Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani (file photo)Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani loves a good fight, the television star-turned-politician has been perhaps the most controversial minister in the Narendra Modi cabinet during the last 20 months, and she has been a combative personality.
Many eyebrows were raised when the Prime Minister chose to give such a huge education portfolio to Irani, who had no minsiterial experience and had not been a specialist speaker on education during her days on Opposition Benches in Rajya Sabha.
A Cabinet position for her itself was a surprise, especially when seniors leaders such as Dharmendra Pradhan, Piyush Goyal and Nirmala Seetharaman were only made ministers of state with independent charge. But as a telegenic personality, she had made her mark on the campaign trail and had energetically fought and lost to Rahul Gandhi in Amethi.
Irani, who is now 20 months into the job, has been an assertive minister, even taking on a well respected scientist like Anil Khakodkar, the man who headed the atomic energy programme and was a key player in Pokhran II nuclear tests.
Smriti's style and substance has been distinctly different from senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi, who was an equally controversial Human Resource Development Minister in the first NDA government.
He had focussed strongly on changing the content of education programme to remove what he called alien influences in the syllabus and teaching methodology. His critics had accused him of using his long association with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh for saffronising the education system, and for interfering in the working of madrasas.
In fact when the UPA government came to power in 2004, its HRD minister Arjun Singh had said his top-most priority was the de-saffronisation of education system.
However, Irani has not been specific on her ideological agenda, even though she has several advisors with RSS background in her personal staff as well as in the ministry.
The advisor on primary education Chamu Krishna Shastry is a senior RSS pracharak.
But Irani's controversies were on her qualification to administer the ministry and central education institutions with tens of thousands of highly qualified experts in fields such as science, engineering, economics, history and education.
Her claims on educational qualifications were severely contested and her style of functioning made several IAS officials leave the ministry. But she defended her style as a no nonsense outsider who is not part of the cosy setup of Delhi.
She wanted control over the premier Indian institute of technology in Delhi, resulting in the resignation of the Director. But she insisted her approach was inclusive as she had asked even village and town panchayats to be part of the consultative process on framing a new education policy.
But Irani, who enjoys the confidence of the Prime Minister, has found President Pranab Mukherjee having an independent mind on the appointment of heads of 100 central higher educational institutions such as central universities, IIMs and IITs in his position as visitor. Also, when she wanted to suspend the Vice Chancellor of Delhi University, Mukherjee refused to play ball and allowed Dinesh Singh to complete his term.
Now Irani is in the eye of a storm over the way her ministry aggressively pushed for action against activists of Ambedkar Student group in Hyderabad university leading to the death of Rohith Vemula. She had earlier been accused of asking IIT, Chennai to shut down the Amedkar Periyar study forum.
The opposition has demanded her removal as she is being labelled as the face of intolerance in the government. But Irani is unfazed as she feels she has the confidence of the Prime Minister and the RSS. But Rohith issue is likely to derail the budget session of Parliament next month with even allies like Lok Janshskti party of Ram Vilas Paswan feeling uneasy at the way the protests by Rohith and his fellow students were handled by the ministry and the university.
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