The HRD Ministry on Thursday once again came under attack from the Opposition members in the Rajya Sabha who expressed concern over the developments in Central universities like JNU, Hyderabad University and now Allahabad University and regretted that educational institutions have become political arena, which needs to be stopped.
As the House took up discussion on functioning of HRD Ministry, members also voiced concern over the quality of education, saying it is deteriorating. Samajwadi Party member Naresh Agrawal alleged that students are being targeted in Central universities and vice chancellors are being used for it.
“This has never happened before that Vice Chancellors of Central universities are being used to target students. This has happened in JNU, Hyderabad and now in Allahabad. This is a wrong precedent and needs to be checked,” he said and asked Why such incidents are happening in central universities”
Agarwal claimed that an RSS leader is said to be running the organisations such as AICTE, which drew strong reaction from the BJP members. Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien said allegations cannot be levelled against a person who is not present in the House. At this, Agrawal asked, “Then why were names and allegations levelled in the House on AgustaWestlandIJ”.
Taking a dig at HRD Minister Smriti Irani, Agarwal said, “There is a debate over the degree of HRD Minister, but this issue of fake degrees is dangerous. It has to be checked at the earliest.”
Prabhat Jha of the BJP however countered the Opposition members asking them to “cooperate and contribute” and not to politicise the issue. Sharing about the steps taken in education sector, Jha said the Government is coming out with new National Education Policy, which will change the sector in a big way.
Earlier during the Zero Hour, Tapan Kumar Sen of CPI (M) raised the issue of lathicharge on students in Allahabad University on May 2 in which agitating students were “brutally beaten” and several were injured.