RTE Judgment: Minority Schools won’t teach minority poor

Every child in India should have a fundamental right to basic education. With this laudable aim the 86^th Amendment of the Constitution was introduced by adding Section A to Article 21 in our Constitution in 2002 during the NDA regime. The idea was mooted originally by Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi, the NDA HRD Minister.

Although the Amendment was introduced in 2002 the NDA government went down subsequently and it took almost 5 years for the UPA government to bring a legislation in line with Art 21 A and make the right of children to free and compulsory education a reality. Thus in 2009 came the new act - “Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act – 2009” (RTE Act in brief).

It is a known fact in our country that there is a huge disparity when it comes to educational opportunities for the children of the poor, the middle class and the rich. While the rich and even the middle class have ample options to choose in the form of public schools, residential schools, convents etc the children of the poor and low-income families have little choice in the education of their child. The dysfunctional government school system or some charities are their only refuge.

Over the decades very little success has been achieved in improving our government-sponsored school system. Conditions in government schools remain pathetic despite grandiose plans and infusion of huge funds. While the world of basic education, along with that of secondary and higher education, is undergoing tremendous transformation with newer methods and tools being introduced the government schools lack even the basic amenities like good teachers, electricity, buildings etc. Teaching tools like computers are a distant dream.

No wonder the literacy rates in our country remains hovering around 73-74% even according to the 2011 census figures. 26% illiterates means there are almost 300 million illiterates in our country. That makes India the land of world’s largest illiterate population.

In that context RTE Act is a commendable initiative. It is also commendable that the Act envisaged a role for private educational institutions also in delivering this social responsibility of making every Indian child literate. Under the Act all educational institutions providing primary education – public and private, aided and unaided alike - have been obligated to reserve 25% seats for the children of the poor and underprivileged. And every child in the age group of 6 to 14 is extended a right to free primary education.

No doubt there will certain difficulties with regard to implementation of this noble scheme. I am reminded of a scheme introduced in Andhra Pradesh in the 80s by the then Chief Minister Mr. N.T. Rama Rao. Under that scheme all hotels in the state have been ordered to sell eatables at the rates prescribed by the government. The idea was to make food available for poor people at affordable prices. Price and quantity of each item was prescribed by the government – a couple of idlis with given weight should be sold for Rs. 2. Initially everybody was happy about the affordability. But soon the hoteliers came up with a novel scheme. They announced two sets of menus in the same hotel - one for the government products and the other for the normal products. In a way it led to a class division in the same hotel.

The new education scheme too is fraught with such implementation related hiccups. If the children of the poor and the rich go to same school how will they mingle? Will it end class divisions in our society at the child level or it will lead to introduction of class divisions in classrooms itself? Right from the uniform they wear to food they carry to stationary they use how would the children of the poor and the rich mingle with each other well is a question to be addressed when the time comes. In any case every effort for social transformation is fraught with some such minor hiccups and I am sure that sooner than later the situation will change and we would be able to create a more egalitarian atmosphere in the society by imparting those values at the primary education level itself.

But no one can deny that the private educational institutions too have a responsibility in educating the poor of the country. It is unfortunate that these institutions, for various reasons, decided to oppose the RTE Act. Not all wanted to shirk their social responsibility; many have other concerns like government’s unwarranted interference in their functioning through this Act etc.

It is heartening that the Supreme Court through a 3-Judge Constitutional Bench upheld the RTE Act and mandated that all the institutions – public and private, aided and unaided alike – must provide 25% seats for the children of the SC & ST and other underprivileged sections of the society. The Court also mandated that the RTE Act should come into being in this academic year itself. That means the state governments have to urgently frame the rules for the implementation of this Act.

However the SC judgment disappoints on one count. While the Central Government wanted all educational institutions to share this responsibility of educating our children the Supreme Court exempts the unaided Minority institutions from that social obligation. One of the three learned judges held that all the private institutions must be excluded from the RTE Act purview. However the majority of the Bench differed and said that only the unaided Minority institutions will be excluded and they need not provide 25% for poor children. The learned judges arrived at that conclusion on a very technical and hence contestable ground that such a provision will change the ‘basic character’ of the institution. The Supreme Court is expected to go beyond technicalities take the spirit of the Constitution into account.

