Indian Express: New Delhi: Saturday,
June 04, 2016.
Reacting to
former cabinet secretary T S R Subramanian’s letter, asking the government to
make public his panel’s report carrying suggestions for the national education
policy, HRD Minister Smriti Irani on Friday said the new policy will not be the
legacy of an individual trying to make “headline”.
She said the
ministry will not disclose the report’s contents unless it has received views
and feedback from all state governments.
Addressing a
media conference on Friday to discuss the HRD Ministry’s achievements over the
last two years, Irani said, “This education policy will not become an attempt
to be a legacy of one individual who seeks a headline. My request is that this
(policy recommendations) is the property of one lakh and ten thousand villages,
over 5,000 blocks, over 500 districts, and 20 states, which have entrusted it
to us with the confidence that any recommendation that comes to the Centre will
be shared with them before it is made into a draft policy.
“It is
unfortunate that misleading or distasteful headlines are done. I will not
renege on my promise to state governments that they will have a voice in it
(draft policy) before I dedicate it to the nation.”
Subramanian
was the chairperson of a five-member committee tasked with assimilating
feedback, collected by the HRD Ministry through grassroots- and national-level
consultations on 33 themes, and making suggestions for drafting a new education
policy. The panel submitted its suggestions to the government on May 27.
With the
report not public yet, Subramanian had sent a three-page letter to Irani on
Thursday, informing her that after some “soul searching” he has decided to go
public with its contents as education is a matter of public interest. The former
bureaucrat, however, did not mention when he intends to do this.
The HRD
Ministry officially replied to the missive on Friday, informing Subramanian
that the timing and method of disclosure of the report rests with the
government.
The
ministry’s letter to Subramanian states, “Subsequent to the presentation of the
committee’s report to the government, the report itself and the responsibility
and prerogative of determining the modalities, timing and manner of
dissemination and further consultation would vest with the government. The
ministry is presently in the process of studying and internalising the
recommendations, an essential precursor to subsequent processes. Given your
vast, rich and long experience in pivotal and responsible positions, you would
no doubt appreciate the position.”
The former
cabinet secretary said, “There are two different issues. First, I completely
agree with the minister that the process of policy-making is the government’s
prerogative. Second, all documentation which is of public interest should be in
the public domain as per the RTI Act. I am not contesting what the minister has
said. For me, this is a matter of principle of information. I had objected even
when the Vohra Committee report of 1993 was not disclosed.”
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