New Delhi: Rashtriya Janata Dal member Professor Manoj Jha raised the issue of harm being caused to students, especially poor and deprived sections, by online education in Parliament on Thursday. And demanded the central government to open all universities, colleges and schools at the earliest. It is to be known that schools, colleges and universities were closed in view of the COVID-19 epidemic and during this time the government promoted the online medium for studies. After the decrease in the cases of infection, many states have gradually started opening schools and colleges.
Raising the issue in Rajya Sabha during Zero Hour, Jha said, “In all the colleges and universities of the country where online studies are being conducted, they should study in offline mode as soon as possible.” This also applies to schools. All universities, colleges and schools should be opened immediately. He said that marginalized groups have problems with digital access and it will take many years to make up for the damage that has been done to the present generation of the country in the last two years. He also said that online learning has further widened the gap between education and equality. Sharing one of his experiences, Jha said that he also teaches students and during this time he often feels that many students sit with videos turned off.
“It doesn’t lead to communication,” he said. This is the biggest obstacle in the way of education. John Brittas of the Communist Party of India Marx raised the issue of social security for senior citizens and accused the government of curtailing the facilities provided to them. He said that there is a large number of people working in the unorganized sector who today come in the category of senior citizens and do not have any regular source of income. He said that the corona pandemic has made his condition more pathetic.
read also
“The government’s contribution to the National Indira Gandhi Old Age Pension Scheme is very less. Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India, which provides state-of-the-art assistive devices for persons with disabilities at affordable prices. This used to provide a lot of help to senior citizens but this year its budgetary allocation has been reduced. The budget for MGNREGA and health sector has also been reduced.
He termed the central government as anti-poor and demanded that it should keep its pride behind and increase the budget of schemes for the benefit of senior citizens and the poor. Bharatiya Janata Party’s Deepak Prakash raised the issue of illegal mining of coal in Jharkhand and demanded formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe it. He alleged that the ruling parties of Jharkhand and Bengal are involved in illegal mining in Jharkhand and both are in collusion and due to this the smuggling of coal in the state is increasing.
Nominated member Narendra Jodhav demanded expediting anti-Covid-19 vaccination in tribal-dominated areas. He described Manipur as one of the lagging states in this regard and said that there is 40 percent tribal population but till now only 56 percent of them have been given the first dose while 43 percent have been given both the doses. He said that more or less the same situation is in Nagaland. Jadhav urged the Union Health Minister to expedite the vaccination campaign in tribal-dominated areas. (agency)