RSS slams Modi govt for reducing health, education budget
Passing the resolutions the Pratinidhi Sabha said with the government pulling back from its responsibility, education and healthcare have become unaffordable for the “ordinary” citizens.
Criticising the government for budget cuts in education and health, and allowing “unregulated privatisation” of the two crucial sectors, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Saturday passed two resolutions demanding accessible, affordable and quality healthcare and education for all.
Passing the resolutions the Pratinidhi Sabha said with the government pulling back from its responsibility, education and healthcare have become unaffordable for the “ordinary” citizens.
“It is the responsibility of the government and society to make unhindered appropriate education available to its (India’s) youth… Inadequate allocation on education and lack of priority to education in government policy during the preceding years has left open this field to the institutions with the motive of profit. Today, poor students are deprived of appropriate quality education,” the resolution read.
The Sangh also called for either scrapping the existing regulatory mechanism for checking fee hike in the private sector, or giving it more teeth to make it effectual.
The RSS’ stance against privatisation comes at a time when the government is encouraging private players to invest in education, pushing for industry-academia links and has asked universities to generate fund for research.
This is not the first time that the Sangh has articulated its concerns. Soon after the BJP came to power in 2014, the issue was underscored at various meetings which were attended by Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani.
The Sangh has been vocal in its demand to include its suggestions on value-based education, indigenous science and spirituality in the new education policy being drafted.
The second resolution expressed concern about the quality and costs of healthcare, especially in rural India.
The RSS, which was said to have inspired the creation of the Ministry of AYUSH, wants generic medicines, Indian system like Ayurveda and Unani to be promoted and medical education to be rationalised further, so that the burden is not passed on to the patients.
Welcoming the proposal for 3000 generic medicine centres announced in the recent budget, Aniruddh Deshpande, Sampark pramukh said the Sangh will put pressure on the BJP-led state government to ensure free distribution of medicines, which is already followed in some states.