Bratya Basu rejects Dharmendra Pradhan’s mid-day meal, NEP allegations
Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and state Education minister Bratya Basu on Saturday rejected as baseless the allegations made by Union Education minister Dharmendra Pradhan against the Bengal government over Mid-Day Meal funds.
“If any such complaint is found anywhere, anyone can file an FIR regarding the matter,” said Basu, adding that none of which has come to the knowledge of the government. Pradhan was here in Kolkata to address a BJP teachers’ cell conference.
Countering Pradhan’s claim that the Bengal government was not implementing the National Education Policy (NEP), Basu said the state had adopted its own Education Policy in 2023, incorporating all acceptable provisions of the NEP.
He added that the policy also includes measures safeguarding West Bengal’s interests and existing practices, making it more advanced. Since education is on the concurrent list, Basu argued, the state government is empowered to follow its own policy.
Pradhan also alleged that while the NEP promotes education in the mother tongue, the Bengal government was unwilling to allow education in Bengali. Responding to the charge, Bratya Basu said the state offers more advanced facilities for mother-tongue education than many other states.
“To ensure mother-tongue education in West Bengal, arrangements have been made not only for Bengali but also for Santhali, Rajbanshi, Kamtapuri, Urdu, Hindi, Nepali, and several other mother tongues. Moreover, for the development of the Bengali language, this government, through its institution ILSR, has achieved recognition for Bengali as a Classical Language,” Basu added.
After Pradhan alleged that Bengal has the highest number of teacher-less schools in the country, Bratya Basu said the data contained inconsistencies for multiple reasons. He explained that the education portal included several private aided schools that were shut down after their teacher strength fell to zero, but continued to appear as government schools due to their UDISE numbers.
“These have been identified, and a corrected portal will be published shortly,” the minister added.
