ONLY EDUCATION CAN UPLIFT THE POOR AND THE DALITS OF UP

ONLY EDUCATION CAN UPLIFT THE POOR AND THE DALITS OF UP
This refers to the editorial ‘UP’s Warped Priorities’. You have hit the nail on its head, when you say, that statues can wait, but not schools. It is really surprising and sad, that, Mayawati who considers herself as messiah of the poor, dalits and the ‘bahujan’s of UP, puts forth the ruse of shortage of money, as the reason for not being able to implement the RTE Act. However for establishing the statues of herself and of her leaders all over the state she has no problem in finding the money. What a tragedy for the poor and dalits of UP! Bihar, UP and other northern states have not kept pace with rest of the country in development precisely for the reason that they have shown neglect in educating their poor and the dalits. The RTE Act provides a golden opportunity to them to reorient their priorities and focus on their efforts on education so that the vast majority of poor and dalits do get not only the basic education but also high quality professional and vocational education. Only this will empower them and help them to cross the poverty line. Therefore let the statues wait till all the poor and the dalits get their rightful education.