New education minister unlikely to change tertiary policy

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh overhauled leadership of the Education Ministry in a sweeping cabinet reshuffle this week. But with just 18 months to go before national elections, experts said the new leadership was likely to stick to existing higher education policies.

Analysts said that all political parties would avoid controversial decisions so close to national elections in 2014.

MM Pallam Raju (50) replaces Kapil Sibal as minister for human resources development (HRD), which includes education, and there are two new junior ministers of state. Raju said he would carry forward the “good work” of his predecessor, hinting at staying the course rather than big changes.

The ministry overhaul comes at a crucial time for India’s education policy, with a slew of bills stuck in parliament due to opposition from various quarters.

Among them is the controversial Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operations) Bill 2010, that would allow foreign universities to operate in India.

Addressing local media on Wednesday, Raju said he would reach out to “everybody” to build a consensus on the passage of pending higher education bills in parliament.

An engineering graduate with an MBA from Temple University in Philadelphia, Raju was previously minister of state for defence and is a member of parliament from the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.

He is one of almost half a dozen legislators from that state to be promoted in the cabinet reshuffle in preparation for the 2014 elections, as Andhra Pradesh is seen as a key state for Manmohan Singh’s Congress Party.

Low key compared to predecessor

Raju’s elevation from junior minister to cabinet minister is being credited to his good relations with Congress Party General Secretary Rahul Gandhi, son of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, who has focused on bringing younger leaders into the government.

Raju is one of India’s youngest education ministers in recent years.

“Raju also got a good report card from Defence Minister AK Antony. He [Raju] is quiet and lets his work speak for him. As such he is in contrast to Kapil Sibal’s aggressive ways of working,” said a the senior Congress Party leader who chose to remain anonymous.

Raju is seen as low key compared to Sibal, who often adopted a combative style. But after Sibal was given additional charge of the Telecom Ministry just over a year ago, he has been unable to give the education portfolio the attention it demanded. The high-profile telecoms sector is facing allegations of corruption, which threatens to taint the ruling coalition.

“Sibal initiated a lot of reforms and legislation. But it requires dedicated effort and perusal to see these through [parliament]. After he was given additional charge of telecom a lot of his time went there,” said Narayanan Ramaswamy, head of education at consulting firm KPMG.

Raju said he would work towards creating consensus on the pending higher education bills, suggesting that there was still everything to play for with the bill: “There is no cut and dried yes and no vote,” he admitted.

“In higher education there is a dearth of capacity, and efforts have to be made towards expanding the capacity of universities and the scope of the subjects. Towards that end foreign universities become relevant,” Raju told local media.

“We have to see how we can accommodate foreign universities. I think it is something that needs a little more debate,” he added, referring to the overall landscape for allowing foreign players to operate in India, not just the bills.

Linking education to jobs would be a major priority, Raju said on Wednesday, echoing a theme that Rahul Gandhi has identified as key ahead of national elections.

Junior ministers

Two new junior ministers of state for HRD, Jitin Prasada – a former minister of state for petroleum – and the high-profile MP from Kerala and former UN under-secretary general Shashi Tharoor, have also been appointed in the reshuffle.

Both appointments took policy analysts by surprise.

“Pallam Raju's elevation from minister of state for defence to human resource development minister in cabinet rank can be explained in terms of Congress' anxiety to recoup the ground it has lost in Andhra [Pradesh],” said Vinod Sharma, political editor at the Hindustan Times.

“But Shashi Tharoor's appointment as his junior is an incongruity, given the Kerala MP's international profile and undisputed talent.”

Tharoor, who quit as minister of state for external affairs in April 2010 in the wake of allegations of wrongdoing in buying stakes in a cricket team, studied at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in the United States.

His international affairs experience is regarded as an asset for the rapidly internationalising education sector, and his appointment to the ministry has attracted a great deal of attention. But Tharoor has made no statements on education policy so far, providing little indication of his exact role.

“There are many younger faces in the cabinet. But do we get something new and fresh? That’s not clear,” said analyst Yogendra Yadav, speaking to University World News.

“[The reshuffle] is clearly meant to be business-friendly and market-friendly. But a year and a half before the election you want to be people-friendly,” said Yadav.