POLITICAL FUNDAMENTALISM.

Air Force is a very old university, where multiple streams of vocational, technical medical, and administrative trainings are given with a definite curriculum. It is in fact the oldest form of deemed university of multidisciplinary courses where integrative studies are imparted and no degrees are conferred. But the institution imparts trainings to unskilled and raw matriculate to be skilled in various vocations exclusively focussing the requirement of the forces. The methodology of training also is designed specially to suit the military requirement.

It is not surprising to know that Air Force imparted training in various skilled vocations ever since the British Indian era. To exemplify, I can refer to some newborn paramedical courses in civil, which were already prevalent in Royal Force hospitals. See below.....

Physiotherapy

Speech therapy

occupational therapy

Operation theatre assistant

Dental technology

Dental hygienist

Operation room assistant

Skin and venereal disease assistant

Blood tranfusion assistant

Optometrist

Medical records assistant

Air evacuation assistant

Ecg. Technician.. etc., etc....were existing in British Armed Forces hospitals, and the civil hospitals were staffed by ESM for a long time with their reputed service. Even when I joined my National Institute, the medical superintendent was Ex-Brig. Gopalakrisna Iyyar,(AMC), the deputy med. supdt. , Maj. Hameed(AMC) and all the Heads of the departments were from Airforce, including the chief store officer, chief security officer and all hundred security staff and so on..

Thereafter, courses started in civil hospitals under medical universities, taking course materials from Armed Forces Medical Services, and enlarged it with some more masala to make it an academic format, with no much of practical utility when compared to the better effective ESM proficiency. The courses were brought under some technical board or university and started awarding diplomas and degrees.

I am not sure about other technical and administrative streams, but I can presume, courses like Fire and safty, security officers course were not in existence in civil near past. The ultimate predicament is that the opportunities for ESM have been reduced in state, central, quasi govt. , public sector institutions, and it became a trend that, a degree, whether a fake by cash purchase or from a low rated university, is considered more than E S M, by politically biased policymaking. Many states like Kerala, do not give any privilege or reservation nowadays for ESM for any government posts in the state. This is the cruel biproduct of Political fundamentalism, in which we, ESM, inherently cannot become a party to it by our noble culture of political alienation.