The most significant yet neglected facet of the right to life enshrined under our Constitution is that of dignity.

The right to live with dignity and self-respect is a paramount protection that any government can ever grant its citizens, and education to me is the sole medium through which it can be attained. The purpose being to make the common man selfreliant rather than forever indebted towards the government for Rs 100 per day or Rs 2 per kg rice. The true value of education can only be known to the one who has been deprived of it and his generations to come who have to bear the brunt of this. Ask anyone about the present state of education in the country and they would start quoting the literacy rate. Thus it becomes imperative to understand that literacy is a means towards an end called education. A person may be literate but not necessarily educated. The working definition of literacy under the Indian census since 1991 focuses on the total percentage of the population of an area at a particular time aged seven years or above who can read and write with understanding. Thus literacy is limited to the scope of being able to read and write whereas education means to acquire knowledge in order to enhance ones ability to reason and make sound judgment. To

put it differently what vision is to the eyes, education is to literacy. Historically several Indians were denied the right to education due to numerous factors such as caste divide, western European education system(only meant backgrounds. for the higher class)during the British Raj and also their rural agrarian Looking carefully into these factors and analyzing them we come to know that education was always co-related to status. For an individual it raises his quality of life fulfilling his physical and psychological needs. Thus education has the power to provide elasticity to the otherwise static class system. This form of upliftment through education is a finer substitute to sanskritization adopted by the deprived and insecure lower castes. Out of the many levels of education such as primary, elementary, secondary, undergraduate and post-graduate, the main cause of concern in India has predominantly been that of primary and elementary education. Jotirao Phule stated:

Tracing history it is found that major government funds were allotted for higher education, which tended to educate the

Brahmins and the higher classes only, and to leave the masses wallowing in ignorance and poverty
How would even the most premium institutes for higher education be of any help when primary/elementary education has been deprived of? Statutory efforts have been made in this regard in the form of right to education becoming a fundamental right (Article 21A) and the Right to Education Act being enacted. Due to this historical amendment all the children in the age group of 6-14 years will now be provided 8 years of elementary education in an appropriate classroom in the vicinity of their neighbourhood. It is the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) which has been entrusted with the responsibility to monitor proper implementation of the same. Slack implementation has by far been the biggest drawback for the failure of many developmental measures taken by the government, and so the NACPCR has a major task at hand. As from a nations point of view education has always been linked to socio-economic conditions and also regional/economic development. It has today become a factor for how the world perceives us. Even the United States has realized the power of education and the power to compete that comes with it. India

is fortunate to have the best Boards of Education systems for schools. What is required is to allow their penetration to the roots of the country. This can be achieved through bringing about awareness, better road connectivity and most importantly the will to teach. Providing for food, clothing and shelter could be a need of the hour for many, however, education is the only means through which the abundance of these can be ensured for generations to come. They say prevention is better than cure. Educating our people is the preventive measure we need to take today in order to avoid the helplessness that they might face tomorrow.