XII which is essential for becoming eligible for higher education in general and vocational, technical and professional courses in particular;
• institute a common language policy for all schools (including private unaided schools), starting from mother tongue in early primary years and switching to the language of the state and finally learning other languages (English, Hindi or another modern Indian language) as the child grows in age and progresses to higher levels, as per the essential principles enunciated in the three-language formula recommended by the Kothari Commission (1966);
• Prohibit the government from discriminating against the children of the state or state-aided schools through its practice of assigning their teachers to non-educational duties, not even for elections or census (for this purpose the laws need to be amended to enable the government to recruit non-government persons on contract);
• build a high quality teacher education programme that is aimed at preparing teachers for creating a democratic, egalitarian and secular society and who are, at the same time, pedagogically sound and committed to progressive values emerging from the Constitution; and
• withdraw all recent moves under XI Plan for opening schools under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode and promoting Voucher System, both of which amount to handing over public funds and other valuable public assets to private capital for unregulated profiteering and accelerating the ongoing process of abdication by the State of its Constitutional obligations (the decision of the state government in 2007 to give Azim Premji Foundation a major role in education policy formulation by handing over the proposed SIEMAT to them and recent decision to invite tender for setting up model schools in PPP mode in Karnataka are two cases that need to be taken to people for building up a public debate).

4. Agenda Item No. 3: In addition to the demands already in the Manifesto regarding growth of cities, all new urban development must be required, by law, to provide for adequate space for government schools and government hospitals, respectable accommodation for the poor in proximity of the major centres of employment and universal access to the potable water, sanitation (including women's toilets in public spaces) and greenery.

5. Agenda Item Nos. 4 & 5: While extending the benefits of reservation for the vulnerable sections of the religious minorities, SCs, STs and OBCs along the lines already indicated in the Manifesto, it is necessary to point out that only those can benefit from the reservation policy who have studied at least up to Class XII. Today, less than 15% of those who begin schooling cross the barrier of Class XII (among dalits, tribals and minorities, this percentage can be as low as 5-8%) Even six decades after independence, even minimal facilities for quality education are lacking in regions where educationally backward communities, including minorities, are in majority. Therefore, the demand for a Common School System of equitable quality must be linked with the demand for a just reservation policy so that all sections of the scheduled and other educationally backward communities can progress. In the recent Supreme Court judgment on OBC reservations, one of the judges has drawn attention to this matter. This issue needs to be raised as a political issue. Also, given the blatant policy of privatization of educational facilities and centres of roduction, the reservation will make sense only if this provision is extended to the all private schools, colleges, universities and commercial enterprises. In view of th government's preference for PPP mode, this becomes an entirely rational demand.

6. Agenda Item No. 7: An unambiguous law is needed to prohibit the government from giving agricultural or cultivable land for SEZ. There should be no escape routes. This has to be drafted in the style of the FRBM Act that strictly ties the government to a fiscal policy. Further, in view of the World Bank policy of making land into a commodity for the global market (this might even be an issue for the WTO), the law needs to protect land and the people from this standpoint too.

7. Agenda Item No. 8: The issue of fair price to the farmers is tied to the issue of redistribution of national economy in favour of the productive sections of society, an issue long dreaded by the ruling class and its appendage but now powerful middle class. It is high time that we question the very notion of Minimum Wages paid to the agricultural labour and recently legitimized through the much-hyped NREG Act. Minimum Wage is defined as 2400 calories of food per day in rural areas (2200 calories in urban areas) i.e. enough fuel in the human body to keep it working manually the following day. This implies that the worker will have neither clothes nor shelter, education, health or leisure. This discriminatory concept of wage violates Article 43 of the Constitution which directs the State to secure a "living wage, conditions of work ensuring a decent standard of life and full employment of leisure and social and cultural
opportunities . . . ." Once Living Wage replaces Minimum Wage, the whole economy, including the price structure of the farm produce, will have to undergo a radical revision. Thus, the socio-economic paradigm that exploits and impoverishes the masses will also have to be replaced by a new developmental paradigm rooted in genuine democracy, equality and justice. Can we consider a reformulation of this Agenda Item so that a new political message is given to the people?

8. Agenda Item No. 9: Let me quote Article 39 (the first three sub-clauses): The State shall, in particular, direct its policy towards securing -

• (a) that the citizen, men and women equally, have the right to an adequate means of livelihood;
• (b) that the ownership and control of the material resources of the community are so
  distributed as best to subserve the common good;
• (c) that the operation of the economic system does not result in the concentration of wealth and means of production to the common detriment; . . . . ."

Clearly, neither Super Malls nor a policy facilitating corporate houses in retail trade or Agricultural Mandis is allowed by the Constitution. Therefore, a People's Manifesto in accordance with the Constitution has to be reformulated somewhat as follows:

"Either stop Malls and entry of corporate houses in retail trade and agricultural Mandis or else we shall prevent you from taking oath under the Constitution when you are elected as MLA or assume a public
office."

9. We need to add the critical issue of tribal people and their right to land, forests, mountains and valleys and forest produce in the Manifesto. The new Act in this regard needs to be analysed from the standpoint of Article 21 of the Constitution i.e. Right to Life with Dignity. This Act and its Rules and Regulations have a direct bearing on the quality of life and development in Karnataka.

10. Agenda Item Nos. 10 & 11: The American model of development based on conspicuous consumption, unabated profiteering, exploitation of people and their natural resources, and concentration wealth promotes global market economy rooted in militarism, hegemony and control of knowledge. Let us recall Gandhi who said that quot;there is enough on this earth for the need of everyone but not for the greed of the few." We know that the American model is unsustainable. It has already led the world to climate crisis and global warming. The slavish rush by the Indian ruling class to the neo-liberal policies is what needs to be resisted and replaced by a pro-people model of
development. Ideas like organic agriculture, solar-based electricity and the water conservation are significant but mere elements of the picture; the picture obviously has to be much larger and richer than what these elements indicate. There is not enough original research or thinking in this field to enable us to build a holistic alternative to the capitalist mode of development.Gandhi and his economic thinker J.C. Kumarappa began to lay down some fundamental principles of reconstruction of the alternative development paradigm. This has to be taken forward. Can we present this challenge itself as the future agenda of Indian political economy enabling the masses to move from INDIA to BHARAT and thereby fulfill their aspirations.