Opposition MPs allege Smriti Irani of disrupting the working of IITs

Members of opposition parties have sent a letter to the President, Pranab Mukherjee, stating their concern that the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry led by Smriti Irani is interfering in the functioning of Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and other higher education institutions. They have claimed that the Rashtriya Sevak Sangh (RSS) is also involved with the HRD Ministry in this.

The letter has been signed by four MPs, KC Tyagi of the Janata Dal, Rajiv Shukla and D P Tripathi of the Congress, and D Raja of CPI. They have requested the President to take appropriate action in this situation.

The letter contains several incidents of the alleged RSS interference in institutions of higher studies. Though no individual has been pinpointed, the recent issues regarding the resignations and recruitments of directors in several IITs have been mentioned. It also hints at the incidents that occurred during the last one year, such as making Sanskrit the third language instead of German, not granting a holiday on Christmas day to institutions, retracting the FYUP in Delhi University and the Vice Chancellor's resignation.

The MPs have said that the HRD Ministry is supposed to set the guidelines for the institutions to follow, and provide financial funds for them. It is not appropriate for the ministry to gradually change the functioning of these institutions and take away their autonomous rights. They claim that they have approached the President as a preventive measure, to ensure that prestigious institutions such as IITs are not damaged and that HRD does not misuse its powers.