How a statesman’s obduracy changed State’s politics forever
The Hindu
How a statesman’s obduracy changed State’s politics forever
On June 1, 1953, at a conference in Madras, Chief Minister C. Rajagopalachari declared to Education Department officials from across the State, “I tell you frankly that we are really on the brink of a historic change. It is not merely a change in the educational practice. It is a change in the whole of our life organisation towards progress”. The conference was to discuss the implementation of the Modified Scheme of Elementary Education (MSEE), remembered today as the infamous ‘kula kalvi thittam’ (family vocation scheme). It was brought in through a circular in April 1953 without the consultation it deserved within and outside the government. In short, the scheme introduced two shifts for Classes I to V by reducing school hours to three. The students were to spend the other half learning a craft by helping their parents (if they belonged to occupational classes) or learn a craft from a farmer or a craftsman in the village.
Rajaji doggedly believed that the scheme would fix what he perceived as the key problems in the schooling system. He despised long school hours, terming them as “imprisoning” of students. He believed that the education system created an aversion to manual labour and village life. The more palatable reason given was that the scheme would help achieve free and compulsory education for all children as envisioned under Article 45 of the Constitution. Highlighting budgetary limitations, the government argued that the shift system would easily double the enrolment by doubling the schools’ capacity without additional resources. In 1950-51, only 47.8% of the children aged 6-12 were in schools.
For the opponents, Rajaji’s views on the varnashrama dharma and preservation of village life overshadowed such reasons. In his seminal research thesis on MSEE in 1980-81 and published posthumously as the book, Half a Day for Caste? Education and Politics in Tamil Nadu, 1952-55, D. Veeraraghavan, who taught at IIT-Madras, says Rajaji’s views on the varnashrama dharma were more conservative than those of Mahatma Gandhi. “Though a reformer who championed the cause of the untouchables and women, he [Rajaji] never sought to destroy the existing social framework or replace it with a more egalitarian one... He believed in the continuance of the family apprenticeship,” he says.
Rajaji’s conviction was evident from the fact that he wanted to introduce it even when he was the Premier of Madras Presidency in 1937-39. However, the then Director of Public Instruction, R.M. Statham, had reservations and introduced it instead as an option in the Periyakulam taluk in the present-day Theni district. But none opted for it. Determined to introduce the scheme at the next opportunity, Rajaji set the ball rolling soon after he became the Chief Minister in 1952. He did not bother taking his party or the Cabinet into confidence. No one knew about it, except a few officials and Education Minister M.V. Krishna Rao.
As the scheme came into force in June, the opposition was widespread and cut across political lines; even many Congress members were against it. A section of the opponents wanted to believe in Rajaji’s intent owing to his stature and personal integrity, but criticised the way it was being enforced in a hurry without discussions or being tried out in a smaller area.
Those at the forefront of the opposition were the Dravidar Kazhagam and its offshoot, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), which had not entered electoral politics then. They alleged that the scheme’s ulterior motive was to protect the caste system and deny progress through education to children of the downtrodden communities.
The second half of 1953, especially July, proved to be a politically turbulent period, owing to protests against MSEE and the materialisation of efforts to carve out the State of Andhra from Madras Presidency. In July, the mummunai porattam (a three-pronged struggle) of the DMK against MSEE and imposition of Hindi, and to condemn Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru for belittling the party’s agitations, resulted in a few deaths in police firing.