Money lost through the 2 G Spectrum Scam equals funding for Right to Education Act for five years

The 2 G Spectrum Scam has been in the news for some time. Sources state that 1,76 lakh crores were lost to the national exchequer in the process. Parliament has been at a standstill. This is being described as one of the greatest acts of corruption in Indian history. The extent of the waste has been truly spectacular. However, what is significant for an education activist is that the amount in question almost matches the total amount needed for the implementation of the Right to Education Act for the next five years.

The first six months of the implementation of RTE had been mired in the question of allocation of resources with the Centre and States arguing over their respective share of the allocation. Most of the milestones of the first nine months have been missed. The implementation is only slowly beginning to start in earnest. The amount of money that they argued for was just a small fraction of what had been lost in the absence of oversight.

This colossal waste is doubly unfortunate considering the staggering gaps in the delivery of the education system where (by the government's own figures) almost half the elementary schools in the country lack such basics like a toilet for girls- in fact one in three lacks a toilet of any kind. One in five lacks drinking water (potable or otherwise). One in ten remain single teacher schools where a single hard pressed teacher takes five grades simultaneously. Two in three schools do not have electricity. Not surprisingly, nine in ten schools in this self declared emergent superpower lack computers in the 21st Century. Imagine what could have been done if this money was ploughed back into improving these most glaring of gaps. Imagine, what would have happened if the State used its resources responsibly. Imagine, what would happen in the country when these and equally pressing soft infrastructural gaps- like teacher training are also met.