Even this premise that the ‘basic character’ of the minority institutions will change if they implement the RTE Act is debatable because the character of the minority institution is derived from the management – which according to law should have majority members from minority community – and not from the children who study there. In fact a large number of minority institutions have students from non-minority communities in majority.

The learned judges of the Supreme Court have fallen back on the usual argument that Art 29 and 30 of our Constitution provide certain immunity to minority institutions. Art 29 and 30 have been incorporated in our Constitution as ‘educational and cultural rights of the minorities’. And the RTE Act also wants to uphold the right of children to education. Then how can it be pitted against those articles? At the most the Court should have said that the unaided minority institutions should provide 25% seats to the poor and underprivileged among the minorities. To exempt them from this social responsibility completely under the garb of Art 29 & 30 is an incorrect decision that needs to be challenged at an appropriate forum.

This also brings up the insensitivity and irresponsibility of the minority institutions to the fore. They vociferously opposed the RTE Act in the Supreme Court and unlike the other private institutions, succeeded in convincing the Court to exclude them. It doesn’t need great wisdom to state that the minority communities in India have a good number of poor and underprivileged people as members. In fact on many occasions the minority community leaders argue before the same Supreme Court for various rights like SC reservations etc in the name of the poor among their flock. It shows their utter disregard for the poor in their communities that when it comes to providing free education to the children of their own poor they shrug off their responsibility. It shows the minority leadership in true colours. For them only the numbers matter but not the social conditions within their community.

It is a sad commentary that the Supreme Court lets them off the hook when it comes to providing basic education to the poor and underprivileged children of their communities. It is well-known that many of the most expensive schools in our country are minority-run schools. It is also well-known that they provide education not to the pupils of their community but those of the rich families of the majority who can afford the astronomical fee.

The SC order states that they can happily continue to do so while the responsibility of the poor and underprivileged among the minority community will be borne by the schools run by the non-minority. They should do that without any prejudice because that is the ethos of the country. But let the poor and underprivileged among the minorities understand that when it comes to uplifting them the so-called minority leaders show no sympathy or sense of responsibility. At least that is one of the major meanings of the SC order on the RTE Act.

  

