Irani’s shunting evokes mixed response from student unions

While some are welcoming the move, others have their own apprehensions about Irani’s successor, Prakash Javadekar

WrittenBy:Subhabrata Dasgupta
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It took most of her followers by surprise when Smriti Irani from Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) was moved to the rather low-key Textile Ministry in yesterday’s cabinet reshuffle.  The change in her portfolio has by and large been interpreted as a “demotion” for the minister. Irani faced criticism for a number of her statements as well as the sacking of university vice-chancellors and for the ministry’s decision to replace German with Sanskrit as the third language in Kendriya Vidyalayas. Since Irani has also had a rather tumultuous relationship with student unions, courtesy the controversies the protests concerning University Grants Commission, Rohith Vemula’s suicide, the Ambedkar-Periyar society of IIT-Madras and the arrest of Jawaharlal Nehru University students, Newslaundry spoke with various student unions to hear their reactions to Irani’s departure.

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“We welcome and appreciate the move to shift her out of the HRD Ministry. Entire academic community will be celebrating. It is good news for academic society,” Roji John, president of National Students Union of India (NSUI) told Newslaundry. The NSUI is the student wing of the Congress party. John described Irani as a “complete failure” who had “no vision” for education.

Speaking to Newslaundry, Sucheta De, national president of All India Students Association (AISA) – the student wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) – said that Irani’s departure was “no reason” to rejoice. She said, “This change of minister hardly matters. The government has given no indication that it is going to consider the demands raised by the various student movements.” What needs to change are the policies, emphasized De.  The AISA is equally apprehensive about the vision of Prakash Javadekar, the new HRD minister. “He does not have a great track record either,” said De. “As environment minister, he pursued policies that were aimed at destroying the environment, and functioned as an agent of corporate houses.”

Predictably, Saket Bahuguna, National Media Convenor of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), which is a student organisation affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), downplayed the shifting of Irani to another ministry. He said that various “good steps” were taken by Irani and reshuffles are “regular affairs”. “It is the government’s prerogative to reshuffle ministers, and it has been a regular practice of all governments,” said Bahuguna to Newslaundry. “There were various good steps taken by the ministry with Smriti Irani at the helm of affairs, like increasing the Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) and the Senior Research Fellowship (SRF) to the tune of almost 60%. She played a key role in the roll-back of the Four Year University Programme (FYUP) as well.”

Since Students’ Federation of India (SFI) has demanded Irani’s resignation in the past, they were predictably happy with Modi’s decision. SFI’s general secretary Dr Vikram Singh said that while students are “happy”, the stir for their demands will continue. He also said that the SFI will continue to agitate for its main demands like “ending the reign of fund cuts in education” and “expanding” fellowship programmes to include all research scholars. SFI is the student wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

Kanhaiya Kumar, president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU), and a leader of All India Students Federation, which is associated with the Communist Party of India (CPI) had tweeted this in the morning, saying that the reshuffle was no “punishment”.

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Regardless of what Kumar opines and the alternative theories being floated in social media to explain Irani heading up textiles — one is that she’ll be playing an active role in the Uttar Pradesh campaigns — it’s clear that Prakash Javadekar has a lot of challenges to negotiate. With routine allegations of saffronisation of education against this government along with criticism of past policy decisions as well as hostile student unions, Javadekar has his job cut out.

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