mahadevi verma

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SECTION I ON MAHADEVI VERMA MAHADEVI VERMA ON EDUCATION SHANKAR SHARAN 1 Today’s graduate has to think ... those who have all the worldly facilities want our life values. Why should those who already have such values consider themselves poor? (Mahadevi Verma) Mahadevi believed that a person is always a student in the realm of thought and of feelings. If not, then somewhere he must have closed the door of his heart and mind. She was renowned as a poetess, but in fact, she devoted a lot of time during her life to education and teaching. She had established the Prayag Mahila Vidyapeeth, which she served for as long as she could. Few people know that her devotion to education was a conscious choice as she believed that educational institutions built the nation and some of her great contemporaries have noted that. Sachchidanand Vatsyayan ’Agyeya’ drew attention to the fact that according to Mahadevi, her poetry was the reflection of her moments of leisure and ’she would devote the rest of her life to the field of education, where it was required.’ 2 There are many definitions of ’Vidya’ (knowledge/ education) in Indian literature. What Mahadevi liked the most was ’Sa Vidya Ya Vimuktye’ which means ’education is that which liberates’. She noted that in the past, Indian scholars had a very special regard for education and that is why it was always kept under state control. 1. Dr Shankar Sharan is a Lecturer in the Department of Educational Research and Policy Perspective at NCERT, New Delhi. 2. Agyeya, "Adhunik Kavi: Mahadevi Varma" in Trishanku (Surya Prakashan Mandir; 1973), p. 117

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A brief intro about Hindi poetess Mahadevi Verma !

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Page 1: Mahadevi Verma

SECTION I

ON MAHADEVI VERMA

MAHADEVI VERMA ON EDUCATION

SHANKAR SHARAN1

Today's graduate has to think ... those who have all theworldly facilities want our life values. Why should thosewho already have such values consider themselves poor?

(Mahadevi Verma)Mahadevi believed that a person is always a student in therealm of thought and of feelings. If not, then somewhere hemust have closed the door of his heart and mind. She wasrenowned as a poetess, but in fact, she devoted a lot of timeduring her life to education and teaching. She hadestablished the Prayag Mahila Vidyapeeth, which sheserved for as long as she could. Few people know that herdevotion to education was a conscious choice as she believedthat educational institutions built the nation and some ofher great contemporaries have noted that. SachchidanandVatsyayan 'Agyeya' drew attention to the fact that accordingto Mahadevi, her poetry was the reflection of her momentsof leisure and 'she would devote the rest of her life to the fieldof education, where it was required.'2

There are many definitions of 'Vidya' (knowledge/education) in Indian literature. What Mahadevi liked themost was 'Sa Vidya Ya Vimuktye' � which means 'educationis that which liberates'. She noted that in the past, Indianscholars had a very special regard for education and thatis why it was always kept under state control.

1. Dr Shankar Sharan is a Lecturer in the Department of EducationalResearch and Policy Perspective at NCERT, New Delhi.

2. Agyeya, "Adhunik Kavi: Mahadevi Varma" in Trishanku (SuryaPrakashan Mandir; 1973), p. 117

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Analysing education Mahadevi described two aspectsof it: internal texture and external structure. Theperceptible subject and its communication comprise theinternal texture, while the Guru (the teacher), the disciple,curriculum and surroundings have a place in the externalstructure. All these six elements make up "the lotus ofeducation" with all the six petals tied together carefully bylanguage, the lack of which may cause these petals toscatter or fall off.

She considered education to be "the heart of society",which like purified blood, pumps new talent intoadministration, science, arts and literature, and intosociety, by and large. If new blood infused into the systemby education is healthy, the system would, as aconsequence, remain healthy and active. But "if germs ofdisease enter the system, all spheres would be fatallyaffected." How painfully true this statement is, can be seentoday, in our country.

According to Mahadevi, ancient Indian thinkersplanned education carefully since they believed that itplayed a role in regulating un-chiselled animal instinctsin human beings, and shaped human potential. Therefore,neglecting education could take human society back tobarbarism. Unfortunately, many countries in the worldseem to aptly reflect this fact, today.

Only in this backdrop can it be understood as to whyMahadevi Verma was against drawing divisive lines betweentradition and modernity in education. She had pointed outthat we have misled ourselves by devaluing the greatachievements of our past as the precondition of our futureprogress. "Only by incorporating the lines of tradition, whichcarry the history of human progress in the condition of thenew era, can we add up new links in the century�s longgolden chain of development, and not by breaking off withthem."3 Only plants, having been rooted in their own soil,

3. Mahadevi Verma, "Siksha ka Uddeshya" in Mere Priya Sambhashan(New Delhi: National Publishing House, 1986), p. 3

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can tolerate hot or cold gusts of wind coming from any side."If they leave the base of their soil, neither the life giving breezeof Malaya nor the divine water of rain can keep them alive."The same thing was emphasised by Rabindranath Thakurwhen he said that emancipation from the bondage of the soilis no freedom for the tree. That is why Mahadevi had warnedour modernist intellectuals:

Due to the disconnect with the previous achievementsof a society, "many cultures have vanished, and thisfact can be verified from history." She was notoblivious to the fact that in the process of transmittingthe past into present, sometimes unnecessaryelements have also come to be preserved along withthe valuable ones. In India's case, one moreunfortunate fact is that the country had to suffer longperiods of foreign subjugation, during which, thepreservation of culture was more necessary thanchoosing valuable elements over those that wereworthless. Therefore, it may have happenedsometimes that 'a precious element was lost and auseless element was preserved'. However, that is nota matter of serious concern because, according toMahadevi, in every period only those values last whichprove their worth under all circumstances.Mahadevi had felt from her long educational experience

that communicating knowledge was more difficult thanacquiring it. Therefore, the sphere of education was a twofold,mysterious laboratory, where one had to provide ampleopportunity for the independent development of a student�sinner world and of his personality and also help him connectharmoniously with the outer world. This is why Indianthinkers always felt that it was necessary to make theobjectives of education clearer by classifying Vidya into Paraand Apara , that is, for the benefit of others and valuable initself. Para is a medium of self enlightenment while Apara isthe means of its development under social circumstances.4

4. Mahadevi Verma, "Matribhumi Devobhava" in Mere PriyaSambhashan, above, p.13

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On education, Mahadevi's thoughts are quite similarto world famous educationist Leo Tolstoy. Both believedthat education could be called �preparation for life� only inits limited sense, and that, in its broader sense, it wouldbe the ultimate goal of life. Tolstoy had emphasised thatthere was no such thing as 'the final goal of education�.Rather, it was the law of perpetual evolution that helpedand directed real education. Therefore, by its very nature,the education of a man never ends or finishes forever.

We must understand that if these classical referencesto education are overlooked or ignored, a seriousdisruption takes place in a given society. If education, forinstance, is taken as beneficial only for worldlydevelopment, not only does it become one-sided, its realmeaning is also lost. Such an education becomes aresultless activity with a meaningless preparation for life.It results in producing various diseases or malaises, whichcome to ail society. Therefore, considering one's educationas only a means of personal progress and prosperity isnot only harmful for the country and for society, itultimately makes one 'a feeble person, who is devoid ofself-perception'.

