The controversy over the resignation of the IIT Director R K Shevgaonkar, under mysterious circumstances, raises the fundamental question of academic autonomy of our institutions of higher learning. Though the HRD ministry has issued a statement denying any role in his resignation, the fact is that ever since Smriti Irani took over the HRD ministry, political interference in the functioning of the universities and the IITs has become a reality, seriously eroding their autonomy and this is a very disturbing development.
It was reported that the director resigned under pressure from the ministry for not acceding to its demands. He was reportedly asked to provide the IIT ground for a cricket academy Sachin Tendulkar wanted to open and pay about Rs 70 lakh in dues to former IIT Delhi faculty member and currently BJP functionary Subramanian Swamy. Of course, both these demands are now refuted by the ministry. Even Tendulkar has denied that he ever asked for any land for a cricket academy. Nor has he given any academy permission to use his name. If this is so, who planted this story in the first place, is a matter that demands investigation.
Now, the director is being accused of opening an ‘illegal offshore campus’ in Mauritius. Pallam Raju, the then HRD Minister, had said the IITs have the autonomy to sign agreements with other countries seeking research partnerships where they deem fit. In fact, such initiatives should be encouraged to raise the image and international standing of our institutions. Even if opening an offshore campus is ‘illegal’, it doesn’t warrant the director’s resignation. The chairman of the IIT Delhi Board of Governors, Vijay Bhatkar, is hiding something when he says that Shevgaonkar has resigned for ‘personal reasons.’ Were the ‘personal reasons’ so compelling that he had to forego two years of his tenure? A senior board member said, “Whatever be Shevgaonkar’s alleged involvement with off-shore campus in Mauritius, there is no denying that he was under tremendous pressure from the HRD ministry. Such pressure does not come in writing. He had told us a lot about what happened to him when he went for a meeting to the HRD ministry. If views of the department of personnel and training and finance ministry were being sought, why was a meeting organised between IIT officials and BJP leader Subramanian Swamy for the settlement of his salary dues?” It is obvious the director is under a gag order.
The HRD ministry is no stranger to controversies. It is treating the universities and the IITs as if they are its extensions. In the recent past, it had directed schools and colleges, through the CBSE and the UGC, to telecast live the speech of Narendera Modi on Teacher’s Day. On Gandhi Jayanti, they were told to conduct programmes commensurate with his Swachh Bharat campaign. On October 31, they were instructed to celebrate Sardar Patel’s birth anniversary as ‘Rashtriya Ekta Diwas’ and administer a pledge to the students. And, again on December 25, when the schools and colleges were closed over Christmas vacation, they were asked to conduct ‘Good Governance Day’ programmes. These can be construed as nothing but calculated attempts to impose diktats from the upper echelons to muzzle academic freedom.
The UGC is acting under the instructions from the HRD ministry. It meekly surrendered its autonomy. Earlier, it had arbitrarily ordered the scrapping of the four-year undergraduate programme (FYUP) — an innovative programme in tune with the format of global higher education — of Delhi University, after having approved it last year. Now it is regularly issuing orders to the universities to conduct the events as required by the HRD ministry. It is abusing its position, bypassing the authority of universities.
The politicisation of higher education is curbing the academic freedom of the universities and the IITs. While passing a serious stricture on the Union HRD ministry — on the issue of FYUP — the Supreme Court had observed: “We can see there is unnecessary interference by the ministry. You cannot thrust your decision on the UGC. The UGC is an autonomous body …What is the point of having a separate statutory body if the ministry has to control everything at every level.” Following the UGC’s communiqué to the IITs asking them to align their courses and degrees with the ones recognised by the UGC, Anil Kakodkar , who headed the Committee to recommend autonomy for the IITs, has said that the “IITs are governed by an Act of Parliament…to give maximum autonomy to them. ..They are completely out of the ambit of the UGC and what is happening now isn’t right.”
This encroaching on academic autonomy will destroy our institutions of higher learning. No wonder academic standards of our universities are falling and they do not figure in world rankings. Once a premier institution – Mumbai University — has slipped from its slot in the 350-400 bracket in 2009 to the 601-650 bracket in 2013, according to QS World University Rankings. The IIT Delhi figures at 56 in the overall 100 rankings of BRICS. These rankings are based on a comprehensive range of 13 separate, rigorous performance indicators used to create the definitive ‘The World University Rankings’, covering all aspects of the modern university’s core missions that include teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.
The writer is Professor of Political Science and retired Principal, Kandivali Education Society’s College, Mumbai and Founder Secretary, Association of Indian College Principals.
G Ramachandram
