Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar on Monday did way with the committee on National and Education Policy (NEP) that his predecessor Smriti Irani had formed and which had already submitted its report. Javadekar followed the scrapping by setting up a new NEP panel. In effect, it means, the policy isn't coming any time soon.
While Irani as HRD Minister had appointed former Cabinet Secretary TSR Subramanium, Javadekar appointed a new nine-member panel headed by space scientist Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan.
A senior HRD Ministry official said that while the first one took almost three years to submit its report, the new one may also take time. He conceded that the NEP could be delayed further but maintained that inputs from the Subramanian panel report would also be utilized once the new panel places its report.
The HRD ministry has chosen experts and educationists from wide-ranging backgrounds to be part of the panel that is expected to recast the much-talked about India's education policy tagged as NEP.
"The panel has been appointed keeping in mind that the members bring expertise related to the diverse areas of education. Significantly, the panel also reflects the diversity of the country as the members belong to different sections as well as regions," the official said. The Ministry hopes the new committee drawn from various fields will understand the varied issues that have to be kept in mind for the formulation of such a key policy document.
"The panelists belong to different age groups which should be helpful as they would be able to bring experience, innovation and also global exposure which are so vital for such an important policy formulation," said the official.
Former IAS officer K J Alphonse, Ram Shanker Kureel, vice chancellor of the Baba Saheb Ambedkar University of Social Sciences, Mhow, Dr M K Shridhar, former member secretary of the Karnataka State Innovation Council, Dr T V Kattimani, an expert on language communication, Dr Mazhar Asif, professor of Persian at Guwahati University, and former director of education, Uttar Pradesh, Krishan Mohan Tripathi are among the members of the Javadekar-formed panel.
Besides Kasturirangan, who headed India's space agency ISRO, Alphonse had played a key role in helping Kerala's Kottayam and Ernakulam districts achieve 100 percent literacy. Kureel has wide experience in the field of agriculture sciences and management.
Besides, the committee also comprises mathematician Manjul Bhargava from Princeton University and Vasudha Kamat, former vice chancellor of Mumbai's SNDT University.