No Reservations in Lokpal Please! Let one Act be for All Indians

It is clear now. Nobody wants the Lokpal Bill to be passed in Parliament. The ruling party has always betrayed unease at the prospect of a strong Lokpal for reasons not difficult to fathom. The Opposition, although seemed committed to the idea of an institutional mechanism to combatinstitutionalised corruption, is apprehensive of the motives of the Government. Some stakeholdershave problems with the haste in passing it - wanting it to be passed in just three days; others have problems with certain sleight of hand tactics of the ruling party like the introduction ofreligion-based reservations through backdoor. Team Anna meanwhile has its own concerns, the primary one being their belief in the finality of their own wisdom which the Government draft wishes to negate. Passage of the Bill using the characteristic brute power by the Government may do double damage - it will take  the wind out of the issue while at the same time render the entire 8-month old movement redundant. The Left parties have a point when they question the tearing haste with which the Bill is sought to be passed. Such an important legislation should have been discussed sufficiently before it is passed. But the Government has no time. Anna's threat of another fast and another nationwide movement looms over the Government. It can't risk this at a time when it is heading for crucial elections in the coming months. However, Gurudas Dasgupta's comment that 'the Government is scared of an ex-bureaucrat, an ex-cop and someone who pretends to be the modern-day Mahatma' is quite uncharitable. He should instead have questioned the motives of the Government for bringing this Bill before the House at the fag end of the Winter Session. There can't be any justification for this delay. This is the simple and age-old technique of procrastination that all governments follow with legislations that they don't really want to pass. That the leaders of the Government were never interested in this Bill became obvious on several occasions in the last few months. Their handling of anti-corruption movements, be it led by Anna or Ramdeo, clearly betrayed their utter antipathy to the idea of Lokpal. It got reinforced by their farcical negotiations with Team Anna. Team Anna had to finally walk out of the negotiation room realising that the Government is just not interested. Naturally for the Government all that is needed is an excuse to not pass the Bill. The way it was drafted and the craftiness with which the irrelevant issue of Minority reservations got tagged to it bares the real intentions of the Government. Senior and respected Minister Pranab Mukharjee tried a trick in the Parliament when he insisted that the question of Minority reservations as part of Lokpal Bill is a question of Legislative competence of the House. This is an utterly fraudulent argument. Firstly, the Lokpal is not an institution for empowerment. It is an institution for eradicating corruption. What we needed were provisions to pick up people with enough profile to tackle corruption irrespective of caste, creed, language, sex or religion. All these considerations are necessary only when we promulgate laws for affirmative action. In that sense Pranabda's argument of Legislative competence is misleading. Secondly it is a wise trap in which it appeared that even the Opposition had initially walked into. The line of argument of some Members of the Opposition that the courts will reject such legislation indicates this amply. What needs to be made clear is that the question is not whether the courts will uphold the provision or not; the question is whether the Constitution permits such a legislation to be passed. In that sense the Legislature is not competent to promulgate or pass any Law that goes against the Constitution. Reservations based on religion have no sanction in our Constitution. Enough discussion took place on this subject in the Constituent Assembly and a decision was taken to extend reservations only to the Scheduled Castes and Tribes. The courts too have reminded this aspect to the governments several times before. The courts have additionally stipulated that reservations shouldn't exceed 49% in any given situation. Yet for the Government to propose that there will be a 50% reservation for SC, ST, OBC, women and minorities in Lokpal appointments is sheeraudacity. As opined rightly by the BJP, this is an attempt to bring in minority reservations by the back door. This unconstitutional act must be resisted. Unabashed Minorityism has taken a heavy toll on our national unity and integrity. It can't be allowed to continue for narrow political gains. It doesn't help the minorities either. They better realise it. Some parties, especially the Congress, have the habit of flaunting this Minority card every time they are in trouble or they need some electoral dividends. Before the previous round of State elections they raised the false bogey of Ranganath Mishra Commission report and made promises to the minorities. Elections were over and everybody forgot about it. Just before the last General Election they again raised the issue of Sachar Committee Report. Lot of din followed. Elections were over and the Government forgot about it. Now since the ruling party is in trouble they started this cacophony about minority reservations again. Even the proposed Communal and Targeted Violence Bill is a desperate act to mislead the gullible sections of the minority community. Let the members of those communities realise this game of the Congress party and its allies. Let the Government also be clear that the country won't tolerate such politics anymore. The larger question to be asked at least now is that can't we think of Indians even once to pass a legislation like Lokpal which wants to tackle the humongous problem of corruption that affects every citizen of our country irrespective of whether he is a Hindu or a Muslim or a Christian; or whether he is a Brahmin or a Thakur or a Baniya or a Harijan? If we make caste, religion or sex a criterion for selection in Lokpal committee we are falsifying the very constitution of it and creating divisions at the very inception level itself. How can then the committee be expected to be impartial? The very logic of selection through sectional representation will lead to protection of sectional interests. And that will be the nemesis of the Lokpal. (Views expressed here are my own)

REANGS - VICTIMS OF RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION IN MIZORAM

