National

Bhargava out of Knowledge Commission

New Delhi : P.M. Bhargava, who was at loggerheads with National Knowledge Commission chairman Sam Pitroda, has been dropped as Vice-Chairman of the high-profile body, which has been reconstituted.

Mr. Pitroda will continue to head the commission, which will have P. Balram of the Indian Academy of Sciences and Sujatha Ramdorai, Associate Professor at the School of Mathematics at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, as new members. They replace Bhargava and Andre Beteille, who earlier quit the commission on the reservation issue.

``I got a note from the Planning Commission yesterday stating that the Prime Minister has reconstituted the National Knowledge Commission,'' Mr. Bhargava told PTI from Hyderabad when contacted.

Mr. Bhargava, who is believed to have had differences with Mr. Pitroda, said he had to pay the price for being ``honest and truthful. I am very relieved now.'' The sparring between the top officials over the commission's recommendation on higher education reached a flashpoint recently when the matter landed in the Prime Minister's Office.

Mr. Bhargava had alleged that he was not consulted while preparing the final recommendations and submitted his set of recommendations to the Prime Minister in January.

His objections to Mr. Pitroda's recommendations related to giving permission to universities to use their land for funds generation, allowing the entry of foreign education providers and expansion of higher education in terms of creating more universities.

— PTI

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