Opinion Dont doubt the HR in HRD
The ministrys response to criticism of its legislative agenda
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Pratap Bhanu Mehta also chooses to comment on the Foreign Education Providers Bill (No HR in HRD,IE,September 8). He has not told us what special privileges are being accorded to foreign institutions under the legislative proposal,and how the hands of domestic institutions are tied,as he claims. In fact,under the proposal,which again is before Parliament,foreign educational providers are accorded a level playing field and will be governed by national laws. Mehta seems to have misread clause 9 of that bill,which is about exemptions from any foregoing provisions that is,from only those provisions of the same bill which have to do with the fast-tracking of applications in favour of globally reputed universities or institutions. Mehta is recommended to study clause 12,which makes all national laws applicable. How private unaided institutions in India are stifled by government regulations,as opposed to foreign education providers who do not obtain aid from the government,has not been explained by Mehta. Nor could he have explained it because unaided institutions,whether domestic or foreign,will be treated in the same manner. The moral of the story is that half-baked knowledge and thought processes are no substitute for wisdom or informed opinion.
The first draft of the Universities for Innovation Bill has been circulated and the first round of consultations has been held with several renowned academics in the country,who have with unanimity approved the conceived course of action and have given some valuable suggestions. The process of consultations would continue and if Mehta waits for a while,takes time to do his research,he will have the answers to the questions he has raised.
As for the UGC guidelines,described by Mehta as absurd,he could have reached out to the commission itself to understand the rationale for the guidelines,before giving such a strong opinion in cold print. Indeed,as the right hand in government ought to know what the left hand is doing,equally the mind ought to be aware of what the hand writes for a column published in a nationally important newspaper like The Indian Express.
Some very significant steps have been taken to foster research in our higher educational institutions,of which Mehta could be informed if he chooses to find out. The level of investment that has gone into public institutions in this country during the Tenth Plan and the current Eleventh Plan,and policy decisions that have been taken,are unprecedented.
As for the conflict related to the semester system in the Delhi University,Mehta being an academic ought to know that the Government of India does not intervene in the academic affairs of universities. The decision on any universitys pace of reforms has to be autonomous. It is unfortunate that Mehta has been uncharitable and patently biased in choosing to place the blame of what is happening in Delhi University at the doorstep of the education establishment.
A few words would be in order on the slash and burn approach frankly it is an approach pursued by Mehta in his piece,and not that of the ministry of human resource development: slash-whatever is happening and burn-whatever is good,hoping that because the opinion is rendered by an academic,it will go down well with the public. If you feed the public with wrong facts,you only destroy the process of reform which aims to constructively build an education structure that is more flexible and caters to the aspirations not only of the student community but of the entire nation. It is easy to castigate bureaucrats and select academics when you are yourself not part of the selected few,but difficult to restructure an education system that aims to meet the aspirations of future generations.
Finally,in Indias tradition of civil services,civil servants are trained to contribute their experience for both continuity and change remaining apolitical and professional as they do so,irrespective of the government of the day or the minister in office so there is nothing surprising or out of the ordinary about the human resource in the ministry of HRD. In any case,it is difficult to believe that an imaginative liberal disposition is the prerogative of Mehta alone.
Serious opinions are not about giving them without thinking,but thinking before giving them. The writer should not believe that he knows best. Uninformed debate should not carry the day. Neither serious academics,nor professional journalism can benefit from such pretensions.(Concluded)
The writer is additional secretary in the Union human resource development ministry
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