They are popularly known in the North East as Reangs. They are the non-Christian tribe, whose original name is Bru. They inhabited the southern parts of the Christian dominated state of Mizoram. Being non-Christian in a Christian state had its price. Repeatedly subjected to persecution at the hands of the Mizo population as well as the political dispensation the Reangs - or the Bru people - were finally hounded out of the state during prolonged communal strife in 1997. It is 14 years since they had become refugees in their own land. Escaping from the marauders thousands of Reangs - men, women and children - fled into the neighbouring state of Tripura. For the last 14 years they have been living there in 7 different relief camps. A total population of nearly 35,000 these Reang refugees today lead a pathetic life. Internally Displaced Persons - IDPs - are supposed to be the responsibility of the Union Government. However the Government at the Center is too busy placating the gun-weilding terror groups in the North East and it has no time for these hapless Reang refugees. The Tripura State Government tries to do its little but that is grossly insufficient for the thousands of Reangs. They live in most inhospitable mountainous region in the North Tripura distrct along the Mizoram border. There is no water or electricity facility. Thousands of thatched huts dot hill after the hill in the region. Obviously there are no schools or hospitals. For living they depend mostly on the forests in the region. Able men and women venture into the forests and fetch firewood or teak and sell it in the nearby town to make some earning. But that too is not possible during mansoon months and in any case very few among the refugees can endure such physical labour under such had conditions. The ration that they get is shockingly low - Rs. 5 per day and 450 gms of rice per day for elders and half of it for the children. How on earth can anyone survive with Rs. 5 a day? A total of around 35,000 people survive on that meagre ration in these inhospitable jungles today. There are seven camps in total. Details of the refugee population in the camps are as follows: Camp Families Persons 1. Nayasinha Pada 3052 17668 2. Asha Pada 982 5000 3. Hazachera 770 3000 4. Kaisaka Pada 599 3800 5. Khakchang Pada 208 1300 6. Hansa Pada 312 1925 7. Naisau Pada 231 1500 The travails of these Reangs began the day they demanded a separate Autonomous District Council for them in Mizoram. Sometime in the middle of 1997 organisations like the Young Bru Association (YBA) and Bru Social Cultural Organisation (BSCO) started talking about this Council. No sooner had this demand reached Mizo organisations the retaliation began. Groups like Young Mizo Association (YMA) and Mizo Zyalai Powl (MZP), a local Christian Mizo group, started threatening the Bru people to withdraw the demand for autonomous council. Thereafter began the assault on the hapless minority Reangs. Their houses were attacked and ransacked, burnt down, looted, cattle were killed, elders were harassed, women folk abused and all this happened in front of the Government which chose to turn a blind eye. It is a known fact that several such autonomous councils exist in the states of the North East for various tribes. In that sense there was nothing unconstitutional about the demand of the Reangs. In fact there was a reason behind Reangs making this demand. For a long time they had been facing acute hardships at the hands of the majority Mizos in the areas where they traditionally lived. This discrimination reached its crescendo when the lists containing the names of the Bru people as voters had been mysteriously burnt down in a fire accident. In the subsequent re-enumeration names of hundreds of Bru people were deliberately omitted. This forced the Bru leaders to go in for the demand of autonomous council in order to protect and preserve their identity. Yet they had to face the brunt of the Mizo people and run away into the neighbouring state of Tripura seeking refuge. For the last 14 years they have been living in the jungles of the Kanchanpur sub-division of Tripura North district. Tripura Government under Sri Manik Sarkar does extend a lot of support to these refugees. In June this year a devastating fire had destroyed the thatched huts of these refugees in the densely populated Nayasinh Pada refugee camp. 24 Reangs lost their lives while thousands became home and hearthless. The Tripura State Government immediately arranged for relief and rehabilitation. District Collecter Ms. Soumya Gupta camped in the forest for ten full days to ensure that the refugees are properly rehabilitated. When I visited the camp in August this years the refugees were full of gratitude for the Government and especially the District Collecter. What struck me the most was that in the meagre rations that they receive the Reangs have saved enough money collectively to build two temple - one for Bhagwan Shiva and the other for Bhagwan Ram. They were building those temples through their own contributions and voluntary labour. The District Administration is arranging for schools, water, rough roads etc. However the central issue of their repatriation remains unanswered. The Central Government shows least interest in the plight of these refugees. Various international agencies too visit them from time to time but do little. For example representatives of the European Union visited the camps after the fire disaster. Many promises ensued. But nothing ever reached them. Their leaders understand that they shouldn't expect anything from these international bodies as they are non-Christians and their tormentors are Mizos. Whatever help they get is from the Tripura State administration and organisations like the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram only. Even after the recent fire accident also the Kalyan Ashram has arranged for substantial relief material to help the victims. Apathy of the Central Government and reticence of the Mizoram Government make solution to the problem of the Reangs difficult. Last year the Mizoram Government succeeded in dividing the Reang leadership and buy over a section of the leaders. It came up with a oral repatriation plan according to which the people who return to Mizoram would be provided Rs. 80,000. Representatives of the Central Government force the refugees to accept the offer and return to Mizoram. However the Reang leadership is genuinely concerned about this offer. Firstly it is just an oral offer. Secondly except the meagre sum of Rs. 80,000 the Mizoram Government is not giving any other assurance to these people. For example they want to go back to the constituencies and districts where they can create enough numerical strength to ensure their own safety. But the Government refuses to allow them to change their native district or constituency. The Reangs know nothing exists in their native villages for them. They had to flee those villages precisely because they lacked any support. Now they are being forced to go back to the same places. The Government is not even assuring return of their old property. That means they have to go back and work as labour in the very fields which perhaps they owned some 20 years ago. The Reang leaders want a proper repartiation and resettlement plan. It should be properly written and documented. Talks for drafting this plan should be held in a free and fair manner. So far the tripartite talks between the Mizoram Government, Central Government and the Reang leaders used to take place in Aizwal only. In an intimidating atmosphere in Aizwal the Reangs fear that they can't get justice. The talks should take place in Agartala or Guwahati so that there can be free and frank discussion. The political rights of the Reangs need to be safeguarded in any such agreement failing which the entire community would loose its identity. Failure of the governments for years in finding a solution to their pathetic plight led to some Bru youngsters turning to the gun. They had a brush with terrorism through Bru National Liberation Front (BNLF) which made matters worse. While those who opted for the gun had been won over by the Mizoram Government through various offers and an MoU, those who wanted a peaceful and democratic settlement faced the brunt of it by way of sidelining of the real problem that the refugees face. Reangs are another case of religious persecution after the Kashmiri Pandits. Both have been persecuted for being a religious minority in their respective states. But there is a major difference. The world knows about the plight of the Pandits. They have some rights in their state in which the majority of them live. Although refugees for almost same period the Reangs have not been successful in selling their story to the outside world. Hence they suffer.... mostly silently in a remote corner of our country.

