A couple of years ago, at the Chennai book fair I stumbled upon an interesting hardbound. At a stall I found The Making of the Madras Working Class by D. Veeraraghavan. Curious, as the book’s title was inspired by E.P. Thompson’s epic work The Making of the English Working Class , I glanced through the first few pages and was smitten by the book’s prose and presentation.
Impressed, I searched for more works from the author, but couldn’t find any. I soon came to know that Veeraraghavan, former faculty at IIT Madras, had passed away in 2009. The Making of the Madras Working Class is a meticulously researched and compiled work, chronicling the history of working class movements in India, starting with the first organised labour union in India — the Madras Labour Union, founded in April 1918.
Controversial reform
Half a Day for Caste? Education and Politics in Tamil Nadu, 1952-55 is the second book from ‘Dilip’ Veeraraghavan (1958–2009). Like his articles and teachings, this short book also has reflections of a rare genius. The book, edited by his friend A.R. Venkatachalapathy, is part of the scholar’s doctoral work at IIT Madras. It tracks a sociologically unique and politically significant period in Tamil Nadu’s history — 1953-54 — in which the State witnessed one of the most radical education reforms in its history.
Till date, the Modified Scheme of Elementary Education in rural schools in Madras State (dubbed ‘Kula Kalvi Thittam’ in Tamil, which literally means Hereditary Education Policy) remains one of the most controversial political decisions ever taken by a Tamil Nadu government. In 1953, chief minister C. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji) introduced Kula Kalvi Thittam arguing it was based on the Gandhian model of Basic Education. The scheme basically meant children in villages should use the second half of their day to nurture their parents’ traditional jobs (read caste-based jobs); and attend classes in the first half of the day.
The Thittam triggered a giant controversy. The Dravidian parties vehemently opposed it, saying the scheme would only end up cementing the archaic caste system by denying children from lower-caste segments the opportunity to pursue other vocations since they are bound by law to practise their hereditary jobs. The widespread protests that followed vertically split the Tamil Nadu legislature and culminated in the scrapping of the scheme a year later.
Marxian analysis
Veeraraghavan dissects the subject with dedication and curiosity and his analysis, anchored on robust Marxian grounds, goes beyond the obvious and treats the education reform as an epochal socio-political phenomenon capable of offering long-lasting insights into India’s caste politics, the Brahmanisation of Indian sociosphere and the way education is seen, reformed and executed in post-Independent India. Veeraraghavan offers great insight into Rajaji’s persona, analysing how megalomania, ideological tenacity and an archaic sense of nationalism propelled his political and personal actions.
Rajaji was no exception. Casteism and elitism continue to power political programmes even today, and several ‘visionaries’ champion such causes overtly and covertly. Even seemingly progressive leaders fall into this trap.
An example is the Kerala government’s reported suggestion to change timings of colleges to 8.00 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. to help those students who want to do part-time jobs. It can be alleged that the move will end up creating a divide between students from affluent sections of the society (who do not need to go for such jobs and hence can enjoy their campuses and education longer) and their counterparts from poor households.
Veeraraghavan’s book can be a good starting point for those who want to look into the issue.
Half a Day for Caste? Education and Politics in Tamil Nadu, 1952–55 ; D. Veeraraghavan. Edited by A.R. Venkatachalapathy, Leftword, ₹250.
