Queries by the Media that has access to the Bari Committee Report but to which, though Sabrang trust has requested, we have no copy!
1. Committee has observed that Sabrang Trust was not eligible for the grants from MoHRD since “education” has not been aim and objective of the Sabrang Trust, still MoHRD released funds to it.
Response: The Committee appears to have taken a very narrow view of “education”. It may be noted that for over two decades ago, Teesta Setalvad conceived of a programme for school children which she called “KHOJ: Education for a Plural India”. As a project of Sabrang Trust, the KHOJ innovative educational modules evolved by her have been successfully implemented in both privately run and civic corporation-run schools in Mumbai and elsewhere in Maharashtra over the years. Prior permission for a team of KHOJ teachers to run these classes in the Mumbai Municipal Corporation run schools, for example, was granted by the MMC’s Education Officer, year after year, including the years when the project was funded by HRD. An HRD Joint Evaluation team, comprising of an official each from the Centre and Maharashtra’s education department, evaluated the KHOJ project before the grant was sanctioned. Another similar Joint Evaluation Team (JET) reviewed the progress of the project mid-way through the grant in February 2012. The JET concluded among other things: “Overall, the objectives and efforts under the KHOJ project are undoubtedly laudable since not only do they cater to the need to promote secularism and peace education, which should be a priority, but also since there is hardly any effort otherwise in mainstream schools to address these aspects. How crucila it is to reach out to the children especially of the urban poor from the slum areas comes across very strongly in the anecdotes shared by KHOJ teachers with the JET…”
It may also be noted that the KHOJ project was funded by MHRD under its “Scheme of Assistance under Innovative and Experimental Education Programmes — Grants to Voluntary agencies under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.
It may further be noted that in 2007 Sabrang Trust received a Registration Certificate from the FCRA department of Union Home Ministry under the cateogries: “Educational, Social” based on the department’s scrutiny of Sabrang Trust’s ‘Indenture of Trust’.
The Aims and Objectives of Sabrang Trust as spelt out in para 3 of its Indenture of Trust (a copy of which was supplied to the HRD Ministry while applying for the Grant) are as follows: “Promoting Communal Harmony in India, Promoting Friendship between all peoples and particularly between the peoples of India and its neighbours, combating all kinds of bigotry and intolerance, which create inter-religious strife and differences among people, promoting rationalism and tolerance… and to do all things whichever which in the option of the trustees bring about the aforesaid objects…”
In view of all that has been stated above, we are unable to appreciate how the Committee reached the conclusion that education is not part of the aims and objects of Sabrang Trust.
2. The Committee has also observed that the Sabrang Trust had political agenda of holding the state of Gujarat in low esteem.
Response: This is completely baseless. The education project is concerned with deepening Constitutional values within the school social studies and history curriculum.