The Right to Education Act...... infringing my rights?

The government of India, supported by practically everybody, has passed the right to education act. What I understand from whatever the newspapers say is that, basically and characteristically, the government has shrugged off the responsibility to provide basic education to all the citizens, and has passed the onus to all schools, including private ones.

All private schools must now keep a segment of the seats for students from "financially disadvantaged" families.

So far, so good. The latent commie inside the heart of every educated person tells me to cheer loudly. To join the landslide of applause for what is being touted as probably the only good thing this government has done.

But then the chap who has worked like the proverbial dog to give his son one of the best educations in the country talks to me from the grave. (I happen to have a Jesuit schooling, REC engineering, and IIM management. Some of the best this country can give.)

My dad, being a educated middle-class guy, had to slog his butt off to give me a decent education. He had only one child, and did his best by that kid, i.e. me.

Shouldn't I resent it when the neighbourhood drunk gets a similar, or better, education for his passel of birth control failures?

I pay a huge sum of money every quarter to get my son educated. Money earned out of my sweat and tears, and my parents' sweat and tears. Since I, even with my FMCG middle management salary, cannot afford to pay twice that amount, I don't have a second child.

Do I need to cheer and applaud when someone else, without spending a dime, without reducing his intake of countrymade hooch, without cutting down on his expenditures at dance bars and red light areas, gets the same education for his kids? And for all of his kids, irrespective of how many snotty brats his wife has given birth to? Whatever happened to hum do hamare do? Or is it meant only for the tax-paying citizens?

The RTE is a gross insult to me, my parents, and all of the middle class people who have slogged, or are slogging, to get their kids a good education.

The RTE will lead to a population explosion of the most undesirable sort. The sloths, the lazy, the indolent, the addicts, will be able to see their DNA spread without much effort. The people who, by Darwinian selection, should have been de-selected, will remain to corrupt the world. (I realise I am sounding like a right-wing preacher here, but that's not the intention).

Just to make it clear, I am not against poor people moving up in life. What I am against are the freebies being given out in the form of a expensive schooling. This is not a government subsidy, but a forcible tax on good schools to take non-paying students. We all have seen how excellent higher education institutions can be made through government funding and highly subsidized fees, e.g. IITs, IIMs, REC/NITs, etc. Why not basic schooling?

Lest it be seen anti-poor, I will refrain from mentioning the ill effect on the kids from both sides. My 5 year old might learn to swear, and the drunk's 8 year old will learn to ask for theme birthday parties.

Ah well, I might as well fold up. I am sure there are people in this world who love to share their Scotch with random street bums...... those guys will surely massacre me!!!