Is Smriti a proxy in the HRD Ministry

Smriti Irani taking charge of the Ministry of Human Resource Development on Tuesday, May 27, 2014 in Shastri Bhawan New Delhi.

Smriti Zubin Irani, 38, the youngest minister in the Modi cabinet has been allocated the Ministry of Human Resource Development. The move has surprised many political observers who have given vent to their views and venom on social media as well as in private gatherings.

Irani, a higher secondary passout, with a soap entertainer background, was pitted against Rahul Gandhi in Amethi and, indeed, gave him a tough fight, loosing by just a few thousand votes. Obviously this does not qualify her for the august Ministry of Human Resource Development which was, in the recent past, graced by giants like Murli Manohar Joshi, Arjun Singh and Kapil Sibal.

Higher Education experts and political observers are at their wits end to solve this mind-boggling riddle behind Modi's ministry-making exercise. Smriti is a sitting Rajya Sabha member who was elected from Gujarat in 2011 and hence doesn't need a bye-election route to Parliament till 2016. But then what prompted Narendra Modi to award the high-profile MHRD portfolio to her?

Is she being used as proxy, a stop-gap arrangement, till a political heavy-weight --may be Dr Murli Manohar Joshi -- agrees to step in ?

Awarding a 38-year-old youngster a cabinet rank could be a part of a win-win political quid pro quo between Modi and Irani. By this clever move Modi would get time to subdue as well as cajole Dr Joshi to don the MHRD which he did over a decade ago. Smriti, in the bargain, would get a cabinet berth which she could not have aspired for otherwise. She would, it goes without saying, move to a minor arena whenever asked to.

Second possibility can be a situation in which the MHRD is to be administered from the prime minister's office as was the case during Pallam Raju's tenure in the MHRD, particularly the fag-end period. In such a situation it would be worth watching a novice Smriti Irani chairing the next meeting of the Central Advisory Board for Education where experienced and aggressive state education ministers from hostile states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal et al simply refuse to toe the Central government line.  

The third remote possibility could be that Modi plans to follow the policy of rigorous administration in basic and secondary education, giving higher education a sumptuous dose of autonomy.

Guesswork and political speculations apart one thing is certain : Smrity Irani is the biggest gainer of the 2014 BJP/Modi wave and Mr Modi, an astute politician will have to answer many questions for making a mountain out of a molehill.

History, we must remember, is a ruthless prosecutor.

Minority issue

Why do you want to keep them in a hothouse Mr Najeeb Jung?

Jamia Millia Islamia University vice-chancellor Najeeb Jung announced on November 22 that all undergraduates except those studying technical education courses and dentistry will be forced to study Urdu from the coming academic session.

"Urdu will serve as a Modern Indian Language and the students' score in the subject will be added to their final assessment. Our students may not become Urdu experts, but the course will enable them to read and write basic Urdu," Najeeb Jung said.

The announcement was made on the premise that Jamia Millia Islamia is a Muslim minority institution and hence its students ought to learn Urdu with Arabic/Persian script.

I have great regard for Urdu poetry, particularly Ghalib and do appreciate what the Ministry of Human Resource Development is doing to promote the dying language a la National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language. What I oppose is the wanton use of force by which the Central university vice-chancellor wants to impose an alien script on the university students, many of whom are not Muslims.

Jamia currently has a Urdu language paper of one-year duration and general English for two years. But their marks were not being added to the total percentage at the end of the year. Under the new system, “to ensure these subjects are taken seriously” both papers will be given a weightage of 100 marks each and will be counted in the final percentage.

Now let us come to facts. Jamia was declared a Muslim minority institution on February 22, 2012 by the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions, a body created in 2004 by an Act of Parliament.

The Commission's declaration, which the government is reluctant to challenge in a court of law, entitles Jamia to reserve up to 50 per cent of its seats for Muslim candidates and at the same time ignore reservations for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and the Other Backward Classes.

This status is not being enjoyed even by the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) despite being an older, more puritan and a much more impressive Central university than the relatively novice Jamia Millia – and its all because of the principles laid down in the famous Azeez Basha case, an off-shoot of which is still lingering in the Supreme Court of India.

The crucible test of whether an institution is a minority institution or not has been spelt out in the Azeez Basha case ;

Article 30 (1) of the Constitution says : All minorities, whether based on religion or language, shall have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.

In Azeez Basha case the Supreme Court said : “The words establish and administer in Art. 30 (1) must be read conjunctively, that is, Art. 30 (1) postulates that a religious community will have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice, meaning thereby, that where a religious minority establishes an educational institution it will have the right to administer it, but not otherwise. The word establish for the purpose of the Article means bring into existence educational institutions including universities.”

Go through the history of Jamia Millia and one will at once understand that its case is quite akin to AMU, thereby meaning that it couldn’t have otherwise got what the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions awarded it with a blatant stroke of pen.

The Commission panel headed by Justice M.S.A. Siddiqui said: “We hold that the Muslim community established this university and managed it all through. It never lost its identity. We declare it as a minority educational institution covered under Article 30 of the Constitution.”

Will somebody stand up and say something?

I personally feel that the higher education is above caste, creed and religious considerations and that a university should be open to all. By restricting or secluding or confining a caste of students to a HOTHOUSE you tend to stunt their growth.

BHU-IT is now IIT Varanasi

On June 29 the Government of India officially notified the Institute of Technology (Amendment) Act 2012 thereby establishing the Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi with effect from June 29, 2012.

Called Act No 34 of 2012, the Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Act gives legal status to all the newly opened IITs in the country.

According to the amendment Act, in the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961  for the words “and the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee”, the words “the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, the Indian Institute of Technology, Bhubaneswar, the Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhi Nagar, the Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad, the Indian Institute of Technology, Indore, the Indian Institute of Technology, Jodhpur, the Indian Institute of Technology, Mandi, the Indian Institute of Technology, Patna, the Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar and the Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University), Varanasi” shall be substituted.

The amendment Act awards a special status to the Vice-Chancellor of the Banaras Hindu University, who will be ex officio Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University), Varanasi "and shall hold office for a period of three years with effect from such commencement."

This in effect means that the present Vice-Chancellor of BHU, Dr Lalji Singh will get the privilege to head an IIT for two years because he has nearly two years to go at the BHU and the remaining one year will be enjoyed by the next BHU vice-chancellor.

The amendment Act says that "the Director of the Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University, appointed under the provisions of the Banaras Hindu University Act, 1915 shall be deemed to have been appointed as Director of the Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University), Varanasi under this Act, and shall hold his office till Director is appointed
under this Act."

The explanation given in the Act says that the reference in the Act to the commencement of the Act shall be construed as the reference to the date on which the provisions of the Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Act, 2012 come into force. This in effect means that the present director Prof Sinha will hold office till Director is appointed under the amendment Act.

President signs IIT Bill, notification soon

On June 21 the President signed the Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Bill formally awarding the status of an IIT to BHU-IT.

Called Act No 34 of 2012, the Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Act gives legal status to the newly opened IITs in the country.  

The Act is expected to be notified shortly.