Smriti Irani’s fate emerged as the focus for headline writers and front page editors, who used puns and wordplay to highlight at the fact that she had been shunted out from the ministry of human resource development and allocated charge of textiles instead.
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He said that education has to be student-centric and it has to build character capacity into the students. She faced criticism from several quarters for her handling of Hyderabad University Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula’s suicide and the JNU row.
Javadekar said education “is not a subject for party poltics” but it is an important issue and “we will have discussion on it with everyone”.
“Modiji has a certain vision about education and with the help of everyone we will make it a success”, the HRD Minister said. Therefore, we have to improve the quality of education. Javadekar said media too has a “huge role” in this area.
At the same meeting, the RSS also called for the government to curb student politics on campuses – a suggestion diluted by the HRD ministry under Irani even after it figured prominently in the TSR Subramanian committee’s report on formulating the New Education Policy.
Mr. Javadekar, who was in charge of Environment and Forest Ministry and was the lone Minister to be promoted to the Cabinet rank on Tuesday, said under Mr. Modi there is a lot of focus on education.
Others say textiles is by no means a small ministry, only a less glamourous one that will allow Irani to work away from the public gaze and criticism that she so easily attracts.
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Mr. Javadekar said his 92-year-old mother, who stays with him. was a primary school teacher herself and he “values” teachers’ contribution to society.
