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Put him down

The Pioneer Edit Desk

Arjun Singh must be tamed, now ---- Union Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh has an innate ability to unleash furious storms and he is invariably in the eye of each one of them. Indeed, that is how he keeps himself in the news; in his twisted wisdom, he believes this also fetches him importance both within the Congress and in the Government. His previous innings in Congress Governments at the Centre have been as controversy-ridden as his current assignment in the UPA Government.

Immediately on taking charge as HRD Minister, he set about undoing every initiative of his predecessor, BJP's Murli Manohar Joshi. He described it as his "detoxification campaign" in the cause of 'secularism'; in reality, it was nothing more than a contemptible effort to indulge in crude vote-bank politics of the variety that, in the first place, propelled politicians like him into prominence. Mr Singh, for all his pretentious pronouncements, is totally out of sync with today's India and is entirely clueless about the aspirations of its youth.

It's a monumental tragedy that someone so unsuitable like him should occupy an important portfolio like Human Resource Development Minister - the country's human resource deserves far better. Surely Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi are aware of this simple, incontrovertible fact. Yet, that he has so far had his way - beginning with 'detoxification' of syllabus and textbooks, followed by questionable appointments to equally questionable forums floated by the HRD Ministry under his tutelage, and ending with his hare-brained scheme to unilaterally introduce caste based quotas in institutions of excellence, including medical, engineering and management colleges - speaks volumes about his survival instincts as well as the inability of Congress's leaders to bring him to heel.

Wallowing in self-importance, Mr Singh sees himself as a Minister who is not answerable to the Cabinet and as a politician who is not bound by his party's collective decision-making process. He believes in neither consultation nor consensus. It is not surprising that his latest endeavour to demolish the reputation of internationally acclaimed institutions of higher learning in India has ruffled feathers in the Congress; that it has also left students and parents across the country angry and fuming is of no consequence to a man so steeped in arrogance and self-righteousness.
It would be unfair to expect Mr Manmohan Singh to tame his HRD Minister and force him to give up his antediluvian politics that have no place in a modern nation aspiring for a global profile in the 21st century. The Prime Minister may not believe in crippling engineering, medical and management institutions by imposing caste based quotas on them, but he lacks the courage of conviction to rein in wayward Ministers like Mr Singh. That places the onus on Ms Gandhi: She should step in to stop the eruption of mass social disquiet. Not to do so could have catastrophic consequences.

It is believed that many senior Ministers and Congress functionaries are upset with Mr Singh's agenda of fomenting conflict in the guise of 'progressive policies'. They have reason to be worried and alarmed. Mr Singh is not only imperilling India's future, but also theirs.