Smriti Irani rejects demand to waive JNU punishment

Union human resources development minister Smriti Irani on Friday rejected a demand for waiving disciplinary actions, including rustication meted out to students in universities, which she described as “Pandora’s box” and asserted that universities have the autonomy to handle administrative matters.

Opposition parties’ members, including from CPI, Congress and JD(U), made this demand in Rajya Sabha citing the Jawaharlal Nehru University incident.

Ms Irani, who later replied to a debate on the functioning of her ministry, said she was bound by the Parliament not to interfere in universities’ functioning and also requested Congress member Ananda Bhaskar Rapolu, who had also made this demand, “not to open” Pandora’s box.

Ms Irani also listed out various initiatives taken by the Modi government in the education sector, including a portal for quality training of teachers and another one to benefit college and universities students with latest reading material and lecture materials for additional learning.

Earlier, the JNU issue was raised by CPI’s D. Raja during Question Hour when deputy chairman P.J. Kurien suggested the government should try to resolve it. Minister of state for parliamentary affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said he would convey the feeling of the House to the concerned ministers.

Mr Raja said JNU students were on an indefinite fast for eight days and teachers have also joined the agitation after University authorities took action against some of them in connection with the controversial February campus event against Afzal Guru’s hanging.

Later, while replying to the debate on HRD ministry’s functioning, Ms Irani said, “My request is only this. This is a pandora’s box, I am sure you don’t want to open that... Let the university be autonomous enough.”

Ms Irani also lamented that there appeared to be a “Sanskrit phobia” and said the government or NCERT have not carried out any change in the curriculum. She said a US university academic came to Tamil Nadu to do research on the oldest treatise in Geometry but not many in India know about the contributions made by the country.

“The challenge is where do you bridge the gap. Where do you introduce the subject or for that matter, give the freedom to academicians to absorb it, without being called communal or saffron,” the minister said.

On members’ concerns over appointments in various educational institutions, Ms Irani said her ministry only functioned as the “secretariat” of the President by forwarding the names for appointment of vice-chancellors. She defended the appointments, saying the key nominations made or recommended by her in IITs, were all of eminent people belonging to the fields of science, commerce or industry.

On the curriculum issue, she said the HRD ministry is working to create a system where teachers are rewarded for teaching and improving learning outcomes.

On the midday meal scheme, she said a committee headed by AIIMS paediatrician Vinod Paul set up to make recommendations regarding nutritional requirements for the scheme has submitted its report which will be forwarded to states. Referring to real time monitoring along with reviews of key schemes like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan with regard to school education, she said states have been asked to fill vacancies to ensure quality of teachers.

The minister also informed that her ministry will soon launch a web portal — ‘Bharatvani’ — which will contain various subjects from agriculture to economics to sciences in 22 Indian languages.