For Mahadevi Verma these were not idealist talks; thesewere practical facts about education. If proper care wasnot taken, concrete problems could arise, irrespective ofwhether the reasons for these problems could be identified."From the beginning till the end, children are usuallyneither given moral education nor is any attention paid tobuilding their character," she observed. This is why we shallfind few young men "whose life contains the values ofprinciples, courage, indomitable bravery and sense ofrespect and reverence for women."

According to Mahadevi, a person is "undeveloped"during childhood and "the question of the goal of hiseducation is left unattended". In his adolescence, he is inhis formative years. So the final goal - his education - isnot considered. But when a youth arrives at the entranceof active life and faces his duties on his own with an

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unhealthy body and a frustrated mind, a critical situationarises for both him and for society. In a sense, this crisishas become severe in our country today.

It saddened Mahadevi to see that India had to sufferprolonged periods of defeat at the hands of foreigners:

And in this cussed voyage, it lost a valuable portionof life, and that was the philosophy of education. Itremains undisputed that a victor is never satisfiedwith having merely the governing rights over thecountry he has defeated. He wants cultural victoryas well over the conquered, for which the simplestand surest medium is a domination on education.Therefore, the objectives of education in a countryruled by foreigners can�t be the same as in a self-governed country.5

It is an irony that in independent India, its effectiveintelligentsia was not ready to understand this fact, letalone take requisite measures to counter it! But the factremains that Mahadevi's views on education were fully inaccordance with those of nationalist visionaries such asRabindranath Thakur, Swami Vivekananda, ShriAurobindo and Mahatma Gandhi. Her view clearly assertedthat, "a self governed nation has to build able heirs for itsvaluable treasury of culture, society and nation, while therulers of an enslaved country need only the helpers amongthe ruled people so as to just maintain the status quo. It'snot surprising, therefore, if in both cases, the objectives ofeducation were quite different, functionally as well withresults."

According to Mahadevi, only in a free country was suchan evolution of a future citizen useful, where qualities suchas self-esteem, a sense of national identity, and the will tostruggle against injustice were developed. Under foreigndomination, on the contrary, the development of a newgeneration of governed subjects was "more threatening thanweapons" for the ruling class. Since so far, we haven't

5. Mahadevi Verma, "Siksha ka Uddeshya" in Mere Priya Sambhashan,above, p. 6

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changed the inferior education system provided by thecolonial rulers, our field of education is disturbed,uncertain and disruptive. Free society and subjugatededucation are not coherent with each other and there is noway for us to move on without solving this contradiction.

Mahadevi also took note of the world scenario in so faras education was concerned. Analysing the extensiverebellion amongst students here and there, she underlinedthat in countries where the body of a citizen was free buthis soul was enchained , and where soul was free but thebody was in rigorous subjugation, education was at thecentre of wild activity. From this she inferred thatsomething new was taking birth in the inner depths ofhuman consciousness, and that the pain was making thenew generation restless. This restlessness was not only theresult of a lack of material comfort. If that had been thecase, dissent among students of materially prosperouscountries like the United States of America wouldn�t havebeen there.

In Mahadevi's view, the world has become unified dueto the development of science. However, political conflictsare multiplying divisions among the people. This is acontradictory situation, which can be brought to order onlyby inducing a sense of higher objective of life. On the otherhand, in India, internal and external conditions of thestudents are so disrupted that to infuse creativity in themis a tough task. The generation born in independent Indiahas altogether different hopes and ambitions. But the lastgeneration, despite being independent now, has yet notgot freedom from mental subjugation, nor did it so far evenfeel it necessary to get it.6 This disorder has become amajor obstacle in the full-fledged development of ourstudent-class. Our students and educational scenario arein such a condition that although everything is there:

6. This particular thought is recurring in Mahadevi's writings andspeeches. Evidently she gave it much importance. She mentionedit also in her significant speech "Sahitya, Samskriti aur Shasan"delivered sometime in the Legislative Council of Uttar Pradesh.

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education, training and various modes of communication," what would be trained we don�t know yet. There are nobooks on this, as such things are not in the purview ofbooks. It is in our scriptures, in our philosophy, in ourdharma.7 That is, it is in those things which we havepresumed necessary to forget completely.

Finding no means of livelihood after completingeducation, or being instigation by political parties forvarious reasons are also causes of dissent amongststudents. However, it should be understood that alterationof life�s values and beliefs is also disturbing them. Withoutcomprehending the goal of their education, they passthrough schools, colleges and universities, and never knowwhere they would land. 'Be it primary or higher, oureducation system has not paid attention to the overalldevelopment of a human being'.

Those who are fortunate find jobs, while others feel thatspending the golden years of their youth in colleges anduniversities is a meaningless waste of their time. But nothought is being given to this. It is the same for a self-governed society. Priceless years of its youth are beingdestroyed and it is watching silently, unable to think ofrequisite corrective measures. We have been witnessing thatin the hope of decent jobs, millions of youth are engagedin a hopeless rat-race. Thus, having no livelihood solutions,even after completing education, and themselves beingblamed by society for this condition, causes confusionamong students. Some politicians exploit this state ofstudents for their own selfish ends.

According to Mahadevi, if a student could geteducation that suits his talent and interest, he would notfeel the need to involve himself in undue political activity.'This question will arise not in student life. It will come tothe fore only when he attains a certain amount of maturity,and when he is called upon to perform his social duty.Only then will it benefit society'. If a student who has an

7. Mahadevi Verma, 'Matribhumi Devobhava ' in Mere PriyaSambhashan, above, p. 14

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interest in science, art or literature finds the desired pathfor his creative talent to evolve and bloom, he wouldperhaps know that entering active politics at the wrongtime would amount to a misuse of his time. Mahadevi hadalso advised those active in politics against using thestudent class as weapon, and asked them to change theirways in the greater interest of society. 'Sects of religion donot scare me but sects of politics do scare me', she said.

However, in Mahadevi's view, the most difficult problemregarding education is related to its inner nature and itsmedium. It is self evident that only the mother-tongue canbe the appropriate medium of education for any child. Butfrom the psychological point of view, the question oflanguage is also concerned with culture and a sense ofnational identity, especially for a country like India whichhas been subjugated as a nation despite having a greatculture. Even in utility, the English language proves to bean obstruction, as most students fail in it and even thosewho do not fail, neither comprehend any subject throughit nor become capable of expressing themselves fully. Thissituation persists even today, and we should be apprisedof it. Some people may benefit from the predominance ofthe English medium in our education system but theimportance accorded to English builds an inferioritycomplex and intellectual dumbness in our otherwise ableyouth. This fact is never taken into account. Mahadevireminds us that the vision of our great thinkers and seershas helped us so far to counter the vagaries of subjugation,and has kept the path from being lost in darkness."Language has been the flame of lamp for that light. Pavakanah Saraswati."8

Being a sensitive teacher, Mahadevi felt that due to thedeep relationship of language with human sensitivities,with perceptions and feelings, the desired development ofa student becomes impossible due to the burden of Englishlanguage. "Nothing can be more miserable for a thinking

