Don't create fear among Muslims, agenda won't last long: Dharmendra Pradhan to opposition in LS
New Delhi, Aug 1: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday asked the opposition not to create fear among the Muslim community over an alleged lack of equal opportunities for minorities and asserted that the government did not differentiate between citizens.
Responding to a debate on the demands for grants for the Union education ministry in the Lok Sabha, Pradhan also asserted that the government did not impose any language.
Sharing figures to counter suggestions that Muslims and other minorities were not being given equal opportunities in education, the minister said, "Don't spread fear among Muslims, this will not last long."
Pradhan noted that the transition ratio from classes 5 to 6 among Muslim students stood at 89.2, which was close to the national average of 93.2.
"Aligarh Muslim University was set up in 1875 and no woman vice-chancellor was appointed in all these years. It happened during our tenure that a woman professor who studied at the same university was appointed as vice-chancellor … on the basis of merit … there is no charity," he said.
"Earlier, they used to say that you appoint people with RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) affiliation. It is not like that … She is not from RSS affiliation … If a Muslim woman progresses on the basis of merit, we should be proud," Pradhan said.
"We (government) do not differentiate … It is just your perspective, your opinion … You might have an agenda of creating an atmosphere of fear and it is not going to work for long," he added.
The education minister said the higher education Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) rose by 32 per cent in 2021-22 over 2014-15.
"The national average transition ratio from classes 5 to 6 is 93.2. Among Muslims students, this ratio is 89.2, which is close to the national average," he said.
"The transition ratio from upper primary to secondary school, which refers to students moving from classes 8 to 9, the national average is 88.8 and among Muslims it is 82.2," he added.
The minister said there was a need to encourage competency-based education and the new National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, was a step in that direction.
"NEP is not just a 60-page policy document. It is a philosophical element for the reconstruction of India, for increasing brotherhood … For solving all the problems of the world. The country accepts it unanimously today," he said.
The minister noted that 3.84 per cent of GDP was spent on education in 2013-14.
"In 2020-21, it increased to 4.64 per cent of GDP. The way the size of our economy is growing, we will soon reach 6 per cent and more GDP spending on education," he said.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
