A Kottayam teacher’s movement to set up clubs teaching articles from the Constitution of India in schools to create awareness among the youth about their rights and duties as citizens is gaining popularity across Kerala.
Last year, Binu PG had even written a letter to Kerala governor Arif Mohammad Khan in this regard, who in turn, lauded his initiative and recommended the letter to President Ram Nath Kovind. A decision on the letter is still pending.
In his letter to the governor, Binu also mentioned that contribution of B N Rau, a civil servant and jurist, who played a key role in drafting the Constitution, was not properly recognized and wanted a befitting memorial for him.
Binu, who has travelled across the country to promote the idea of educating the youth, said the constitutional values should be taught to children at a young age and citizenship education should be included in the curriculum.
“If you ask our students about the freedom movement and our Constitution, they will only tell you about some dates or tall leaders. I have been teaching students about constitutional values for more than one and a half-decade and I am sure if they imbibe the right spirit they will be better citizens,” said the 40-year-old, who was the Kerala project officer of the National Service Scheme in 2011-12.
Regarding his movement, Binu is planning to tour the state to mobilise support and later take it to the national level.
“We have around 450 million youth in the country. We don’t have an effective mechanism to groom and channelize their energy for the country. I am sure good lessons will make them good citizens and we don’t need high doses of nationalism at a later stage,” he said, adding that he has prepared a blueprint for the Constitution clubs.
“Binu is a committed social activist who dreams of a better country. As a motivational speaker and a teacher, he has been inspiring youth for many years,” said Dr V Reghu, former assistant director of the Centre for Adult Education Board of Kerala University.