8. Mahadevi Verma, "Bhasha ka Prashna" in Mere Priya Sambhashan,above, p. 22

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person than his inability to express himself and when thisstate of mind gets reflected in activity, it can only producedestructive tendency." This conclusion based onexperience was not only an analysis but a warning too,ignoring which, we have not done the right thing. Mahadevialso tried to persuade those intellectuals and educationistsof our country who believe that certain colonial legaciescannot be done away with. The educational frameworkgiven by the foreign rulers "has no strength to bestowhumanism", she explained. Not only has a foreign languagehas been the medium of our education for a long time, ithas also become for some of us, a proof of being eruditeand highly cultured. Therefore, it is no wonder that manyof us shudder at the thought of living without it. Alwaysrecalling death as the ultimate fate of human beings, notreatment would seem necessary to an ailing person. So,to fulfil our national life the inner world of our nationmust be made free. This work is hard and demands specialefforts, as the chain binding the soul is stronger than thechains tying the body.9

Due to her broad-based vision, Mahadevi tried to makeour intelligentsia understand that the problems faced bycountries with ancient cultures used to be altogetherdifferent. Those having young civilisations did not havemuch to lose or change. And even if they changed, therewas hardly anything to fear. But countries with ancientcultures risk great loss in any reckless change. In amisplaced enthusiasm for modernisation or radicaltransformation , if we lose our valuable heritage, it wouldbe a great loss not only for the particular country but forall humanity. Thus, if a colonial legacy has become a fetterin the natural development of millions of Indians thensaying that it cannot be helped is plain defeatism. In thevery inspiring words of Mahadevi, "A river that springs fromthe heart of the Himalayas, whether a small current or a

9. Mahadevi Verma, "Hamara Desh aur Rashtrabhasha" in Mere PriyaSambhashan, above, p.26

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big one, does never ask for the way from the rocks. Has itever asked to make banks of gold, silver or marble for it? Itnever said so. Crossing the mountains it moves onovertaking everything with a gusty speed and it is herprinciple to make her own banks." Similarly, ourthoughtful people must build the path on which ournation could overcome the mental subjugation ofcenturies, not just the elite but every person in the country.And, this work cannot be accomplished by imitating othersmedium and models.

Therefore, the objective of our education must be tomake the natural relationship with our culture lively. Onlymaterial prosperity and economic development cannot bethe objective of education. If economic development couldnot be coordinated with the evolvement of the self, it wouldbecome an ugly phenomenon. "If someone asks you togive Ganga-Yamuna in exchange to get you to Mars, youwould never agree. There is a reason: we are made of thisland, we have a soulful relationship with it. You canharmonise its message with science, but cannot leave itfor science."10 It would be fatal to make merely personaleconomic advancement the sole goal of anyone's education.That would lead to a blind alley. This can be appreciatedby looking carefully at the situation of the so-calleddeveloped countries. That kind of selfish goal creates'mental unemployment', which is as miserable asunemployment itself. Not only has higher education,'transformed itself into absolute dissatisfaction with life',it has sometimes become merely 'a means to get thenecessary amenities for a comfortable life.'

Mahadevi believed that Indian students have thestrength to face the challenges of the present times, andcontribute significantly. 'If they recognise their innerstrengths, then all doors would open automatically.' Butfor this to happen, one should have self-control over one'slife. If our life is not disciplined or if we do not lead a

10. Mahadevi Verma, "Matribhumi Devobhava" in Mere PriyaSambhashan, above, p.15

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balanced life, we can't get inner strength. Giving theexample of electricity, Mahadevi explained that electricityis everywhere: in the sky, in the earth and in every atom;but you can't light a single lamp from it. Light would notget activated until it is collected first in a powerhouse whichis a centre, and then and only then can the whole city beilluminated. "A similar process takes place in one's heart.If you concentrate or focus and hold your full strength,physical power, inner power, faith, belief and the power ofyour soul, and consider the strength you have, all darkclouds could go away. All the obstacles coming your waywill be removed." She believed that if today's studentrecognises his latent strength, the disintegration of societycould be contained and that social life would be free fromall disparity. But if he fails to understand his duty, theentire nation could become weak and lost.11

Mahadevi had a profound thought on the role of creativeliterature in education. Usually, we make literature a smallpart of the study of a language and not an essential part ofeducation in general. Mahadevi was of the view that forevery student, literature must have a very important placein his/her education. She considered it to be 'a chemicalcapable of removing the discrepancies of life.' Putting it inthe perspective of history, she reminded us that thecommand of armed force creates a relationship of aconqueror and the conquered between two countries, whilethe influence of literature always bring harmony betweentwo countries. Therefore, "We have to give such importanceto literature and culture in education that a student mayget the message of unity, fraternity or brotherhood ofhuman beings and ultimately would become a morecomplete person."

Those who are familiar with the writings of MahadeviVerma, knows the value of her thoughts on the status ofwomen and their education. The great Hindi poet(Maharani) Nirala wrote this about Mahadevi: "Until now,

11. Ibid, p. 17

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through her, thousands of girl students have beenbenefited and become dignified." And in the field ofeducation, "Mahadevi is greater than Sarojini Naidu. Nodoubt, her ideal in Hindi is greater than many great men."12

Mahadevi had studied the contribution of great womenscholars of ancient India and emphasised on learning fromthem. She did research on the great tradition of womeneducation and the high status of women in social life asexisted in our country. According to Mahadevi, in Indiantradition "there has been co-education with commonmethods for teaching. On completion of study, womengraduates were involved in teaching also." It continued till7-8th centuries. But then during the period of successiveforeign rules many things changed in our country.

To bring about the required transformation in the lifeof women was one of her main concerns. According to her,Indian women are presently 'queens of the empire ofignorance.' On the other hand, the modern educationcurrently being imparted to them takes away some goodqualities from many young women. "We can't say easilyabout a girl student that she is an inquisitive student,because she comes out of her home like an unrestrainedbutterfly, far from the reality and sensitivity of life, anddoes not mind becoming the centre of attraction of others."13

Therefore, we may find 'qualities like simplicity andhumility, in illiterate women' but almost all the so-calledliterate women hardly have more than the ability torecognise letters and read some novels in exchange of givingup all their qualities'. The main reason for this sorry state,according to Mahadevi, is imparting education by thewrong kind of teachers. "If our children learn and geteducation under the guidance of such persons who donot have character and principles, who carry inherent

12. Surya Kant Tripathi 'Nirala', "Mahadevi ke Janma-Divas Par" inChayan: Nibandh Sangraha, (New Delhi: Rajkamal Prakashan,1981) pp. 116, 117

13. Mahadevi Verma, "Hamari Samasyayein: 2" in Shrinkhala ki Kadiya,(New Delhi: Radhakrishna, 1995), p. 117

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weakness out of their own poor education and character,all these weaknesses would also affect the students."Mahadevi felt sad that we do not care to have even thosequalities in our teachers, which we want to see in thosepeople who perform ordinary jobs:

Those teachers responsible for building the future ofgirls, the mothers of coming generations; ourlackluster attitude towards them is an unforgivablefault. To provide the means for country-specific,society-specific and culture-specific mentaldevelopment is true education by which a person feelsharmony in his life and makes it useful for otherstoo. This important task is not such that can beperformed by a person ignorant of a distinct cultureand one who is frivolous and weak in character.14

Mahadevi was firm in her view that copying westernsocieties was harmful for the upliftment of women here.Further, mechanical equality with men ultimately makeswomen more incapable and dependent. And, thoseeducated men, who are 'weak, helpless and useless degreeholders', should never be the ideals of women. Abandoningtheir natural qualities and unsuccessfully imitating mencan lead educated women nowhere.15 Whatever seems onthe surface, in fact, such women lose social and personalvalues. So, if we follow "such suicidal approaches of thewestern world, it would be as ridiculous as cutting one'sfeet to copy a disabled person."16 Basically, westernapproaches are hedonistic. Hence, relationships betweenmen and women generally may not rise above suchlimitations even though the social courtesies of westernsocieties may appear praiseworthy. Therefore, according

14. Mahadevi Verma, "Hamari Samasyayein: 1" in Shrinkhala ki Kadiya,above, pp. 106-07

15. To understand in detail Mahadevi�s thought on the situation, sorrowsand the way to solve the problems before Indian women her bookShrinkhala ki Kadiya is most valuable. All the essays collected inthis book centre on this issue.

