The HRD ministry has appointed a new nine-member panel, headed by space scientist and former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan, to work on a New Education Policy (NEP), sources said.
The Prakash Javadekar-led HRD ministry has chosen experts and educationists from wide-ranging backgrounds to be part of the panel that is expected to recast India's education policy.
Besides Kasturirangan, the panel includes former IAS officer K J Alphonse Kanamthanam. He had played a key role in helping Kerala's Kottayam and Ernakulam districts achieve 100 percent literacy, sources said.
Ram Shanker Kureel, vice chancellor of the Baba Saheb Ambedkar University of Social Sciences, Mhow, Madhya Pradesh, has also been appointed.
Dr M K Shridhar, former member secretary of the Karnataka State Innovation Council, Dr T V Kattimani, an expert on language communication, Dr Mazhar Asif, professor of Persian at Guwahati University, and former director of education, Uttar Pradesh, Krishan Mohan Tripathi also bring a wealth of experience to the panel, sources said.
Besides, the committee also comprises mathematician Manjul Bhargava from Princeton University and Vasudha Kamat, former vice chancellor of Mumbai's SNDT University.
“The panel has been appointed keeping in mind that the members bring expertise related to the diverse areas of education. Significantly, the panel also reflects the diversity of the country as the members belong to different sections as well as regions,” an official said.
This diversity, the ministry hopes, would help the committee understand the varied issues that have to be kept in mind for the formulation of such a key policy document, he added.
“The panelists belong to different age groups which should be helpful as they would be able to bring experience, innovation and also global exposure which are so vital for such an important policy formulation,” an official said.
The HRD ministry had a couple of years ago formed a panel under former cabinet secretary TSR Subramanian on the New Education Policy. Sources said inputs from the Subramanian panel report would also be utilised.
Who is Dr K Kasturirangan?
Dr Kasturirangan steered the Indian Space programme as Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) between 1994 and 2003. Under his leadership, the programme witnessed several major milestones including the successful launching and operationalisation of India’s prestigious launch vehicles, PSLV and GSLV, the development and launching of some of the world’s best civilian remote sensing satellites, IRS-1C and 1D, new generation INSAT communication satellites, besides ocean observation satellites IRS-P3/P4.
He was the Director of the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS) at Bangalore (2004-2009), and is Honorary Professor of Physics, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad and at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Research at Bangalore. He was also a Member of the Rajya Sabha (2003-2009). He was also a member of the now defunct Planning Commission of India.
He has been conferred the Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan, and the Award of ‘Officer of the Legion d’honneur’ by the President of the French Republic.
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