New Delhi: Days after shunting Smriti Irani out of the HRD ministry, apparently over her penchant for getting into controversies, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has now rejected the former minister's selection of the chairman of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).
According to reports, the Prime Minister-headed Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has returned the HRD ministry’s proposal nominating Dr Sarvendra Vikram Bahadur Singh for the post of the next CBSE chief. The post has been lying vacant since December 2014.
In what could be a bigger snub, it is also believed that the ACC has taken away the responsibility of appointments from the HRD ministry, meaning it will effectively have no future role in such key appointments. The latest move comes almost a week after Irani was moved out from HRD to Textiles.
“While considering the proposal, the competent authority in the ACC has conveyed that the post be filled under Central Staffing Scheme (CSS) by keeping the recruitment rules in abeyance,” the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) said in a letter to the MHRD.
The post of CBSE chairman needs to be filled by a candidate who has at least three years of experience in educational administration and has the rank of a Joint Secretary.
Dr Bahadur, who is from the Uttar Pradesh Education Service, is the director of State Council of Educational Research & Training. He was Irani’s top choice for the job. She had conveyed Dr Bahadur’s name in a letter to the DoPT last month.
Besides Dr Bahadur, the HRD ministry had recommended Kamalakanta Biswal, professor at National University of Educational Planning and Administration, and Khurram Shahzad Noor, additional principal director in the education wing of the Indian Navy for the role.
This is for the second time when Irani’s choice was rejected by the Prime Minister. In August 2015, the ACC rejected Satbir Bedi’s name on grounds that she did not fulfil the qualifications.
