Provision of quality education is Real tribute to Phule: Dr. JP

Quality education alone and not sops will help people conquer discrimination based on caste and realize their full potential for growth, said Lok Satta Party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan here today.

Addressing a gathering after garlanding the statue of Mahatma Jyotiba Govindarao Phule at Moosaram Bagh Crossroads, on his 120th death anniversary, Dr. JP recalled Phule was the first to fight for social equality and education of the girl child. His spouse Savitribai stood by him in his mission. Raja Ramamohan Roy and Dayananda Saraswati fought for social reforms but did not focus on girls’ education. Phule’s fight for a casteless society inspired leaders like Narayana Guru, Babasaheb Ambedkar, E. V. Ramaswamy Naicker, and Mahatma Gandhi. Phule did not link God with castes and religions.

Dr. JP said that if people could not ensure quality education for their children, the blame lay squarely with the Government. Even much poorer countries like Tanzania and Ruanda were far ahead of India in providing education to children. A system, in which rulers gobble up 90 percent of revenue and spent the remainder on sops would not help eradicate poverty. Provision of quality education to all and making it the center-point of politics will be the real tribute to Mahatma Phule, Dr. JP said.

Sarva Jana Satta, Yuva Satta and Lok Satta leaders and activists like Eda Chennaiah, Vinod Yadav, Mangala, Naveen, Ramu, Vijaya Kiran, Hemant, K. Gita Murthy, Y. Ramadevi and Jagan took part in the program.