Kapil Sibal,then and now

Announcing the big shift from marks to grades in CBSE schools and then doing away with the Class X board exams altogether,Sibal ruffled many more for trying to avoid long-drawn consultations and red tape. How much resentment this caused became apparent when one of his key reforms bills— the National Education Tribunal Bill — was deferred by the Rajya Sabha with his own party men leading the attack and bringing much embarrassment for the party and the minister. The Parliamentary Standing Committee headed by Congress veteran Oscar Fernandes lambasted Sibal and his ministry for hastily rushing in bills without adequate homework or consultation. The ministry rejected each one of the standing committee’s recommendations for this bill,alienating still more MPs.

One by one,his bills ended up being questioned and held up in Parliament. Until the beginning of this Parliament session,the HRD minister had as many as 14 education legislation stuck in Parliament. Resigned to the situation,Sibal had in fact also asked his ministry to look at non-legislative reforms to push through his reforms.

This sesion,five of his pending 14 bills have got through. To do that,the Sibal of today has had to consult others and incorporate the changes that he would not have three years back. Sources close to him reveal that the minister has personally met MPs across party lines to convince them to support his Bills.

The once unyielding Sibal has gone ahead and accepted as many recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee as he could. The formerly upset standing committee has said in its latest report that the Parliament should help pass the pending education Bills,evidence of just how much lobbying the minister has had to do.

Here’s how four of the five bills went on to be passed:

Right to Education Act 2010 (Amendment): The Act promises free and compulsory education to everyone aged six to 14. The amendment Bill now includes children with all disabilities under the ambit of the disadvantaged sections. The Parliamentary Standing Committee had recommended that the bill spell out the option of home-based schooling for severely disabled children.

Copyright Bill,1957 (Amendment): The legislation now factors in changes proposed by the parliamentary panel with regard to disabled persons,and includes greater access to reading material for the visually disadvantaged by allowing them to convert books to any format and not just Braille. A clause that included the principal director as author of a film along with the producer had been opposed by the parliamentary panel; it has now been dropped. Other suggestions incorporated include keeping the provisions for compulsory licensing in line with the terms of international agreements and statutory licensing for radio and TV broadcasters,though with differential pricing.

Institute of Technology (Amendment) Bill,2010: It amends the 1961 Act and declares the eight new IITs — Bhubaneswar,Gandhinagar,Hyderabad,Indore,Jodhpur,Mandi,Patna,Ropar — as institutes of national importance,and also includes within its purview the Institute of Technology,Banaras Hindu University. The parliamentary panel had raised concerns on the lack of clarity about the zone in which IIT-BHU would be operating and the need to preserve the autonomy of the IITs.

The National Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Bill,2010: It amends the Act of 2007 and adds five Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISER) as institutions of national importance. The standing committee had suggested the 16-member board of governors be downsized,an expert be nominated to it,the ministry reduce its own nominees,and one member from the engineering field be nominated by the NIT Council. All recommendations have been accepted.