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ShareMumbai: The most important function of education at any level is to hone one's skills in a way that would not only benefit self but others as well.
--Grayson Kirk, former president, Columbia University
Neeraj K Pawan, 29-year-old district collector-cum-magistrate of Karauli, a small district in Rajasthan, took these words to heart when he had to appoint a sarpanch for Ganwada Meena village, following the death of Rampal Meena.
Eleven applications landed on Pawan's table, all from ward members, mostly with the 'I-am-the-best' attitude. But Pawan, an MSc in clinical psychology, sought recourse to the epithet 'the best suited one is the one who is educated'.
Karauli, with a population of 4,500, depends on the Centre-driven National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) for a livelihood. So, only an educated sarpanch would have a proper understanding of the schemes, their potential and how they could be best applied for the betterment of his folks, reasoned Pawan, an IAS officer (2003 batch).
Accordingly, he commissioned a written examination based on the scheme, wherein multiple-choice questions would gauge the candidates' knowledge. Most of the overzealous, and now discomfited, aspirants protested: "Is there such a law?" Pawan shot back: "Were they aware of the law in the first place?" This repartee clearly punched a hole into their initial intransigence.
D-day arrived and eight of the 11 aspirants turned up. A few moments later, five chickened out on the pretext that the posers appeared Greek to them - a euphemism to shield the fact that they were illiterate.
Of the three in the fray -Ramsahay Meena, Magan Meena and Teekaram Meena - Ramsahay stood first, having scored nine out of 20 marks and took over the sarpanch's position.
With elections round the corner, there are two lessons ensconced. One, it knocks on the door of our conscience to elect only those well-versed in their field, as our future lies in their hands for five years. Two, and perhaps more importantly, democracy would do well with samaritan bureaucrats like Pawan, whose actions hinge on the dictum 'may the best man win'.
