Efforts of Universalization of Elementary Education in India

Aldous Huxley who visited India in 1946 summed up the conditions as “In India one does not breath air but dust and hopelessness, nine out of ten are uneducated and the tenth is miseducated; present is deplorable and the future is uncertain” (Huxley, 1948) [14]. The percentage literacy was only 14 that time, and those who had some education were a part of the exploitative machine created by the British in connaivance with the local feudal lords. There had been a social and political awakening and leaders of all sections and regions have been demanding the expansion of educational facilities for their people and additional expenditures were willingly voted by the legislative councils of the states. This paper tried to find out analyse the involvement of the people through local bodies would help organize the school activities in consonance with the local conditions and create a system of public accountability which would reduce non-enrolment, wastage and stagnation.