An Inconsistency

ON one point Sir Sankaran Nair is scarcely consistent with himself. Referring to Mr. Gokhale's Bill he says:-"One reason why the scheme did not satisfy us is that under a scheme of this kind the expansion of education must be very uneven, and must make the greatest progress in the particular areas where education is already most advanced, which is just the opposite of what we should ourselves with to aim at." Mr. Gokhale's scheme was ably defended in the Council by Mr. Shastri, who pointed out that Mr. Gokhale had followed the Government's own policy as exemplified in the grant-in-aid rules, and this defence was not shaken by anything that was said in the course of the debate. The question that we raise is different. If it is the case that the Government does not want compulsion in those areas where education has made the most progress, what did the Hon. member mean by quoting with approval Mr. Montagu's declaration that "compulsion really can only be asked for where education is popular."