Kasturirangan-led panel to prepare final draft of education policy

 The Centre has appointed eminent scientist K Kasturirangan to head a nine-member committee to prepare a final draft of the much-awaited national education policy (NEP).

This comes about a year after a report of a committee, set up under former Cabinet secretary T S R Subramanian, ran into a controversy over some of its recommendations, including the suggestion that university students must “abjure” politics on campuses. The Subramanian Committee was asked to formulate the draft for an NEP.

Following the controversy, the Ministry of Human Resource Development declared the Subramanian Committee report as “further input” for the NEP and continued holding consultations with various stakeholders. Smriti Irani was the then HRD minister.

Kasturirangan headed Isro from 1994 to 2003 and was the director of the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru, from April 2004 to 2009. His term as the chancellor of JNU ended last month.

Kasturirangan was also a member of the erstwhile Planning Commission and a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha from 2003–09. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1982, Padma Bhushan in 1992 and Padma Vibhushan in 2000. “The council (Kasturirangan Committee) will begin its work immediately,” the MHRD stated on Monday.

Though it was not clear if the panel has been given a deadline for completing the task, a source said that it may take five to six months for preparing a final draft of the NEP. The MHRD has received “thousands of suggestions” from educationists, teachers, students and other stakeholders.