Arjun146;s education panel hits Montek roadblock

HRD Minister Arjun Singh8217;s penchant for setting up panels has finally hit a roadblock, in the form of Planning Commission Deputy Chairp...

HRD Minister Arjun Singh8217;s penchant for setting up panels has finally hit a roadblock, in the form of Planning Commission Deputy Chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia, who has questioned the need for the biggest of them all 8212; the National Commission on Education.

This is the first time that Singh8217;s committee-instituting drive 8212; he has set up a dozen by now 8212; has been questioned by anyone. However, Ahluwalia has not exactly criticised Singh or his Ministry. He has just sought a clarification on the CMP line: 8216;8216;A National Commission on Education will be set up to allocate resources and monitor programmes.8217;8217;

The Planning Commission boss feels that a commission, which would allocate resources and monitor resources, would be doing the work that he and his staff at Yojana Bhavan should be doing.

For now, the formation of the apex commission has been stalled till the Prime Minister8217;s Office, the Planning Commission and the Ministry can get together to untie the knot.

Ahluwalia had first raised the issue in his meeting with the HRD Minister and his officials in early September. Subsequently, a Planning Commission advisor sent a letter to the Ministry on the same subject.

Singh agreed that there was a ground for objection, but at the same time contacted the PMO, as he felt that a 8216;8216;clear direction8217;8217; given by the CMP would have to be implemented. Last week, the Ministry even invited one of the authors of the CMP, Jairam Ramesh, to explain the significance of the sentence.

Ramesh, according to HRD officials, pointed out that it was meant more as a 8216;8216;mission8217;8217; rather than a specific panel. He referred to the sentence preceding the line on the proposed commission, which talks about 8216;8216;quality basic education8217;8217;. He said the idea was to set up a mission which would ensure quality basic education.

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But the Ministry pointed out that the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan and the entire exercise to provide quality basic education have already been taken care. The Central Advisory Board of Education itself has a few committees, apart from the monitoring mechanism set up by the Ministry.

The PMO got back to the Ministry, saying that it would prefer something like the Kothari Commission of the 8217;60s. That was more like a committee, which looked into all aspects of education and came up with recommendations that are quoted as reference points even to this day.

However, the Ministry is not ready to settle for anything less than a National Commission for Higher Education. Though it goes against the CMP8217;s recommendations, HRD officials feel such a commission would be useful, especially since funding in the higher education sector is being 8216;8216;neglected by the Union Government8217;8217;.