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Correspondent

23 August 2024 at 4:29:04 pm

Trust Reset

As the recent protests over the NEET paper leak showed, India’s examination system has reached a point where incremental repairs are no longer enough. The appointment of a high-powered task force on examination reforms, headed by technology pioneer Nandan Nilekani, is therefore not merely an administrative response to the NEET-UG paper leak crisis but a concrete attempt to rebuild confidence in one of the country’s most important public institutions. Examinations are gateways to opportunity,...

Trust Reset

As the recent protests over the NEET paper leak showed, India’s examination system has reached a point where incremental repairs are no longer enough. The appointment of a high-powered task force on examination reforms, headed by technology pioneer Nandan Nilekani, is therefore not merely an administrative response to the NEET-UG paper leak crisis but a concrete attempt to rebuild confidence in one of the country’s most important public institutions. Examinations are gateways to opportunity, social mobility and professional ambition. For millions of students across the country, a competitive examination represents years of sacrifice by families and the possibility of a better future. When question papers leak repeatedly, evaluation systems fail or allegations of manipulation emerge, the resulting damage strikes at the idea of fairness itself. The crisis surrounding NEET-UG exposed uncomfortable vulnerabilities in the country’s examination infrastructure. The resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and the subsequent appointment of Pralhad Joshi with additional charge of the ministry underlined the political seriousness of the issue. But political accountability alone cannot fix a structural problem. That is why the composition of the new task force is a move on the right direction. It brings together expertise from technology, space research, intelligence, education administration and logistics. Nilekani’s appointment is particularly significant. The former Infosys chief executive and architect of Aadhaar has experience in building large-scale digital public infrastructure involving hundreds of millions of citizens. The Aadhaar project itself was born out of a similar challenge: how to create a reliable identity system in a country where leakages and duplication weakened welfare delivery. India’s examination system now requires the same kind of thinking. The committee’s mandate to examine the entire examination lifecycle - from question paper creation and distribution to candidate verification, evaluation and results - is the right approach. The problem lies in multiple weak points where human intervention, poor security protocols and outdated processes can create opportunities for malpractice. Technology will inevitably be central to the solution. Artificial intelligence can help detect unusual patterns, blockchain-based verification can strengthen record security and better data systems can improve transparency. But a secure examination system requires independent oversight, professional management, clear accountability and swift punishment for wrongdoing. India’s National Testing Agency was created to bring efficiency and standardisation to public examinations. Its credibility must now be restored through reforms that are visible and trusted by students. The Nilekani task force has been given the difficult job of repairing that trust. The government has chosen a committee led by people with experience of managing complex national systems. It is a sensible first step. The real test will now be whether its recommendations translate into action.

Divide and Rule – Do It Yourself (DIY)

Updated: Dec 23, 2024

DIY

So, friends. Did you try that banana peel experiment yet to learn how fresh, yellow peel turns crumbly, black soil? Ever wondered why and how it has happened? The soil is full of huge number of microorganisms namely ‘decomposing’ bacteria and fungi. There are also larger animals like earthworms and different species of insects. Soil is essentially the natural residence of these organisms. So, did you enjoy observing the banana peel turning into black soil? Now here is a bigger thing you can do.


First, learn and develop the habit of ‘segregating’ your household waste. Segregation? What’s that? Oh. Come on. Simple. All you have to do is sort out your waste into two main categories. All the waste generated in the kitchen that is ‘wet waste’ which is ‘biodegradable’ and comprises waste produced after cleaning the vegetables, fruit peels, nirmalya (stale flowers), even stale or leftover foods, tea powder left after the tea is strained etc. etc.


Do you know that just by sorting out and segregating the household waste in this way, you are reducing the volume of the waste that is going out of your house almost by 50 per cent! Wow! It means that only 50 per cent of the dry waste will be dumped in your dustbin which is relatively easy to manage. That is how ‘divide and rule’ works.


You are now going to learn the simple but most effective way of converting all your kitchen waste into compost which is full of essential nutrients and minerals necessary for normal and healthy growth of plants. This composting can be done by using a culture of decomposing bacteria (Bi-ocomposting) or by using the earthworms (Vermicomposting). Both these methods are equally efficient and effective. However, at the individual, household level biocomposting is most preferred method. For larger scale operations such as at the community level, I would prefer Vermicomposting. We are going to learn both these methods through these articles.


Bio-composting: This method of home composting is now being encouraged as a means of reducing the organic waste being discarded and sent to the landfills. It uses certain specific varieties of soil bacteria which are already present in the soil. The starting mixture enriched with these bacteria is available in the market. It is commonly known as Bio-culture or Bio-inoculum. You can get it from the plant nurseries or you can order it online.


Once you get this readymade culture as a startup mixture, get ready for the very exciting act of converting all your kitchen waste into a dark soil or the compost. It can be done in a suitable container. Bin composting is the most popular and advanced version of home composting system that overcomes problems experienced in other composting systems. There are bins of different types and different sizes available for home composting in the market.


However, you try to use an old, discarded container for this purpose. The most preferred containers are those made up of plastic such as plastic buckets, bins, bottles etc. collected from waste. Even earthen pots or wooden boxes can be used alternatively. Oh! Our time is over for now. Will continue with this exciting activity next Saturday. Till then, have a great weekend and Merry Christmas to all the readers!


(The author is an environmentalist. Views personal.)

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