Samajwadi Party to Ban English and Computers!

The Samajwadi Party (SP) headed by former defence minister and ex-chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mulayam Singh Yadav releaed its manifesto on Saturday.  Cycle is the election symbol of the Samajwadi Party. 

 

Loaded with what the party considers to be populist measures, the SP promises to ban English in education and computers in new projects.  According to the SP, the ban on English will create a level playing field for all and minimum use of computer would generate more jobs.

 

The north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh where Mulayam Singh served as chief minister uses Hindu as the official language.  When Mulayam Singh became the defence minister, he used Hindi for government communication.  The Indian Constitution recommended adoption of Hindi as the national language.  But, 62 years after independence and 59 years after adoption of the constitution, Hindi has failed to replace English. 

 

This is mainly because Hindi is not a universal language in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 />India.   Hindi or its dialects are used mainly in the north Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar which is called the ‘cow belt’. Almost every state in India has a different language.  While some languages of the north are akin to India, the languages of south India and northeast India are very different from Hindi.

 

The Samajwadi Party’s vow to abolish every school that provides expensive education in English if it comes to power would take in its sweep all the public schools which are rated as top educational institutions.  Ironically, Mulayam’s two sons went to public schools which have English as the medium of instruction.

 

Speaking to reporters, Mulayam Singh contended that he was opposed to “the compulsory use of English language in education, administration and judiciary.”  Mulayam said he was for the national language, Hindi, and other regional languages.

Though Hindi and regional languages are being used in state administration, they have failed to replace English in federal administration. 

 

The main reasons because of which Hindi and regional languages are fighting a losing battle against English are: (1) there are not enough technical books in Hindi and regional languages for advanced studies; (2) Shifting to these languages would deprive the students of the wealth of knowledge in English books which are flooding the world markets; (3) it would also make it difficult for them to keep themselves posted of the latest development in different fields as these are published in English; and, (4) it would make it impossible for them to compete in the international job market.

 

As for the computers, there seems to be confusion in the party about it.  At first, they said computers would be withdrawn from jobs which can be done by hand.  This meant that every job where computers are being used would be scrapped. Later, they clarified that this policy would not be applied to the existing set up and that it would be implemented only in new projects which is likely to put new projects at a disadvantage.

 

If voted to power, the SP government would also work against mechanization of agriculture to provide employment to agricultural labour.  The SP manifesto also wants to bring the salaries of the corporate world at par with that of the government employees.  It is opposed to forward trading of stocks and Mall culture. 

 

In short, the SP is all set to take the nation back by decades if it comes to power.  The SP was the last party to join the United Progressive Alliance.  But, one wonders if its agenda is at all progressive.

 

Only the election results would prove whether the SP gets a mandate to take the nation backwards or whether the voters prevent the party from sabotaging progress.