Gopalaswami, former Chief Election Commissioner and head of the HRD panel which has handed the Institute of Eminence tag to Jio Institute, has defended the decision.
Gopalaswami, former Chief Election Commissioner and head of the HRD panel which has handed the Institute of Eminence tag to Jio Institute, has defended the decision.
Gopalaswami, headed the four-member panel which made the selection, along with panel members Tarun Khanna, Renu Khator and Pritam Singh. Gopalaswami told The New Indian Express: “To anybody who asks me why Jio, my counter question would be why not Jio?"
Calling it a ‘watetight’ proposal he explained that other institutes in the running for the greenfield catogery didn’t have the land or the required funding.
Read: Where will Jio Institute be located?
Slamming those who criticised the decision, he said it reeked of anger some people have for others more privileged. He said: “In case of a bike hitting a pedestrian, it's always a biker who is considered wrong and in case of car hitting a bike it is always the car driver who is assumed to be defaulter-I see a similarity between the recent decision and these simple examples.”
The Congress attacked the Centre for granting the "Institution of Eminence" status to the "non-existent" Jio Institute and took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying he would attain his elusive degree in entire political science - from there.
The party also alleged that Modi will get his degree in electives like "crony capitalism" and "destroying democracy" from the Jio institute.
Read: Why HRD picked Jio
It also alleged that the BJP has been favouring rich businessmen and big business houses, which has been proved in this case.
"It is only under Modi government that a non-existent University can receive the tag of 'Institute of Eminence', just like a person can study a non-existent course and receive the degree of 'Entire Political Science'," the Congress said on its official Twitter handle.
Facing criticism over the selection of the yet-to-be-established Jio Institute by Reliance Foundation as an "Institution of Eminence", the HRD Ministry clarified that the tag was conditional and it would get only a letter of intent for now.
"Right now they will not get the IoE tag, they will just get a letter of intent. If they are able to establish themselves in three years and meet the expectations of the expert committee, then they will get the IoE status. The expert panel will have the authority to withdraw the tag if the institution is not found to be performing up to the mark," HRD Secretary R Subramaniam told reporters.
The government yesterday granted "Institution of Eminence" (IoE) status to IIT-Delhi, IIT-Bombay and the Bengaluru-based Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in the public sector, and Manipal Academy of Higher Education, BITS Pilani and Jio Institute in the private sector.
The selection of the yet-to-be-established Jio Institute as one of the six "Institutions of Eminence" drew sharp criticism from various quarters with many questioning the process of selection and the motive behind it.
The HRD Ministry said it received 11 private proposals but its panel of experts felt that only the Jio Institute cleared all four specifications -- land availability, highly qualified and experienced core team, funding, and strategic vision with "clear milestones and action plan".
"Jio Institute has been selected under the greenfield institutions category. These institutions are not there right now but where well-meaning responsible private investment wants to bring global standards to the country, they should be welcomed," the HRD Secretary further said.
He also said that the three government institutions selected as IoEs would get funding of Rs 1,000 crore each, and the private entities would not be entitled for funding.
The move is part of a scheme of the HRD Ministry to select 20 IoEs 10 public and 10 private that will enjoy complete academic and administrative autonomy.
However, the Empowered Expert Committee (EEC) headed by former chief election commissioner N Gopalaswami picked six institutions that, according to the panel, showed the potential to find a place among top 500 of global rankings.
Unlike other institutions, IoEs will get greater autonomy to start new courses, admit foreign students, hire foreign faculty, and collaborate with foreign educational institutions without the need for government approval.
With inputs from PTI
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