16. Mahadevi Verma, "Navin Dashak mein Mahilaon ka Sthan" in MerePriya Sambhashan, above, p.62

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to Mahadevi, if our women follow the western model offreedom, it will lead to other forms of distortions andabuses, not towards harmony, which is the life of a society.

Finally, Mahadevi had also assessed the Indianintellectual scenario in connection with the presenteducation system. She noted that the present educationsystem, "is not a bridge to bring us nearer but has becomea big gulf to divide us, which our selfishness is wideningday by day."17 This is an education after receiving we tryto become persons whom a common man hesitates toapproach. It is natural, then, that this type of educationtransforms our intellectuals into a hi-fi group who neitherconnect with the Indian people nor do the people feelcomfortable mixing with them. Rather, some intellectualsare such, 'in whom education has turned into poison likethe drops of Swati (nakshatra) changes in the mouth of asnake.'

This is why the intellectuals, who consider themselvesso very important, are actually extremely incapable ofcontributing to the interest of the country. Most of themlive and grow up with an intellectual inferiority complex,"whose even totally a lame dream, and who believe thatjust by attaching some foreign feathers, they have turnedinto messengers of heaven. Even their ugliest ideals,because they are in a western moulding, are identified asnothing more than being just pretty. Even their shoddiestviews, with some foreign patches here and there, are takento reign in the world of thought."18 Women intellectualstoo, are the same. "As a pot of cold water lying near hotwater loses its cool unknowingly, similarly, educatedwomen have silently adopted the weaknesses of men andcome to visualise this condition as the reflective ofsuccess."19 That is why most women intellectuals also give

17. Mahadevi Verma, "Hamari Samasyayein: I" in Shrinkhala ki Kadiya,above, p. 103

18. Mahadevi Verma, "Chintan ke Kuchh Kshan" in Deepshikha(Allahabad: Bharti Bhandar, Samvat 2022 Vikrami), p. 41

19. Ibid, p. 104

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more importance to meaningless mental exercises than thesimple and truthful feelings of the people. They even takeindividual confusions as some valuable formulations,publicise it and make selfish enterprises their petty'knowledge business'.

Mahadevi observed sadly that in such intellectuals, theoutlines of culture are found broken and that the imagesof life are incomplete. For this reason, she tried to inspireus to be attached to our cultural roots, although with anindependent mind, and find our way in a new era.Mahadevi�s great contribution to education, culture andliterature is comparable to any thinker of modern India.This doesn't pertain only to the subject of womeneducation, to which Mahadevi devoted a lot of effort duringher whole life to everything she had taken up to write andspeak about. Her views send us valuable messages eventill this very day:

Why I ask this night of separation,how much passed or remained?Moments echo and the particles sing,whenever they this way unwillingly come,writing self-sacrificing for themremained I an indelible message!

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SECTION II

ROLE OF LAWYERS IN EDUCATION

ASHOK AGARWAL

ABSTRACT

Until not so long ago, lawyers had little or no role inschool education, except perhaps in relation to casesregarding service matters of teachers and of cases ofschool managements against teachers, etc. Thephenomenon of voluntary action by lawyers, acting onbehalf of children too poor to afford either privateschooling or lawyers, is a fairly recent trend, perhapsnot more than 10 to 15 years old. However, as soon aseducation comes to be defined as a right of the child, theimportance of lawyers in completing the circuit that willensure the right to education becomes inevitable.

This lecture will trace the movement for defending theright to education from the advent of PILs to the present,before discussing some issues that can and have emergedin the context of right to education in schools. Some ofthese relate to�denial of admission in governmentschools; cruelty against children in the name of privateschool admissions; lack of basic amenities in schools,such as, water, electricity, proper roofs and walls whichcan protect from harsh weather, etc.; corporal punishmentand other forms of humiliation; lack of connection betweenprimary and upper-primary education; the dissociationbetween the aims of education and the goals of schools;the issue of unjustifiable fee hike in private schools; theissue of allotment of free land to private schools; andviolation of educational rights of poor children.

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This lecture will then discuss how in taking action onbehalf of poor children for ensuring their educationalrights, one comes to the awareness that simply finding acase and fighting it is not enough. Unless public opinionand public anger are also not built up against suchdenials, these wrongs will continue. I will then discusshow I learnt to enlist the support of the media in creatingawareness and opinion.

At the same time, however, I realised that going tothe courts alone cannot and should not be an answer toall the ills in education. Mobilising public outcry is alsoimportant. Sometimes, when people come together todemand action, matters can be rectified without going toa court. I will discuss in my lecture how at this point, Ilearnt to make correct strategy to achieve justice forchildren's right to education.

However, there is a limit to what one lawyer can do.There are many problems for one lawyer to cope with.Through my work so far I have merely demonstrated whatlawyers can do and how to do it. But it cannot be deniedthat there needs to be an escalation of lawyerintervention on behalf of the child. Perhaps time has cometo move from individual initiative to networked legal aid;to development of systems of case support to lawyers; tobuild NGO linkages with lawyers; to evolution ofgovernment schemes of lawyer involvement; forinformational systems to be developed for orientation andbriefing of lawyers and judges in right to education.

Maybe it is also time for including Right to Education(RTE) in the formal and informal curriculum of legaleducation. Students in law colleges should learn aboutchild rights and their defence in the curriculum, just asthey learn about contracts and criminal law. Universitiesshould actively think about separate optional papers,diploma and certificate courses in RTE. Similarly, therecould be research on PILs in education

In closing, I would like to argue that legal interventionacts as a trigger to reform in education. Not only does it

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serve to highlight wrongs and rectify them, but ultimately,it will also build communities in schools who know theirrights and duties, and hence there are fewerpredispositions towards violation of children�s right toeducation. Already, the parents in private schools areno longer as timid as they once were, and alreadygovernment officers are becoming alert to ensuringtransparency and justice. Through the intervention oflawyers, I see a vision of future with mutual respect andimproved provisioning of education from a rights-basedperspective.

I am grateful for this honour of being chosen to deliver 4thMahadevi Verma Memorial Lecture, which gives me anopportunity to talk to you about some matters related tothe right to education that has been very dear to my heartand to which I have devoted most of my working life andwill continue to do so I hope, for as long as I am neededand am able to serve. I am all the more grateful for thishonour because we lawyers are seldom remembered athappy moments. Generally lawyers are seen as associatedonly with bad moments, and when you curse someoneyou wish them on your enemies, you would wish them tohave trouble and to visit courts and lawyers. We lawyersseem to be associated with nothing but trouble, andtherefore, I am all the more grateful that I have beenremembered as a friend among this much respectedcommunity of educationists.

