Selection of Smriti Irani as the HRD Minister

Smriti Irani as the HRD Minister

It was expected that Narendra Modi would provide a government with quite a few Technocrats and Professionals but the list of ministers is nothing but a representation of politicians. On top of it you have a HRD minister, who isn’t even a graduate. It is also understood that she has submitted different affidavits about her education qualifications, which (if it is true) demonstrates questionable integrity. Congress the opposition party points this out. Surprisingly they are shouted down in two of the major News Hour debates (Times Now & CNN IBN). I fail to understand some of these TV debates.

Comparing Apple to Apple, Smriti Irani replaces Shri Pallam Raju who was a member of 9th, 14th and 15th Lok Sabha of India. He finished his schooling in Hyderabad Public School (HPS), Begumpet (1971–1979). He is an Electronics & Communications Engineering graduate (BE) from Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh (1979–1983) and has an MBA from Temple University, Philadelphia, USA (1983–1985). Pallam Raju started his career in the IT field. He worked in Philadelphia and Boston in the USA and in Oslo, Norway, in the field of Computers and Information Technology.

A look at the List of former Ministers in charge of Education/HRD Government will also show that this Ministry was always headed by a senior/proficient/erudite individual:

S. No.	Name	Period
		From	To
1.	Maulana Abul Kalam Azad	15.08.1947	22.02.1958
2.	Dr. K.L. Shrimali (Minister of State)	22.02.1958	10.08.1962
3.	Dr. K.L. Shrimali	10.08.1962	31.08.1963
4.	Shri Humayun Kabir	01.09.1963	21.11.1963
5.	Shri M.C. Chagla	21.11.1963	13.11.1966
6.	Shri Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed	14.11.1966	13.03.1967
7.	Dr. Triguna Sen	16.03.1967	14.02.1969
8.	Dr. V.K.R.V. Rao	14.02.1969	18.03.1971
9.	Shri Siddhartha Shankar Ray	18.03.1971	20.03.1972
10.	Prof. S. Nurul Hassan (Minister of State)	24.03.1972	24.03.1977
11.	Prof. Pratap Chandra Chunder	26.03.1977	28.07.1979
12.	Dr. Karan Singh	30.07.1979	14.01.1980
13.	Shri B. Shankaranand	14.01.1980	17.10.1980
14.	Shri S.B. Chavan	17.10.1980	08.08.1981
15.	Smt. Sheila Kaul (Minister of State)	10.08.1981	31.12.1984
16.	Shri K.C. Pant	31.12.1984	25.09.1985
17.	Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao	25.09.1985	25.06.1988
18.	Shri P. Shiv Shankar	25.06.1988	02.12.1989
19.	Shri V.P. Singh (as Prime Minister)	02.12.1989	10.11.1990
20.	Shri Rajmangal Pandey	21.11.1990	21.06.1991
21.	Shri Arjun Singh	23.06.1991	24.12.1994
22.	Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao (as Prime Minister)	25.12.1994	09.02.1995
23.	Shri Madhavrao Scindia	10.02.1995	17.01.1996
24.	Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao (as Prime Minister)	17.01.1996	16.05.1996
25.	Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee (as Prime Minister)	16.05.1996	01.06.1996
26.	Shri S.R. Bommai	05.06.1996	19.03.1998
27.	Dr. Murali Manohar Joshi	19.03.1998	21.05.2004
28.	Shri Arjun Singh	22.05.2004	22.05.2009
29.	Shri Kapil Sibal	29.05.2009	29.10.2012
30.	Dr. M.M. Pallam Raju	30.10.2012	26.05.2014

* Ministry of HRD constituted w.e.f. 26^th September, 1985.

In comparison to the above erudite list, selection of Smriti Irani appears to be a poor choice. An argument that education qualifications aren’t important for a portfolio such as Education/HRD will not hold water. Further the incumbent has apparently submitted incorrect details of her qualifications. In the corporate world such action would be investigated and if proven would lead to immediate termination and black listing of the candidate.