Author: Urmi A Goswami New Delhi
Publication: Economic Times
Dated: June 15, 2009
URL: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/PoliticsNation/Khurshid-eyes-minority-pie-in-HRD--MEA/articleshow/4656715.cms
It may not be an A R Antulay versus Arjun
Singh redux, but a tug of war appears to be simmering within the government.
The ministry of minority affairs would like to take over the Haj cell and
minority education.
At present, the Haj cell is part of the ministry
of external affairs, while madarsa modernisation falls under the ministry
of human resource development. For the time being, minister of state for minority
affairs Salman Khurshid appears to have calibrated his position, showing a
willingness to let the status quo be preserved but perhaps with some modifications.
Mr Khurshid argues that this is not about
turfs, but about ways that certain areas can be "better nurtured and
serviced by placing them under minority affairs. It is all about the best
solution. By way of illustration, the minister refers to the madarsa modernisation
scheme, which he would rather view as madarsa "welfare".
At present the scheme is administered by the
ministry of human resource development. Mr Khurshid said that his ministry
deals much more with those who run madarsas. He makes the argument that his
ministry might be in a better position to persuade madarsas to follow a modernisation
programme.
However, when it comes to the larger canvas
of minority education, Mr Khurshid said there is no unanimity in the view
of whether minority education should be administered by the minority affairs
ministry.
"There are broadly two views, the first
being that minority education is best served by dealing with it with the rest
of education and the second view being that the HRD ministry's policies would
apply anywhere, so perhaps the specific interests of minority education would
be better served by this ministry", Mr Khurshid said.
The minister, who on assuming charge of the
ministry said that he would play the role of both advocate and diplomat, said
he is willing to go with either view. Sources said that the ministry is making
a pitch to the prime minister for the allocation of minority education. It's
argument being as originally conceived the ministry was to handle minority
education. The former HRD minister Arjun Singh was unwilling to let the portfolio
slip out of his ministry.
However, Mr Khurshid ought to be prepared
for stiff resistance from the the current HRD minister as well. Sources close
to HRD minister Kapil Sibal indicated that there was no way that minority
education would be removed from the ministry's work allocation.
Mr Sibal has already got his ministry working
on rolling out and implementing the recommendations of the Sachar Committee
report. Indeed Mr Sibal's first major meeting with his ministry's officials
related to the Sachar Committee.
It is unlikely that Mr Khurshid will do an
Antulay, and he may push for areas like madarsa modernisation to be reallocated
to his ministry.
He makes a similar argument about the Haj
cell. The minister would like to implement the Rehman Khan Committee recommendation
of setting up a Haj Foundation on the lines of the one in Malaysia. Sources
indicate that Haj management is not a central function of the MEA, and most
of the people who avail of the facilities actually end up accessing the minority
affairs ministry, so there is no reason why this reallocation should not be
undertaken.
Sources indicated that the ministry would
be keen to move to a self financing model, where the Haj pilgrimage will not
be so dependent on the exchequer. The plans would have to wait, as Mr Khurshid
said, "I can do nothing about it because the idea belongs to the ministry
of external affairs."
