Smriti Irani & Nripendra Misra: Controversies around 'eligibility' are pointless

The controversies over the choice of Smriti Irani as minister for human resources development and of former Telecom Regulatory Authority of India chairman Nripendra Misra as principal secretary to the prime minister are devoid of substance and a waste of time. Many people have tried to argue that a minimum level of certified education should be made an eligibility condition to be elected to a legislature. The framers of the Constitution rejected this argument for good reasons.

If the people choose to place their faith in someone, that is reason enough for him/her to qualify as a people’s representative. Any such representative is eligible to hold higher office. Democratic accountability will ensure that a wrong choice is penalised, subsequently. Many leaders have built their political career dropping out of college. This does not make them any the less public-spirited or capable of upholding the larger public interest while taking policy decisions.

The job of a minister is not to have expertise in the area under his/her charge but to have a clear idea as to the public interest in that area and draw on expertise to attain that. The lack of educational qualification is, of course, altogether different from any misrepresentation of educational qualifications attained.

Such misconduct would have its own legal consequences. The purpose of barring subsequent employment for regulators is to guard against any favour being shown to a potential future employer. Such a provision is neither sufficient nor necessary to prevent regulatory capture. Continuous scrutiny of regulatory policy and action by the media and watchdog bodies is the best guarantee of propriety.

Misra’s past membership of the regulatory body should not come in the way of the services of this upright, efficient officer being utilised further.