Is Jayanarayan Mishra, Orissa’s commerce and transport minister, a graduate? The answer lies somewhere in between.
BHUBANESHWAR: Is Jayanarayan Mishra, Orissa’s commerce and transport minister, a graduate? The answer lies somewhere in between. According to the affidavit regarding educational qualifications Mishra filed with the Election Commission along with his nomination papers for the 2004 assembly elections, he has very much completed his graduation.
The affidavit mentions he had acquired his Bachelor of Arts degree from Burla NAC College under Sambalpur University in 1984.
However, information gathered under the Right to Information Act (RTI) revealed that the minister is not a graduate and has only completed his Intermediate in Arts during 1981-83.
DNA on Monday reported the false declarations made in pre-poll affidavits by members of the current Punjab cabinet.
The interesting part was that though Mishra pursued his BA in the year 1984 to 1986 with history and political science as his subjects, there has been no official information about the minister’s completion of the degree course.
What is more important is how Mishra could claim to have completed his graduation just within a year after passing the IA exam in 1983. The rules clearly stipulate that one needs to attend two years of classes after IA before being allowed to sit for the BA examination.
“Right now we do not have the information relating to Mishra’s educational qualifications,” was all that authorities of Burla NAC College were willing to say.
Sambalpur Biskah Manch (SBM) which has brought the charges against the minister, obtained all the information under the RTI Act. SBM convener Debasis Purohit said, “We have enough documents to prove that Mishra has not passed his BA.”
When contacted, Mishra said he would fight for his cause in the right forum. “A conspiracy has been hatched against me,” he said.
State chief electoral officer Alaka Panda said her office had received a complaint in this regard. “We are looking into it,” she said. Meanwhile, the Congress demanded the resignation of the minister.
Mishra had won the 2004 assembly election from the Sambalpur assembly constituency on a BJP ticket.
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