The fact that I have been remembered by educationistsis in itself a sign of the change in the relationship betweenthe world of education and the world of the courts. Untilnot very long ago, we lawyers had very little, if at allanything, to do with school education. May be these twoworlds met in relation to cases regarding service mattersof teachers and of cases of school managements takingaction against teachers, etc. Other than that, to this worldof educationists, a lawyer was either someone you hired,or someone who was an adversary�the lawyer was never

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a friend or a partner. The phenomenon of the lawyer as afriend of the educationist is of very recent origin, perhapsnot more than 10 to 15 years old, and it is about thisphenomenon, its evolution, its progression and itspotential, that shall be the subject of my lecture today.Many consider me to be one of the pioneers in this area,that may or may not be true, but certainly because of themedia reports of my cases, the positive role that lawyerscan play in defending the right to education has becomeknown to more and more people. In many ways, theevolution and progression of the new role of lawyers ineducation follows along the trajectory of my own career infighting for the right to education, and the rights ineducation.

You must be very well aware that the whole concept ofhuman rights is itself very recent. The term human rightscame in after World War II with the birth of the UnitedNations, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.The very idea of a right, and an equal right to all humanssimply by virtue of being human was itself a novel ideaaround that time. Some races were considered superiorto other races, some castes higher than others and themales superior to females�many of these ideas still lingeron in the minds of some people, but they have been moreor less eradicated in the laws of the nations. In such acontext, there was hardly any space to even consider thequestion of children having rights of their own.

People had duties and responsibilities towardschildren, that much was there, but that a child should behaving rights, may be even against parents, simply by virtueof being a child, in the same way that humans had rightssimply by virtue of being human�that idea was perhapstoo progressive for that period�as the world in that periodhad enough problems with accepting all humans as equal.

You may be surprised to know that it was only in 1989that the rights of children came into being in internationallaw, through the UN Convention on Rights of theChild (CRC), and India signed it in 1992.

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Most of us, who are present here today, have spent theirchildhoods without being the subject of rights. But the veryfact that we are here today, shows that we were the luckyones who received food, shelter, clothing, education, etc., andeverything else that made it possible for us to be what weare today. Many children even today are not so lucky. Theycontinue to be deprived of all those things that we haveperhaps enjoyed and which have enabled us to reach wherewe are today. So if even after having these things called rights,if children are still no better off than before, then you will say,of what use are these things called rights if it makes nodifference whether you have them or not? If ultimatelyeverything is only going to depend on personal goodwill, andyou may even say, on the sweet will of others, then why talkof rights if they mean nothing at all?

When we say that someone has a right to something,or that children have rights today, it does not mean thatsuch as, with a magic wand, things that children have aright to, such as, food, shelter, clothing education, etc.,will appear out of nowhere for each child. Then what doesit mean to say that we have a right? To understand this,let us think back to those days when these rights did notexist even on paper. For example, not so long ago, it wasbelieved that the children are the property of their parents�they are owned by their parents, and that parents can doanything to them. While many still think in this way eventoday, the majority of us tend to believe that there are somethings that even a parent has no right to do to a child andthat children cannot be treated as wished by those inauthority. In our time, our father�s words were taken aslaw, fathers (or grandfathers) decided for us, what we areto become, how we are to act, what we are to do or not do,and it was our duty to pursue that course and no other.Is that the case in our own homes today? Not at all, for mygeneration it seems that we were dictated to by our parentsand now we are dictated to by our children. Certainly theideas of a parent�child relationship have changed in manyhomes. How did these ideas change?

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I would say that the ideas of rights have gained a lot ofground since then�just as we were first intrigued and thenobsessed by the idea of gaining freedom. It is as though awind blows and it changes what we think and how we dothings. At one time, we used to think it was the parents�,wish whether to send their children to school or not�nowwe tend to think that any person who chooses not to sendtheir child to school is doing something not good for thechild, they are depriving the child of education and thechild will suffer later. Nowadays we tend to regard asneglectful or ignorant any parent who does not send a childto school. People have now come to believe that childrenhave a right to education; people now believe parentsshould not prevent them from getting that right. As I saidour ideas change�these days hardly anyone will side withthose who argue that it is the right of the parent to keepthe child ignorant.

To me, this is what a right means, a right is first adoptedby the mind, it makes our ideas change, and as our ideaschange, society changes. It is the society that ensures thatrights are achieved. Rights do not make things appear asif by magic out of thin air. As I said, by making or adoptingsomething, for example, education as a right, thatsomething does not appear out of thin air by magic, butcertainly our ideas begin to change, we begin to recognisethat all children can and should get education. Theadoption of a right on paper is merely a milestone. Somewould say, it is a goal post, it gives us a point and a directionto work towards.

So friends, to me, that is what changes when we saysomeone has a right to something, a standard isestablished, and gradually, attitudes, values and practicesstart to follow until real life, reality, or the norm becomesthat situation what was aspired by the right.

And when rights get established in law, such rightscan be claimed by well-wishers on behalf of children. Evenif a child is not so lucky as to have family and friends tofight for them, the fact of having a right works to ensure

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that some agency, or even the government, works for thechild to ensure that the child�s care, shelter, food andeducation along with an identity, a birth certificate,nationality, dignity even at school, the right not to be beatenunder the pretext of education, etc., are all taken care of .All of these rights became accepted the world over with theacceptance of the CRC.

You might ask why am I talking about the CRC, whichis an international convention, and which is not bindingas a law in India? While that is the case, it is also true,that our Constitution asks us to honour internationaltreaties and conventions and our judgments are inharmony with international conventions. For example, assoon as India signed the CRC in 1992, the Supreme Courtof India passed a historic judgment in the case ofUnnikrishnan J.P. vs. The state of Andhra Pradesh, whichmade education a fundamental right. And even thoughthe judgment itself did not move the government to takeany great steps, a movement began which ultimately ledto the right to education being placed even on electionmanifestoes, on Common Minimum Programmes, andeventually to amendment of the Constitution and educationbecoming a fundamental right.

A fundamental right is a justiciable right. Justiciablemeans that if the right as it is stated is not given, or if thegovernment or anyone else who is bound by it defaults insome way, then one can turn to the courts for remedy.And even before the courts come into the picture, thelawyers have to be brought in, in order to complete thiscircuit of justiciability for which we amended theConstitution. Therefore, although we do not hear too muchon this issue, and even the government has not taken stepsin this direction, the right to education cannot be enforcedwithout a lawyer coming into the picture. But you willsurely see the irony of this situation�How can a child whois not even able to afford a school, or a teacher, can afforda lawyer? As you know, lawyers are private practitioners�we lawyers depend on the income from the practice, we

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depend on the fees. So on the one hand, we make free andcompulsory education a fundamental right, and on theother, in order to enforce this right, we have to go throughlawyers, who are by no means free and compulsory, thenhow is the child to get the right?

Therefore, if without a lawyer, it is not possible to seekto enforce the right in the courts, then it surely amountsto the right remaining where it is�on paper. The purposeof my talk today before this august audience is just this�to reflect on the role of the lawyer in the right to free andcompulsory education.

You will ask�but I am a lawyer�why am I doing this?How am I fighting for the right to education? How does achild who cannot even afford a teacher, who does not evenknow that he has a right to a teacher, would come to me andexpect me to fight for him in the courts? What are theproblems that children face? In order to reflect on the roleof the lawyer in education, I will tell you about my role as alawyer fighting for the right to education, and then perhapswe can together reflect on whether a lawyer is enough, or weneed more lawyers, and if we need more lawyers, where arethey to come from? Why would they come? How to sensitisethem about denials of rights in education? How to ensurethat the lawyer finds the children, because surely, suchchildren cannot find the lawyer?