Revisiting our Political Institutions - Their Failures and Options for Betterment

For the text of my Speech on the above subject delivered as the annual lecture of Panchnad Shodh Sansthan at Amritsar on 25-09-11 please visit:


https://sites.google.com/site/rammadhav/lecture-at-amritsar-25-09-11

COMMUNAL & TARGETED VIOLENCE BILL - 2011

Text of my forthcoming book on the UPA Government's proposed Bill titled Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence (Justice and Reparations) Bill - 2011 is available at the link given below:

https://sites.google.com/site/rammadhav/communal-violence-bill

Statement issued at a Press Conference at Agartala, Tripura

by

Sri Ram Madhav, Member, Central Executive, RSS

27-08-11



FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION:

The country has witnessed an unprecedented upsurge of patriotic sentiments against the corrupt and arrogant political leadership of the country. Led by eminent non-political leaders like Sri Anna Hazare, Sri Ramdeo Baba and others this popular upsurge has demonstrated the unthinkable - that the power of the united society is paramount and the Government of the day must heed to the peaceful voices of millions of the countrymen - young and old, rich and poor, men and women.

The RSS has, through a resolution passed at Puttur, Karnataka in March this year, exhorted it's Swayamsevaks to fully support all the initiatives in the country against corruption in all forms. Following that resolution the RSS members have been actively supporting all these movements.

The RSS fully endorses the demand for a strong Lokpal that covers the office of the Prime Minister as well. The Government and some leaders of the ruling Party have demonstrated uncalled for arrogance in addressing the issues raised by Sri Anna Hazare. The RSS condemns this attitude and calls for sincere efforts by all parties to bring in effective Lokpal at the earliest.

While the Lokpal addresses one major dimension of the problem of corruption, there are several other dimensions to it like the black money. More importantly the fight against corruption will succeed only when it also includes fight against the corrupt. The RSS calls upon the countrymen to continue this campaign against corruption and extends full support from it's cadres to all the future initiatives in this direction.


COMMUNAL AND TARGETED VIOLENCE (PREVENTION) BILL:

Attempts by a section of the intelligentsia, under the garb of the National Advisory Council - NAC, to bring in a dangerous and draconian Bill with the above title are highly reprehensible. The NAC is just an NGO lacking any locus standi. It consists of a bunch of pseudo-intellectuals whose only credentials happen to be their anti-Hindu rhetoric and intimacy with Smt. Sonia Gandhi.

The Bill that they intend to force on the people of the country is dangerous for our already fragile social harmony situation. It is explicitly biased against the Majority community i.e. the Hindus. It projects them as solely responsible for the communal violence in the country.

Where a sincere effort to bring all the communities closer is urgently needed, there this Bill does just the opposite. It attempts to widen the gulf and acrimony between communities and thus is a fodder for anti-national and anti-Hindu forces.

The RSS warns that the country will not take this monstrous Bill lying down and resist it on all forums including political and popular ones.

