Honorary racket

However, the universities should rightfully feel that they honour themselves when they honour such a person. When Dr S. Radhakrishnan was made a Fellow of British Academy and Cambridge University conferred the Doctorate of Law on Jawaharlal Nehru, the institutions concerned could really feel proud of what they did.

But can the same be said about those universities which had freely distributed honorary doctorates to politicians like M.G.Ramachandran and Jayalalitha, both of whom incidentally had never entered the portals of an institution of higher education?

It is significant that universities think of honouring politicians thus only when they are in power, not otherwise. Whether MDU would have chosen Advani for this honour 8212; although he is one of our eminent political personalities 8212; if he had not been the home minister, is a moot question. At the root of the problem is the increasing politicisation of education.

Vice-chancellors are appointed on political considerations and they, in turn, look for opportunities to please their political benefactors. The competitive spirit with which universities conferred doctorates on Indira Gandhi and Jayalalitha when they were in power is a case in point.

If RJD leader Laloo Prasad Yadav or his wife and Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi, who has little claim to formal education, take a fancy to being awarded a honorary doctorate, quite a few of the fund-starved universities in the state would beonly too willing to oblige. Especially if it will help them improve their financial prospects.

Most politicians see such degrees as a morale-booster and never miss an opportunity to grab them. They also believe such degrees bring them political mileage and public respect. But why blame them when it is widely known how keen a leader as prominent as Indira Gandhi was about getting a token of recognition from West Bengal8217;s Viswabharati University, an institution from where she had dropped out as a student? During the Emergency, Zail Singh who was then Punjab Chief Minister insisted on being called Dr Giani8217; Zail Singh.

As it is, the recipients of honorary doctorates are not expected to use the honorific doctor8217; before their names. But for most politicians this seems to be the very purpose of acquiring such degrees. In the south, particularly Tamil Nadu, where the temptation to flaunt a university degree is strong, a politician never feels complete unless he is able to use this honorific.

Hence, thehonorific Dr8217; is a must for Chief Minister Karunanidhi as it is for his great opponent, Jayalalitha. This is not surprising in a country where members of the elite Indian Administrative Service add the magical letters IAS to their names as if they constitute a university degree.