My own initiation in the right of children to educationwas actually very conventional. I basically fought labourcases. My ideological leanings were also sympathetic tothe right of the workers and the poor, but my first case ineducation came from a very typical route�some peopleknown to me were concerned that the private school thattheir children were attending had again raised the fees andthere seemed to be nothing that the schools were afraid of.My own education had been in a government school, andI told these people��instead of complaining, you shouldsend your children to a government school, there wouldbe no question of fees.� I told them, �you have come from agovernment school, I have come from a government school,

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and we are doing OK�. They told me �when was the lasttime you saw a government primary school, go and see agovernment primary school�. So I went to a governmentprimary school. When I saw the state of the school, andthe attitude of the head master and the teachers, I foundthat even the teachers were very few and they were notteaching, only minding the children so that they do notrun around or make noise.

After seeing the state of the government schools, Irealised that the reason that parents are at the mercy ofthe private schools is that the government schools are in avery bad shape, and that the reason that the governmentschools are getting worse is because more and more peopleare leaving them for other kinds of schools, and the onesleft have no power to make a demand for better schoolsand better management. Therefore, I came to the realisationthat if the situation has to change, then both schools haveto improve. Only when children in government schoolsget their due rights, then only will the children in privateschools also get their rights and not be at the whims andmercy of the private managements. There is one system,one set of rights, one set of laws, so improvement has to bedone in both kinds of schools.

Anyway, I was lucky to win the case of the fee hike inprivate schools, and it had the effect of enforcing the law inrespect of other private schools. Because it was a privateschool case, the news was carried in many of the papers,and people came to realise that the private schools weremaking profits from one school, and using that profit toset up another school, and another, until they became moreand more powerful as a chain of schools. Now Godrej andReliance, for example, can set up chains of establishments.They are commercial organisations and are subject to thetax, the scrutiny, the quality standards, and consumerinterest laws that all such commercial establishments aresubject to. Now any philanthropist can set up any numberof schools if he has the money and make a chain. But oneschool cannot give birth to another school to make a chain.

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A school is a philanthropic, non profit organisation inour country. So where is the question of profit, and thattoo so much profit that you can set up another and yetanother school? And if there is profit, then where is thequestion of not being able to meet the costs, and of hikingfees? It was decided after that case that no school can usethe fees from one school for the purpose of another schooleven under the same trust. And in order to establish profit,the rule regarding submission of audited balance sheetsgot highlighted. Thirdly, another rule regarding submissionand approval of statement of fees before every term gotknown and enforced.

It was also during this case that I realised that thereason why the profits from one school can be used toset up another, is because everywhere the governmentswere supporting the establishment of philanthropic effortsuch as educational institutions and hospitals for publicpurpose by giving them free land. So if the land is free,and the proceeds from another school are funding thebuilding, then where was the problem in building chainsof schools? Also, as with any private commercialenterprise, the �brand marketing� exercise ensures that theschool is seen to be better and more desirable than theexisting government schools. So why should people whohave more money not show they have the money?Private schools, far from serving a public purpose, becamestatus symbols and everyone wanted to be seen only inthese schools.

We all know the story of Akbar and Birbal in whichone day Akbar drew one line, and told Birbal to make itsmaller without touching it. All Birbal had to do was tomake another bigger line next the first line and the firstline became the smaller one. Same is the case with thegovernment school. If another school next to it, is seen asbetter, even if only because of the shiny building and thebrand marketing, then automatically, the governmentschool is seen as lesser and less desirable, and all thosewho would have attended it, want to go to the status-

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symbol school, and the private school is placed in thepowerful position of being able to select and reject thechildren of the rich. Other ancillary industries alsodevelop�one industry is that of patronage, anyone who isanybody or knows anybody tries to use influence to getadmission; and the rest go to the other industry�that oftraining the children like animals in a circus�even that isnot allowed nowadays, but this is allowed to train childrento perform in the admission interview. In all of thisunfortunate activity, the school becomes more and morepowerful, and even the government officers fear to opposeanything the school does. It seems that they cannot beapproached twice even to secure the filling up of the DISEInformation Proforma, which carries individual reportcards of 1.3 million schools in India. But surprisingly, howmany private schools are there in the list? You only needto check to see if the schools you know about arerepresented there, and you will have your answer.

You will find that I started from one case, and it wasnot a case, it was a box�a Pandora�s Box. I have linkedeverything to everything else through it�actually that isexactly what happened. One thing just led to another. Ialso realised that when the government granted the freeland to the schools, they attached a condition, that theschools would reserve 25 per cent of its total pupil strengthfor poor children and provide them free education. Butthe schools never bothered, and no one bothered to troublethe schools on behalf of the poor.

This realisation that served me well, because it set thebasis for some of my future cases, for example, the caseabout nursery schools admission, about the free seats inland-grant schools, the poor condition of governmentschools and the fee hike in relation to the 6th PayCommission. But after my first case, I wanted to dosomething about the government schools. But where tostart?

I started visiting the government schools and meetingthe teachers and the headmasters and the parents in order

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to see where the problems lie. Every Saturday when therewas no court, I would take my car and go and visit somegovernment schools. I noted the poor conditions, theapathy of the government towards the teaching staff, theapathy of the teaching staff to the children, etc.

One of the first cases I filed was about theinfrastructural facilities. Many schools were running intents, in rooms with tin roofs, which became unbearablein summer and bitterly cold in winter, even the buildingswere in dilapidated conditions. I took photographs, andfiled them in the court in a series of cases. The courts werekind enough to issue orders banning the use of tents, theuse of tin roofs, stating that only proper prefabricatedstructures may be used for temporary classes. Noting thatthe schools were running in old and insecure buildings,the courts ordered for the buildings to be replaced by newstructures. Today, you will find the teachers working notunder trees and in verandas, but in well-constructedclassrooms, and people are surprised to see the new faceof schools of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.

During this process, it came to my notice that one childhad been run over by a truck just outside a municipalprimary school. What was the child doing outside theschool? And what had caused the child to run outsidewithout looking? It came to light that the school had nofacilities for drinking water. When this issue was raised inthe courts, the officials quickly, practically overnight putin place the hand pump and water tap, and tried to explainto the inspection team of the court, even though they couldsee that the cement was still wet, that the school hadfacilities for water, but that the child had run out simplyout of mischief.

The moment they pleaded in that direction, they gotcaught for not having a proper boundary wall with a gateand a guard. The people had trusted the schools with theirchildren, and the schools were responsible for their safetyand care. With this case, all the municipal schools becameequipped with water, boundary walls, and security guard.

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In another case, it was also made the duty of thegovernment to ensure that electricity supply to a schoolwas never cut off for non-payment of electricity bills. Thefault was of the government, and the children were madeto suffer.

As you can imagine, I became fairly well received inthe schools. Even the senior officials in the municipalcorporation surprisingly did not resent me�they saw thatI had managed to bring about the orders for theimprovement in the schools, which they had wanted butwere not able to bring about.

