Jio Institute row: MNS student wing slams minister

Mumbai: The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) student wing has publicly poked fun at the Jio Institute, an education venture of the Reliance Foundation that has been given the tag of “Institution of Eminence” by HRD minister Prakash Javadekar. The student body has issued a public notice announcing a cash award of Rs 11,000 to anyone who can show the existence of the institute. It has demanded that Mr Javadekar accept the challenge else grant similar status to Pune’s Savitribai Phule university.

The HRD ministry granted “Institution of Eminence” status to the Jio Insitute alongside other prominent educational institutions in the country. Mr Javadekar himself tweeted this information on July 9. However, the decision has been widely criticised as the said institute is not even in existence. Leftist parties have called it “a proof of how the Modi government is serving capitalists instead of people”, while the Congress has slammed the BJP for favouring industrialists.

Kalpesh Yadav, MNS student wing chief of Pune city, said, “Anyone who can show us the Jio Institute will get Rs 11,000 from MNS.”

Mr Yadav added, “If he (Mr Javadekar) doesn’t show us the institute, he should resign and make sure that similar status is granted to Savitribai Phule University.”