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Government Should Accommodate Anna's Suggestions in the Lokpal Bill

Anna Hazare's decision to go on fast once again from 16 August is going to stir up nationwide reactions. It is clear from the response of the Government that there is enormous anxiety over how the proposed fast would turn out. Would it attract same attention nationally as it did before or it would fizzle out this time? Of course people in the Government would sincerely wish it fizzled out.

But the national mood doesn't seem to suggest that. Recent Times of India poll showed that about 80% urban youths strongly support Anna Hazare's campaign. That is bad news for the Government. It is the urban crowds - including film stars, young professionals, sportsters, university-going boys and girls - that attract maximum media attention. Our media's weakness for urbane things is too well-known. In fact Anna's fast on the previous occasion was a major success partly due to the attention it attracted from the media.

That is not to suggest that he doesn't command the support of rural populace. Corruption in our country has become so frustrating to every ordinary citizen - an urbanite and a rural man alike - that today anyone seen fighting against it will immediately receive the support of the whole country. No section in the country is spared of this national disgrace. Corruption has become so virulent that the fed up nation jumps at any bandwagon that is seen to be a bulwark against it. People don't even want rationale - whether a particular form of protest is justified or not etc. They just don't want to tolerate this utterly corrupt regime for a single day more.

In fact Anna's agitation is a product of this public frustration and anger, so were the other agitations like that of Baba Ramdeo etc. The support they enjoy had been spontaneous and across the board. Some in the Government and the political establishment tried to give knee jerk reactions but ended up befooling themselves. They resorted to silly and superfluous campaigns like linking the popular anger against the corrupt that has manifested in Anna's and Ramdeo's movements to the RSS. They claimed, quoting intelligence sources, that the RSS was behind the movements and the leaders were only their 'mukhota' - frontmen. They even tried to justify their Fascist and unconstitutional midnight crack down on Ramdeo's supporters with the fictitious claim that they had intelligence inputs about massive mobilization by the RSS to further Baba's campaign.

As Pratap Bhanu Mehta stated in one of his articles, they were only enhancing the prestige of the RSS by making such allegations. The RSS has historically been playing an important role in all such public agitations. In seventies when Loknayak Jaya Prakash Narayan launched his historic campaign against the corrupt in the political establishment the RSS cadres too joined his campaign. The ABVP played a very important role in Loknayak's campaign. Later when Indira Gandhi imposed draconian Emergency and curbed all the fundamental rights of the citizens of the country the RSS cadres actively opposed her undemocratic rule and again joined the Lok Sangharsh Samiti campaign in big numbers. Even the BBC acknowledged the crucial role played by the RSS during those trying times to save our democracy describing it as "the only non-Leftist force".

But it must be noted that those movements were supported by many other sections of the society too, like the Socialists, the Gandhians etc. Even a section of the then Congress Party also finally joined Loknayak's movement.

This time too the RSS cadre have been playing a similar role only. They are not 'behind' anybody nor is anybody their 'mukhota'. They are WITH every movement that reflected and manifested the determination of the patriotic people to throw out this corrupt political establishment. They will continue to do so. Even in the forthcoming renewed agitation of Anna the RSS cadres, along with millions of other countrymen, would do thier utmost to make it a success.

Though there is a Government sponsored Lokpal Bill before the Parliament the agitators led by Anna say that it is just a hogwash. Government's steadfast opposition to including the Prime Minister, who is the first among the equals in the Cabinet, in the ambit of the Bill raises suspicions in the minds of the people about the intentions of the Government. Simply put, biggest strength of Anna and others is the utter lack of credibilty of this Government on the question of combating corruption. People believe Anna more than they believe even the Prime Minister whose facade of personal honesty stood thoroughly exposed today.

Anna's movement starting from Aug 16 is bound to attract huge support from the people. Government seems hell bent on crushing it. Any such misadventure will certainly recoil on the Government severely. Memories of the brutal crackdown on Ramdeo's supporters are still very fresh in the minds of the people. Reaction to it's highhandedness would be very serious this time. In stead the Government should try to accommodate the suggestions of Anna and others in it's draft Bill and then refer it to the Parliament. Even Anna agrees that the Parliament is the supreme authority in passing or not passing the Bill. In either case the Members will be answerable to the voters in their respective areas. That is the only option left for the Government now.