Alongside the improvement in the structures, I hadnoted that a number of processes also neededimprovement. I realised that in the school there was aregular turnover of teachers- some joined the secondaryschools, some got married and left, some retired, etc. Butthere seemed to be no regular system to take note of thisneed for teachers or to ensure that there were enoughteachers in the schools. So the matter was taken to courtto say that if the government was indeed serious aboutensuring education, then the process of recruitment ofteachers should have began, but not even the vacancieshave been advertised to date. The court eventfully orderedthat a regular calendar of recruitment be prepared andfollowed every year to streamline this process.

Another example, the schools were saying they wanteduniversal enrolment, but they themselves were hamperingthis process, due to their demand for this or that certificate.So a court order was obtained (after a PIL) that the parentscould admit the child without birth certificate or affidavit.But what about the children without parents, i.e., thechildren on the streets. We took this issue to the courtsand there was great drama, because we had brought somestreet children into the court, and the judge asked thedirector of education, who is the parent of these children?The media also had a great moment reporting cases likethese, and I realised that in the right to education, thegreatest battle is that of realisation�once people become

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aware and realise what is a right, then they also begin torecognise the violation of the right. So I realised that themedia can play a big role in creating that awareness.

By this time the Internet had also come into being, andI learnt how to use it. I learnt how to use the email, andkept the media and a few friends and well wishers awareof my cases, and they in turn gave publicity in the papers.I created a website, and kept some important backgroundinformation on the website for ready reference.

I gradually made friends in education among theeducationists also, and through them also I became awareof some of the issues. Many times, they would be useful tome in discussing the different aspects of a case. What I amtrying to say, is that there is very little that I can take solecredit for, and indeed this battle requires teamwork andteam support. If I had anything, it was my persistence,and the support of my family that did not complain that Icould have earned more or had a better standard of livingif I had devoted this time to paid cases. If you think I amrare, I think my family is rare. But if lawyers who are tofight for children are not to be rare, then we must dosomething that will enable the average person to join as alawyer in the right to education. I will return to this issuelater, and let us first discuss the ways in which childrenare denied the right to education, and how there is needfor support in little, little ways.

Along with the removal of document barriers toadmission, I supported the �Dakhila Abhiyan�. This wasa process that had the support of the SCERT of Delhi, andwas instrumental in generating awareness about schoolenrolment. Similarly, I found through my friends andunofficial team members that some fees (not exactly feesbut some amount for some fund or the other) was beingcollected at the time of admission in the municipalschools. We first asked the MCD how the schools werecolleting anything without receipt. So they issued an orderto give receipt. The moment we had a receipt, weproduced it in the court saying that here is proof that

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contrary to the stated policy the schools are chargingmoney, and that free and compulsory education is notfree. After that court judgment, now admission is trulycashless and paperless.

Another barrier to the right to elementary education inDelhi was also realised quite by chance. One of myeducationist friends mentioned about the system inMumbai, where despite education being a right until theage of fourteen, the municipal schools would give thechildren a TC at the end of the last class of the municipalschool. The upper primary stage is in an aided school,also free, but it was not the responsibility of the governmentto see that the child who left the municipal school also wasable to join an aided school. Then I realised that same isthe case in Delhi. Even though the government providessecondary education, they do not care to take the childrenof the municipal schools from the last class of the municipalschool to the next class in the upper primary in thegovernment secondary school. I added this issue to anongoing case, and sure enough, the order came that theright to education meant that the onus of education withinthe elementary stage was on the government, and that itwas for the government to ensure the transition of childrenfrom the primary stage in the municipal schools to theupper primary stage in government schools. At first, therewas little response, but after filing a case of contempt ofcourt, I think the government also realised that this was agood way to ensure a high transition rate. Today, eachgovernment secondary school has a number of feederprimary municipal schools attached to it, and thegovernment is proud to have taken a lead in somethingthat is now mandatory through the Right to EducationAct.

You can see therefore, that although when I startedout, I neither knew about education, or about the ways inwhich children are deprived of their rights in the schoolsand outside the schools. I slowly began to gain awarenessof what is happening. My only guide was the law, the

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Constitution of India, and the International Conventions.These gave me a frame of reference to judge whether whatis happening is right or not.

However, I still go to the schools, especially the schoolsin the outlying areas in Delhi in order to see if children arebeing deprived of their rights, and in what way. However,the problems of the rich are also no less the problems ofright to education. Even though my practice also pickedup regarding violation of rights in schools, I kept my timefor my �own� suo moto cases. One of these was regardingthe admission of children of the weaker sections to the freeseats that these children were to get after the school got aland grant from the government.

When I took this case to the court, suddenly, a largenumber of schools in Delhi spontaneously developed achange of heart and opened non-formal education classesin the afternoon. The Delhi Government which had so far,not bothered to enforce this clause, suddenly became awareof it, although the same rule gave free land to the schools.They blamed the DDA which gave the land, and the DDAblamed the Directorate of Education, and ultimately ruleswere prepared, a criterion was evolved to decide who wouldbe called �weaker section�, a process was evolved forsecuring an income certificate of economically weakersection. NGOs joined in the process to make the weakersections aware of the process of obtaining admission tothe schools. Even then, the schools were reluctant to admitthe poor.

The schools which had all along been claiming to givequality education, now when the time came for them toprove it, their behaviour gave away the truth, that the�quality� they professed to be manufacturing in the schools,actually lay in the selected and handpicked batch theyadmitted every year to the school. Children of professionals,who may be expected to be genetically endowed with thisthing called intelligence, and by the success achieved bytheir parents, they may be expected to have the rightattitudes and home circumstances to foster good grades�

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their indicator of �quality�. Of course they also had a goodmix of children of business-class parents. Very reluctantly,these schools gave admission to only those children whowere assisted by some NGOs or whom they could notmanage to push away. Some schools of course trulyembraced their obligation and are educating the childrenof the poor and of the rich, but such schools are rare.Although schools all over India receive land grants underthe same conditions, but since law is a state subject andthe case was in the High Court and restricted to Delhi, theimplementation of this nationwide obligation is also limitedto Delhi. Now of course, this need for social mixing and theharmful effects of economic apartheid in education havebeen widely recognised, and now this clause is one of thebest-known clauses of the �Right of Children to Free andCompulsory Education Act 2009�.

Admission to a private school of choice is an annualaffair marked with a lot of tension for both parents andchildren, but for the schools themselves, it is said it is likethe harvest festival. I hear that money is made, and peopleare �obliged�. Children who �fail� the admission test andinterview recognise early in life, for the rest of their livesthat they are somehow �less� than those who were �clever�enough to make it to a particular sought-after school. Acase regarding this admission process of private schoolwas taken by me to the court. The court naturally spokeon behalf of the child, but recognising the need to havesome criteria other than the present ad hoc tests andinterviews, appointed a committee to be headed by thenCBSE Chairman, Mr. Ashok Ganguly to develop somecriteria. The Ganguly Committee debated and evolved amethod to restrict admission to children who live within acertain radius of the school, and also gave �points� for othercriteria such a sibling in the same school, parents beingalumni of the school, etc. Although even now the systemis far from perfect, the fact remains that an evil in educationand its vicious effects on children was recognised as suchand an effort made to induce transparency into a system

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that had so far resisted all interference into a domain thatgave it great power and privilege.

