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Eleven months into her tenure as human resource development minister, Smriti Irani has come under attack from several quarters, the latest volley coming from Parliamentarians from the Rajya Sabha who have accused her of “systematic destruction of higher education” and undue interference in the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and central universities.
Four members of Parliament — K C Tyagi of the Janata Dal (United); D Raja from the Communist Party of India; Congress’ Rajeev Shukla; and D P Tripathi from the Nationalist Congress Party — have written to President Pranab Mukherjee urging him to “intervene decisively and prevent the lasting damage to great educational institutions…”
The four MPs cited as ‘grave concern’ the recent occurrences where “autonomy and self regulatory mechanism of institutions of higher education are being systematically eroded...” The letter also highlights instances of “RSS interference” in matters of higher education.
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Making an obvious reference to scientist Anil Kakodkar quitting the IIT-Bombay board (Kakodkar withdrew his resignation later) in disagreement with the ministry over the selection of a director for IIT-Ropar and IIT-Delhi director Raghunath K S Shevgaonkar resigning with two years of his tenure remaining, the MPs stated it was of “national interest” that prompted them to raise the issue.
The HRD ministry has been mired in a number of controversies, including scrapping the four-year undergraduate programme of the Delhi University, run-ins with IIT directors, and some controversial appointments, among others.
Without naming Delhi University vice chancellor Dinesh Singh, the letter says how the “distinguished Vice Chancellor of a central university who has been systematically subjected to official harassment of a dubious nature bypassing primciples of natural justice…”
The President of India is the Visitor of Central universities.
Irani’s tenure as minister has been anything but smooth with questions being raised over her educational credentials; a complaint has even been filed in a trial court on April 13 for allegedly misrepresenting her educational qualifications.
Of late, the selection of the directors of IIT Bhubaneswar, IIT Patna and IIT Ropar - many of them finalised through brief interviews with the HRD minister - has come under question from academics.
Academics have been alleging RSS interference in appointments to several organisations such as that of Yellapragada Sudershan Rao, as the new Chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research.
The minister has also been in the news for the PMO turning down the appointment of her Official on Special Duty Sanjay Kachru.
