D Litt for Netaji sparks controvery

Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav has added another feather to his cap – he is now a doctor as well. Though he has thrust many a bitter pill down his political opponents' throats, the Yadav chieftain is not yet qualified to administer medicine. He can only attach the prestigious title of 'Dr' to his name as he got an honorary doctorate (D Litt or Doctor of Letters) from the Shakuntala Mishra Rehabilitation University here on Tuesday.

The conferment of the doctorate on the SP chief was as ironical as it has become controversial. Mulayam was conferred the D Litt title at the university which was inaugurated in November 2011 by his bête noire BSP chief Mayawati as UP chief minister.

The university for the differently-abled, especially the optically challenged, was established by BSP general secretary and Mayawati's Manfriday SC Mishra in memory of his mother and social activist Shakuntala Mishra, a social worker deeply involved with the rehabilitation of the disabled.

On Tuesday, Mulayam was chief guest at the convocation of the university. The fact that his son UP CM Akhilesh Yadav is the general body chairperson of the institution has triggered a controversy.

Lawyer and social activist Dr Nutan Thakur has written to the UP governor, who is ex-officio chancellor of all universities in the state, about the alleged impropriety involved.

"Though Mulayam Singh Yadav's extensive contribution to public life cannot be denied, the conferment of a doctorate by a university where the chairman of the general body which decides such matters is his own son is clearly a case of conflict of interest," she said in her letter. "It is also against the basic principle of natural justice," she added.