Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani may flak for “misleading” the House and “shielding” her Congress predecessor MM Pallam Raju over the issue of appointment of incumbent National Bal Bhavan (NBB) director Usha Kumari. It has been alleged that the then HRD Minister had “overruled” the recommendations of search and selection committee of the ministry and had appointed Kumari as director of NBB, an autonomous body of HRD ministry.
It is pertinent to mention here that in the selection panel merit list Rishi Kumar Vashisht was at the top, followed by Usha Kumari and Jyotsana Tiwari at third. However, in the written reply to the Upper House regarding appointment of Kumari as director, Irani said that the selection was done by the “competent authority” on the basis of three names shortlisted by a panel in 2013.
In a written reply, the incumbent HRD Minister said that the new director Usha Kumari, was found “most suitable” for the post out of three candidates. “Later on, Rishi Kumar Vashisht, one of the shortlisted candidates, had filed a writ petition in Delhi High Court against the decision to appoint Usha Kumari and the matter is currently sub-judice,” the minister added.
“For the appointment of director, NBB, a search-cum-selection committee was constituted by the MHRD. The committee after interviewing 26 candidates, unanimously recommended three names viz Rishi Kumar Vashisht, Usha Kumari MC and Jyotsana Tiwari for appointment to the post. The competent authority after going through the bio-data of these three candidates, found Usha Kumari most suitable for the post.
Accordingly Kumari joined as director NBB on deputation on January 22, 2013,” the ministry said in a reply to former Union Minister and Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Goel.
Millennium Post had on January 28 reported that Raju had personally favoured Usha Kumari since she was wife of a top IAS officer who had served as Private Secretary to late Arjun Singh during his tenure as HRD Minister.