Ex-ISRO chief to head new edu policy panel

Former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan will head a nine-member panel to draft India's new education policy, officials said on Monday.

The panel comprising experts and educationists from wide-ranging backgrounds will start work immediately, officials of the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) said.

HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar had said in December last year that the panel would be announced by 2016-end itself. Ministry officials said on Monday that the delay was because they were trying to put in place a diverse panel.

India's national policy on education was framed in 1986 and modified in 1992. Two years ago, the ministry had also formed a panel under former Union Cabinet Secretary TSR Subramanian on the new policy. Sources said inputs from the Subramanian panel report would also be utilised in drafting the policy.

The new panel has former IAS officer KJ Alphonse Kanamthanam, who played a key role in helping Kerala's Kottayam and Ernakulam districts achieve 100-per cent literacy.

MK Shridhar, who has served as member secretary of the Karnataka State Innovation Council, TV Kattimani, an expert on language communication, Mazhar Asif, a professor of Persian at Guwahati University, and Krishan Mohan Tripathi, UP's former director of education, will also bring a wealth of experience to the panel, officials said.

The committee also has mathematician Manjul Bhargava from Princeton University and former vice-chancellor of Mumbai's SNDT University, Vasudha Kamat.

A senior official in the ministry said: "A diverse panel has been appointed keeping in mind the expertise each of them will bring from their area of specialisation."

"It took us some time but the panel that has been put together now should be able to bring in the needed inputs for the policy," he added.

Consultations on a new policy started during the tenure of previous HRD Minister Smriti Irani and have been on for the last 30 months now.

Some of the suggestions made during her time courted controversy as they were found to be regressive by some educationists. Javadekar, who replaced Irani about a year ago, restarted discussions by inviting suggestions from various political parties, educationists and institutions.

The Rajya Sabha also debated the issue and a special education dialogue was organised in which 48 MPs from all parties participated. Many MPs have given their views in writing. All these suggestions and inputs will be considered by the new committee.