Minister for Education, IT and Electronics, Nara Lokesh, has created a roadmap for cleaning the academic sector much before he took charge as the Minister.
The young leader focussed on the problems being faced by the poor students before assuming charge at the State Secretariat and conducted a meeting with the senior officials of the Education Department on June 15 at his residence. When the officials informed Lokesh that textbooks are not being supplied to the Intermediate students of the government colleges, a concerned Lokesh asked how the students can pursue their studies without the textbooks. He immediately ordered the officers to take measures to supply not only the textbooks and notebooks but also other necessary material to the students.
When the officials told Lokesh that the total expenditure for supplying the textbooks, notebooks and other material will be about Rs 33 cr, the Minister without even thinking for a minute, asked them not to bother about the expenditure but to initiate immediate measures to supply all the material to the students. Lokesh even took measures to issue the necessary GO within a matter of three days and now measures are being initiated to supply the books and other material on a war footing basis.
Lokesh who, during his Yuva Galam pada yatra, has experienced how the lives of the youth is getting destroyed with drug abuse, particularly on the campuses of schools, colleges and universities, is making preparations to form a joint action committee which will take steps to totally end the drug abuse on the campuses of educational institutions. On learning that the previous government has not released funds for basic amenities in the government schools, Lokesh ordered the officials to immediately take steps to provide all basic facilities to the students in the government colleges and that the process should be completed in one year.
This apart, the Minister is keen that the teachers should not be assigned any other duty except teaching to ensure that the children get quality education. Also, Lokesh has taken a decision to bring in radical changes in the mid-day meal scheme so that quality food is supplied to the students. What is more important is that Lokesh is formulating an action plan for operation cleansing of all the universities in the State to improve the entire system to global standards as all the universities in the State got totally damaged during the previous government.
Since many professor posts have been lying vacant for the past five years, the Minister has decided to take measures to fill the post at the earliest possible and also to reopen the schools that have been closed during the YSRCP rule. Arrangements are also being made to clear all the pending dues under Vidya Deevena and Vasanthi Deevena so that the certificates, retained by the educational institutions as the dues are pending, are issued to the students.
Lokesh strongly believes that where there is will there is way and thus initiated steps to cleanse the whole academic system before he assumed charge as the Minister. The officials, who are aware of the perspective of Lokesh, too are making arrangements to complete the tasks as scheduled. This is the difference between a person who always thinks about destruction and demolition and the leader with a vision who always strives for the welfare of the people.