Smriti Irani’s demotion has surprised many the same ways as it had when she was appointed as the Union Human Resources Development minister by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.In the Modi Cabinet rejig, her demotion to Textiles Ministry is also stunning, but many predicted that she won’t be able to hold on to education ministry for long.
Several issues eclipsed her stint at the HRD ministry, starting with her degree controversy.
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Irani was mired in a controversy over her claims of possessing a Yale degree. Secondly, she scrapped the four-year format at the Delhi University and went back with the three-year format, which was against the wishes of the VC and UGC.
The HRD Ministry was also at loggerheads with the Niti Ayog over accreditation and other issues. Experts say Irani took Niti Ayog as interference.
Her handling of suicide case of Dalit scholar at Hyderabad Central University, Rohith Vemula, was also criticised by many.
The recent Jawaharlal Nehru University row involving Kanhaiya Kumar also didn’t add to her sheen. Irani also played with fire when replaced German with Sanskrit as the third language in Kendriya Vidyalayas in 2014.
Irani was also at the centre of the controversy when she was accused of intervening in the affairs of IIT-Delhi prompting the resignation of Director RK Shevgaonkar, two years before his term.
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