Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday addressed a letter to President Droupadi Murmu, expressing robust opposition to the Centre’s resolution to “privatise” Sainik colleges throughout the nation. The senior Congress chief demanded a full reversal of the coverage and the cancellation of Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) related to it.
What Kharge talked about in letter?
In his two-page letter, Kharge emphasised the longstanding custom in Indian democracy of holding the armed forces separate from partisan politics, accusing the central authorities of violating this precept. “Having undermined institutions after institutions, in the grand plan of RSS to hurriedly thrust its ideology, they have dealt a body blow to the very nature and ethos of the Armed Forces. Imparting ideologically slanted knowledge in such institutions shall not only destroy inclusiveness but also damage the national character of the Sainik Schools, by influencing their character through partisan religious/corporate/family/social/cultural credos,” he wrote.
“Therefore, in the national interest, the Indian National Congress demands the complete rollback of this privatisation policy and annulment of these MoUs, so that children studying at Armed Forces Schools retain the desired character, vision and honour required for the service of the nation,” Kharge added.
Kharge mentions investigative report primarily based on RTI reply
Kharge introduced to President Murmu’s discover an investigative report primarily based on an RTI reply, which claimed that Sainik Schools are being privatised utilizing a brand new PPP mannequin launched by the federal government, and “now 62 per cent of these schools are said to be owned by the BJP-RSS leaders”.
“This is a blatant step to politicise the independent Sainik Schools – a preparatory platform which plays a leading role in sending cadets to the National Defence Academy (NDA) and Indian Naval Academy. Sainik Schools were established by India’s first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in 1961 and they have been the beacon of military leadership and excellence since then,” Kharge talked about within the letter.
Kharge stated there are 33 Sainik Schools within the nation they usually have been totally government-funded establishments operated below the aegis of the Sainik Schools Society (SSS), an autonomous physique below the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
