Khurshid on Wednesday defended Environment and Forests Minister Jairam
Ramesh over his remarks on the poor quality of research and faculty at
India's top technical and business schools.
"The academic atmosphere in which free exchanges take place is
different from formal official announcements that are made by
ministers in their capacity. I think we should not discourage informal
academic exchange of views, whatever those views may be," Khurshid
told reporters here.
He was asked whether Ramesh's remarks violated ministerial
responsibility and if the central government endorsed his views.
Ramesh had, on the sidelines of a function here Monday, said there was
hardly any worthwhile research done at Indian Institutes of Technology
(IITs) or at the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and had blamed
the faculty for the poor quality of work being done by these
institutions.
"There is hardly any worthwhile research from our IITs. The faculty in
the IIT is not world-class. It is the students in IITs who are
world-class. So the IITs and IIMs are excellent because of the quality
of students not because of quality of research or faculty," Ramesh,
who is an alumnus of IIT-Mumbai from where he did his Bachelor of
Technology in Mechanical Engineering in 1975, had said.
His comments evoked sharp reactions from both the academia and alumni
of IITs and IIMs, some in his favor and others against.
However, Khurshid felt ministers should not create controversies, but
noted there was no point for "debate or conflict" on the issue.
"I do not think we are free to trigger controversies. Ministers know
what they have to say. But academic freedom in an academic institution
is different from what you say in press conferences," he said.
Pointing out to the views expressed by Human Resource Development
Minister Kapil Sibal on the issues raised by Ramesh, Khurshid said he
supported it.
Kapil Sibal had on Tuesday said Ramesh has an opinion on IITs and IIMs
and he should be allowed to have it.
"I support the HRD minister's views that if somebody has familiar
knowledge of an institution and he expresses his views, we should be
enriched by those views. I do not think this is a point for debate or
conflict," Khurshid said.
Congress distanced itself from Ramesh's remarks and lauded the
institutions' contribution to Indian academics, saying it was not
necessary for everyone to speak on every subject.
Party spokesperson Manish Tewari on Tuesday said that he was not aware
of the context in which Ramesh had made his comments and whether it
was quoted in context or out of context.
"But so far as IIMs and IITs are concerned, there is no question or
ambiguity about their contribution to Indian academics and even to
building some of the prime institutions around the world," Tewari had
said. IANS
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