Smriti Irani’s educational qualifications are back in the news because of her ridiculous claim that she has a degree from Yale University. A week at Yale University as part of a group of lawmakers does not an educational qualification make. Irani clearly scored a self-goal.
In fact, Irani’s educational qualifications created the Narendra Modi government's very first controversy. As soon as it was announced that the former TV actor would be minister for human resource development, critics pointed out that there were discrepancies between Irani’s affidavits before the Election Commission in 2004 and 2014. In her first affidavit, she had claimed to be a graduate, but in her second she said she had not completed the course. When asked about this, she urged her critics to go to court.
While she could yet be hauled up for lying on an affidavit, the campaign against her for her educational qualifications is a little churlish. Indian law does not lay down any educational qualifications for a person to become minister of education, or even to become a member of parliament. If Smriti Irani had a graduate degree, would she be better equipped to run the country’s education policy?
Sibal's record
Among former education minister Kapil Sibal’s many qualifications is a law degree from the Harvard Law School. Yet his decision to introduce the Four Year Undergraduate Programme in the University of Delhi was widely described as a disaster. Many academics hailed Smriti Irani’s decision to overturn that programme, even at the cost of the university’s autonomy.
Arun Jaitley’s law degree did not equip him to be finance minister, nor does he have any education in defence, the other portfolio he holds. Rajnath Singh’s masters in physics does not make him especially suited for the home ministry that takes care of internal security.
A degree is no guarantee of knowledge or wisdom. It is ironic Smriti Zubin Irani was a middle-class icon when she played a daughter-in-law on TV , but that she is now facing the wrath of the middle-class obsession with degrees.
Politicians in power reflect the people’s wishes in making broad policy decisions. The real task of framing policy is vested with bureaucrats, who are selected through a ridiculously competitive civil services examination.
According to an analysis by the Association for Democratic Reforms, one minister (Uma Bharti) in Prime Minister Narendra Modi cabinet went to school only till the fifth standard, another five only till the tenth standard, and two till the twelfth standard. What should worry us more about Uma Bharti is that she has an attempt to murder case against her. Thirteen of Modi’s ministers have criminal cases against them, with such charges as rioting, promoting communal disharmony, bribery and electoral offences.
In neighbouring Pakistan, citizens are not eligible to contest elections unless they are graduates. This has led to a flourishing market in fake degrees. One politician, Aslam Raisini, until last year the chief minister of Balochistan province, had a simple answer when he was accused of possessing a fake degree. “A degree is a degree,” he famously said on camera, “whether it’s a real one or a fake one.”
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In fact, Irani’s educational qualifications created the Narendra Modi government's very first controversy. As soon as it was announced that the former TV actor would be minister for human resource development, critics pointed out that there were discrepancies between Irani’s affidavits before the Election Commission in 2004 and 2014. In her first affidavit, she had claimed to be a graduate, but in her second she said she had not completed the course. When asked about this, she urged her critics to go to court.
While she could yet be hauled up for lying on an affidavit, the campaign against her for her educational qualifications is a little churlish. Indian law does not lay down any educational qualifications for a person to become minister of education, or even to become a member of parliament. If Smriti Irani had a graduate degree, would she be better equipped to run the country’s education policy?
Sibal's record
Among former education minister Kapil Sibal’s many qualifications is a law degree from the Harvard Law School. Yet his decision to introduce the Four Year Undergraduate Programme in the University of Delhi was widely described as a disaster. Many academics hailed Smriti Irani’s decision to overturn that programme, even at the cost of the university’s autonomy.
Arun Jaitley’s law degree did not equip him to be finance minister, nor does he have any education in defence, the other portfolio he holds. Rajnath Singh’s masters in physics does not make him especially suited for the home ministry that takes care of internal security.
A degree is no guarantee of knowledge or wisdom. It is ironic Smriti Zubin Irani was a middle-class icon when she played a daughter-in-law on TV , but that she is now facing the wrath of the middle-class obsession with degrees.
Politicians in power reflect the people’s wishes in making broad policy decisions. The real task of framing policy is vested with bureaucrats, who are selected through a ridiculously competitive civil services examination.
According to an analysis by the Association for Democratic Reforms, one minister (Uma Bharti) in Prime Minister Narendra Modi cabinet went to school only till the fifth standard, another five only till the tenth standard, and two till the twelfth standard. What should worry us more about Uma Bharti is that she has an attempt to murder case against her. Thirteen of Modi’s ministers have criminal cases against them, with such charges as rioting, promoting communal disharmony, bribery and electoral offences.
In neighbouring Pakistan, citizens are not eligible to contest elections unless they are graduates. This has led to a flourishing market in fake degrees. One politician, Aslam Raisini, until last year the chief minister of Balochistan province, had a simple answer when he was accused of possessing a fake degree. “A degree is a degree,” he famously said on camera, “whether it’s a real one or a fake one.”