Patna: A senior minister in the Jharkhand state government irked at frequent taunts from his political adversaries about his academic qualifications has taken admission in grade 11 at the age of 53,
Education minister Jagarnath Mahto enrolled himself in grade 11 at a government-affiliated inter college in Arts stream on Monday well 25 years after he had cleared the grade 10 examination in 1995. The college is located under his assembly constituency in Bokaro district.
Facing taunts from his political adversaries for a “man with just class 10 degree” in charge of the education portfolio, the minister rushed to the college, received admission form from the college counter, filled up the form and them submitted to the office himself as a general student standing in queue and patiently waiting for his turn to come.
Poor family
Hailing from a poor family, Mahto had passed the Class 10 examination 25 years back but had to quit the education midway due to utter penury in the family. Later he joined politics and won elections although his academic qualifications never came his way.
People began mocking his academic qualifications only after he was appointed the education minister in the current Jharkhand government headed by chief minister Hemant Soren.
“The day I took oath as the education minister my political rivals began taunting me about what he can do for the education sector when he himself holds a grade 10 degree. That hurt me a lot and I decided to begin my study again... This is a reply to those who had been critical about my educational qualification,” Mahto told the media on Tuesday.
“There is no age for education and learning. I will inspire people to do everything,” the minister said adding he would be carrying out his study in addition to working for the people of his constituency.
Strike a balance
The minister has opted for political science as one of his subjects in intermediate. “I am a politician. So the subject of political science will be there for sure,” he said, adding he would try to strike a balance between his ministry work and regular classes.
What is interesting is that the minister has taken admission in the same Devi Mahto Inter College which he had set up in 2005, a year after he was elected to the state assembly in 2005.
Strangely, the educational qualifications of 11 ministers in the Jharkhand government are not much higher. According to a report of the Association for Democratic Reforms, a non-governmental organisation which works in the areas of electoral and political reforms, of the total 11 ministers in Jharkhand, eight or 73 per cent of them have educational qualifications between eight to grade 12.
The rest three or 27 per cent of them have the qualification of graduates or above.
