Literacy and a rich legacy

Published : Jan 03, 2003 00:00 IST

The initiative taken by Sayajirao Gaekwad to make primary education compulsory in the erstwhile Gaekwad state offers important lessons for policymakers in contemporary India.

EACH time I visit Baroda and drive through the city, I cannot help marvelling at the majesty of this city. Not only are the brick and mortar structures imposing, the people of this great city have inherited a legacy of cultural and educational standards.

Much of the credit for this goes to the vision and dynamic leadership of the Gaekwads, particularly, Sayajirao Gaekwad-III.

More than a hundred years ago, Sayaji Rao believed, with tremendous conviction, that "education is the only way out for solving the problems prevalent in society and also the basis of all reforms."

Some years ago, travelling in my rickety jeep through the dusty roads of Dwarka taluka in Jamnagar, across miles of parched fields dotted with women carrying four to five pots of water on their head in yet another drought year, I reached the relief work site. Typically, during a drought year, the government starts relief works for providing wage employment to the villagers. Neat rectangular burrow pits resembling empty ice-trays lined the landscape. Soon, a group of old women came up to me. Representing that they badly needed fodder for their cattle, they demanded that a grass depot be started in their village. Filling applications for grass cards, the clerk with us was scrambling for a stamp pad to facilitate their "signing" with their thumb impressions. I was pleasantly surprised to see them neatly sign, read and also correct some items in the form. While petitions and applications from such far off villages almost always had blotchy, blue thumbprints, I was amazed at this. Well, it turned out that being a part of the erstwhile Gaekwad State, primary education had been compulsory for all the children in the age group of 6-14 since 1906. These literate old women were beneficiaries of that measure. Smiling at my surprised look, one of the old women said: "We were compulsorily educated and had no choice but to learn. If any family refused to send their kids to school, there was a very heavy fine of one rupee in those days. But, some of our own grand daughters don't go to school nowadays."

Catapulted to the status of a "Maharaja", the 12-year-old cowherd from a village adopted by the Queen of Baroda, had to constantly overcome innumerable obstacles on the personal and professional fronts. That was a time when palace intrigues and even poisoning and attempts to murder kings and those in power were not uncommon. Similarly, the legacy of governance handed over to him was far from being well organised or systematised. Coupled with all this was the constant interference of the British through the local resident. Despite all these, he firmly held that the cause of poverty and backwardness in India was lack of awareness and that the correct strategy to create a poverty-free nation was to provide education.

Convinced of the utility of education, way back in 1893, Sayajirao Gaekwad had started an experiment of providing free but compulsory primary education to all the children in the age group of 6-14 in ten selected villages of Amreli Mahal. Based on the success of this pilot project, it was decided to ramp it up in 1906 across the entire Baroda State. This was for the first time in India that such a step was initiated. It was compulsory to attend school till Standard VI. On remaining absent, a fine of two annas was to be paid by the parent, which was later steeply raised to one rupee. As a result, there was steady progress and more and more children were getting educated. By 1910, as many as 2,938 primary schools were established in the State, which also took care of the special needs of girls, disabled and "untouchable" children.

Similarly, as many as 1,500 libraries were set up across the State. Further, he was able to usher in a series of bold, relevant and far-reaching reforms in governance, education, water supply, sanitation, health services, judiciary and transportation, including railways. Not only did Sayajirao Gaekwad have the clarity of vision, but he also strove to implement reforms in each of these sectors with single-minded purpose. For instance, the 1891 Census figures indicate that even in those days, female infanticide was prevalent. The Gaekwads passed and effectively implemented a full-fledged law against female infanticide, which succeeded in checking this evil. Later, the acts prohibiting child marriage and facilitating widow remarriage were passed.

In a sense, the problems faced by the State then are not incomparable to those confronting our nation today. Universal, compulsory primary education can impart functional literacy, produce more rational thinking citizens, lead to better civic sense, health awareness and also instil basic human values, building a better nation. Instead of looking at the lack of resources and other hurdles, it was, perhaps, the determined vision of Sayajirao Gaekwad that brought them the desired results.

President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has rightly said in his book Ignited Minds: "I have dwelt upon my own experiences that made me aware of the energy field, which is created by a vision. It is a power that arises from deep within you. This power is the basis for the movement towards excellence we saw at the time of Independence. I have been touched by this power on many occasions while facing a challenge. Pre-Independence India reverberated with it. It helped us humble a mighty empire."

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