DC DEBATE: Modi’s Teachers’ Day speech lacked vision; it was more of a PR exercise

An attempt to be ‘Chacha Nehru’

If one goes by the circular dated August 29, issued by the directorate of education, to organise a live transmission of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s interaction with 14 million students, enrolled in 1.8 million schools across India, the Prime Minister’s Teachers’ Day talk catered to, as one author put it, “His fundamental urge to talk not about the problems faced by our five million teachers or even about children but his favourite subject — himself”.
The talk seemed more like a “doodh par charcha” version of his well-managed, PR campaign — “chai par charcha” — targeting a potential electoral base of 2019. The only difference was that this time around it wasn’t Mr Modi’s influential friends, but us taxpayers who picked up the '150 crore tab for it.
It’s an irony that the Prime Minister used the occasion to stress on the importance of building toilets for girls in schools, by forcing lakhs of rickety schools across India to spend every single paisa from their meagre funds to buy a plasma TV to watch him say that, instead of building those elusive toilets for schoolgirls! But then, in Mr Modi’s book, style always makes up for substance and events rank higher than basic needs.
Style must make up for substance at such events because most scientific literature, except of course for the stuff churned out by Dinanath Batra on environmental science, would find it impossible to link climate change and growing old, as hinted by
Mr Modi in his speech to young impressionable minds.
I have no reservations about Mr Modi trying to do a “Chacha Nehru” and connecting with kids, even if, as columnist M.K. Venu put it, in doing so Mr Modi “at a subliminal level is trying to emulate someone whose memory he (and surely his backers in Nagpur) want erased from public consciousness”. On the contrary, I would be happy if Mr Modi imitated Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on a range of issues, especially Nehru’s conviction to speak on maintaining communal harmony and celebrating our pluralism, on which Mr Modi, quite uncharacteristically, has been silent while his colleagues, from Yogi Adityanath to Mohan Bhagwat, have been setting the agenda.
I’m also happy that
Mr Modi for the first time in his reign of over three months, U-turns on Pakistan policy and unfulfilled promises, took some questions.
So what if they were pre-screened and rehearsed queries from young kids and not from editors and journalists who often grilled Dr Manmohan Singh every few months!

Shehzad Poonawalla is a lawyer and activist and has served in the ministry of parliamentary affairs during the UPA government

Modi is a master of innovation

For the first time, after the Inde-pendence of India, we have seen a Prime Minister who is innovative and thinks about connecting with the masses and involving them in the democratic discourse in every way possible. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s interaction with students — our country’s future — in this respect is laudable.
His critics in the Central government are opposing the interaction of the Prime Minister with students by calling it propaganda. Throughout the Prime Minister’s interaction or even in his speech there was not a single reference to anything political, no statement that could be construed as an attempt to influence young minds.
Aren’t children a part of our nation? Will they not be the voters of tomorrow and decide the fate and future of our country? Such an interaction builds a sense of belongingness that is essential in a vibrant democracy like ours. Those days are gone when children were called in to sing songs and clap at government functions. They are now a part of a thinking and vibrant democracy. Some people also tried to give a regional and political colour to the event by raking up the Gurutsav controversy. But I want to ask these people, don’t we call our teachers gurus, revere them and treasure their contribution in our lives?
Questions from all regions and perspectives were taken up by the Prime Minister at the event organised under the leadership of human resource development minister Smriti Irani. There was no imposition of the government’s view on students as far as their questioning was concerned. For example, Mr Modi was asked by a student in Imphal as to how he (a chaiwala) became the Prime Minister of the country. His answer was inspirational and touching, making every child feel that s/he too could reach such a pinnacle.
The Prime Minister spoke frankly and answered the questions sensitively, making the students feel at ease. He also indirectly highlighted the inclusive aspects of our democracy, the real spirit behind the exercise that is being criticised by vested interests.
Through this interaction, the Prime Minister once again established that he is a master of innovation, and that he can connect with the masses and touch their hearts.
This was the first such interaction by a top leader of our country and I really hope that this won’t be the last. In fact, the government should go ahead and make it a regular affair for other sections of society as well, rather than limiting it to students for the yearly Teachers’ Day event.

(As told to Nitin Mahajan)

Dr Awanijesh Awasthy is former president of National Democratic Teachers’ Front, and associate professor at Delhi University