Whether rich or poor, children suffer equally fromcorporal punishment. They suffer disproportionately whenthey have disabilities. All types of schools try to hide thefact of child abuse by terror and torture, and all try tokeep the disabled out. Even the so-called schemes of theeducation of disabled children are not able to identify thedisabled through household survey. I do not know whatkind of survey is conducted, because when I went into abasti, I was surprised to find a large number that werethere and known to all to be there but were unable to accessschooling. If you keep only the face of the child in yourmind, it might occur to you, if you had been that childwhat would have been your fate? They deserve better, anda society that calls itself civilised should look after its peopleespecially those who cannot look after themselves.

This brings me to the role of the lawyer in education.It is for you to decide, whether a lawyer is the last mile linkto the seeking remedy from a court of law or not. I alsowish that a lawyer is never needed and that no child orparent needs to enforce their right to education through acourt of law. But I have seen that the real world is not likethat and if you have reached the same conclusion afterhearing about some of the types of issues that I have hadto handle through courts, you will also wonder how tobring about situations in which lawyers seek opportunitiesto serve free of charge for the cause of education. I have nodoubt that many more lawyers would like to serve butthey do not know where to start or what kinds of issuesneed their attention.

I have made a start in my community by sensitisingmore and more of my colleagues, but they will be confinedto Delhi. What about Madhya Pradesh, Kerala,West Bengal, Sikkim, Gujarat? Every state, every town andevery village needs someone to protect the interestsof children, because they are unable to look after theirown interests.

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I realise my own example may not be that easy foreveryone to follow, but what if NGOs who are alreadysensitised to serve, were also sensitised to rights toeducation, rights in education, and how to enforce them. Itcould happen that these NGOs could work in coordinationwith lawyers, I am sure there will be enough lawyers whowould be happy to provide free service, or like any otherservice that NGOs pay for, the cost of a lawyer and courtcharges could be built into their plans. NGOs in theeducation sector, use many strategies�the legal route couldone of the strategies that the NGOs could learn to use, andin the process train the lawyers who work with them.

NGOs could also link with legal service authorities thatare there in every state. So far these authorities are fairlyunderstaffed and over worked, so they do not actually golooking for instances where the rights have been violated.They are not used to dealing with situations in which eventhe victim does not realise they have been wronged. NGOscould link with them as well.

There is a need I think for a centralised resource�maybe through websites where information about casesrelated to the right to education could be collated and madeavailable. Such sites would serve to sensitise all, NGOs,lawyers, judges, etc., about the types of problemsencountered by children in the field. Such a site would beessential especially for a state subject such as law, becausethe cases would be limited to the district or the High Courtof a state. Cases in one state would create awareness aboutissues and inspire other states to get the same or similarsituation remedied. The fee hike following the 6th PayCommission, for example, is an issue that many states havein common. For the first time, an All India ParentsAssociation has been formed and is informing other statesabout issues and rights. What is needed perhaps is a lesspartisan and more stable informational resource.

I would say, even sensitisation lectures are useful.There may be some among you, who did not know aboutthe many of the rights or how they are violated even by

Page 35: Mahadevi Verma

35MAHADEVI VERMA FOURTH MEMORIAL LECTURE

governments or schools. It is my suggestion thatorganisations like NCERT, RIE, SCERT, NUEPA, etc.,should give lectures even in law colleges and judicialacademies. They could even run courses on right toeducation and its defence. They could in collaboration withlaw colleges run course in public legal education and eventrain children to know their rights and recognise theirviolations.

Friends the possibilities are endless. Now that we haveamended the Constitution and made education into ajusticiable fundamental right, the role of lawyers in makingthat connection with the court of law becomes inevitable.Children have been denied their right to education for fartoo long. I envisage a day in the not too distant future,when speaking softly but carrying a big stick, we will builda future of mutual respect and improved provisioning ofeducation from a rights-based perspective.

With these words I thank you for listening to me sopatiently, and for giving me this honor of speaking to you.

Thank you.

Page 36: Mahadevi Verma

36 MAHADEVI VERMA FOURTH MEMORIAL LECTURE

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Ashok Agarwal was born on 2 September 1952 in Delhi.He completed his law degree in 1976 and since then hasbeen practising in the Supreme Court and the Delhi HighCourt. His expertise lies in service and labour laws. Hehas appeared before the courts for the workers inthousands of cases. During the last 12 years, besides doingthe usual professional work, he has done a lot of work forthe rights of the children and particularly for the childrenbelonging to the weaker sections of the society. PublicInterest Litigation has been specifically used as a tool tohighlight the socio-legal grievances of the poor anddowntrodden. Several articles have been written in the paston the draft Right To Education bill which has, to someextent, influenced the framing of the Right of Children toFree and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.

Some of the important PILs filed by him are: (i) Banningof interviews of 3+ yrs kids and of their parents by theunaided private schools for nursery admissions;(ii) Forcing unaided privates schools which were allottedpublic lands on concessional rates to provide free seats tothe students belonging to economically weaker sectionsin terms of the land allotment clause; (iii) Highlighting thelack of physical and academic infrastructure inGovernment and Municipal Corporation of Delhi runsschools; (iv) Forcing private hospitals which were allottedpublic lands on concessional rates to provide free treatmentto the patients belonging to the economically weakersections; (v) Highlighting the total absence of specialeducators in the State-run-schools as required for theeducation of the children with disabilities; (vi) Highlightingarbitrary denial of admissions to the students by the State-

Page 37: Mahadevi Verma

37MAHADEVI VERMA FOURTH MEMORIAL LECTURE

run-schools; (vii) Highlighting arbitrary and exorbitant feehike every year by the unaided private schools, therebyexploiting hapless parents and students; (viii) Removal ofstudents by the schools in violation of the provisions ofRight of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act,2009; (ix) Highlighting arbitrary and discriminatorysystem of State-funded-schools in the country; and (x)Highlighting that after incorporation of Aricle 21-A in theConstitution of India, the existence and continuance ofchild labour in any form has become unconstitutional.

His work goes beyond the courts. He frequently visitsslums, resettlement and unauthorised colonies and meetsparents and children. His mantra is �Court to People andPeople to Court�. He maintains strong linkage between thecourt work and the people, which really enables people toassert their rights.

Outlook Magazine writes, �Call him the scourge ofDelhi's education babus and the owners of upscale privateschools. Or, call him an indefatigable fighter for goodschooling for the capital's poor and powerless. LawyerAshok Agarwal is both. His brahmastra is the PIL: for 10years now, Social Jurist, the lawyer's collective set up byAgarwal, has forced accountability upon a reluctantsystem, by successfully moving the courts. He has alertedthem to admission irregularities, the abysmal lack of basicamenities, and dereliction of duty by teachers andprincipals in state-run schools. He has forced checks onextortionating fee hikes by private schools. If children frompoor families are now being admitted free to Delhi privateschools that took cheap land from the government butreneged on social commitments, and if a three-year-old isno longer subjected to an admission interview, this down-to-earth man of action has a lot to do with it.�

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38 MAHADEVI VERMA FOURTH MEMORIAL LECTURE

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Page 39: Mahadevi Verma

39MAHADEVI VERMA FOURTH MEMORIAL LECTURE

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Page 40: Mahadevi Verma

40 MAHADEVI VERMA FOURTH MEMORIAL LECTURE

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Page 41: Mahadevi Verma

41MAHADEVI VERMA FOURTH MEMORIAL LECTURE

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Page 42: Mahadevi Verma

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