Facing Congress fire, HRD Ministry prepares rebuttal

Officials say that the Smriti Irani-led HRD ministry is likely to counter the first criticism levelled by the Congress — of financial cuts in the education sector — by giving the government’s routine argument of greater devolution of funds to states in line with the 14th Finance Commission report. In its booklet, the Congress also raked up the issue of the resignation of Chairman of Board of Governors of IIT-Bombay Anil Kakodkar following differences over the selection of three IIT directors, as well as the resignation of IIT-Delhi chairperson Raghunath Shevgaonkar. The Congress had claimed that Kakodkar’s resignation was “reflective” of Irani’s “overbearing style of functioning and her lack of respect for intellectual excellence”.

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On both issues, Irani’s standard responses are likely to be put forth in the document. On the Kakodkar issue, Irani had said he later withdrew his resignation after being requested by the ministry and was part of the selection process. For Shevgaonkar, the ministry has maintained that there was no pressure on him to resign and that he continues to hold the post. Kakodkar, however, later clarified that he was not part of the process and Shevgaonkar is yet to be relieved by the ministry despite repeated reminders by him.

The Congress also claims that Irani “contradicted” her own statement on the International Institute of Technology Research Academy in Mauritius. The Ministry is expected to stick to its stand — that the MoU between Mauritius Research Council of Republic of Mauritius and IIT-Delhi for setting up IITRA “violated the IIT Act”.

The Congress also attacked the HRD ministry for “unwarranted interference with academic MoUs”. As first reported by The Indian Express, the HRD ministry had moved a draft note proposing that any MoUs with foreign universities by higher education institutions will have to refer to Ministry of External Affairs guidelines and keep the HRD Ministry informed.

The Ministry, in this context, is likely to point out that the note was merely an internal draft and also that in response to the cabinet secretariat’s directive that no agreement with foreign agencies can happen without cabinet nod, the HRD ministry has asked to be exempted from the requirement since it does not have the wherewithal to go through all MoUs.

Countering the allegation of “politically coloured appointments” of “under-qualified Sangh Parivar loyalists as heads of premier institutions”, including as National Research Professors and in ICHR, the ministry will list out the “body of work” of these academicians and also point towards the distinct political leanings of some ICHR members.