The government is not at war with any student body, said Union minister for Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar in reference to a question on the JNU controversy during a conversation with journalist Shekhar Gupta in the city on Friday.
Mr. Javadekar added, “[Having been] a student leader myself, I believe that the students need to engage with the society. There needs to be space for ideas. I believe education can never be a political agenda, but a national agenda.”
The interaction was organised by The Print, a media platform founded by Mr. Gupta. When Mr. Gupta raised the issue of the judicial inquiry committee report on Rohith Vemula’s suicide, the Minister said the report was yet to be put up for his consideration and he would take a call on the issue. The Ministry is also working to put in place a system that allows for more autonomy to State universities in terms of courses, electives and curriculum, he said. A well-rounded ideal would be to have IITs and IIMs introduce Humanities and the Arts in their curriculum, he said.
To a specific question on his predecessor Smriti Irani’s decision to scrap teaching of German in Kendriya Vidyalayas, he said he was not a person who would stop the teaching of any language.
