Smriti Irani against AMU off-campus centres, says V-C

Aligarh Muslim University Vice-Chancellor Lt. Gen. (retd.) Zamiruddin Shah on Thursday said Union Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani had told a delegation from Kerala headed by Chief Minister Oomen Chandy that off-campus AMU Centres had been “illegally” established and her Ministry would not issue funds to them.

Rejecting the allegation of “illegality,” Lt. Gen. Shah emphasised that the AMU off-campus centres had been approved by the highest policymaking bodies — the AMU Executive Council, the Government of India and the President of India, who is AMU visitor. The V-C said that the AMU Act, 1920, permitted the university to have these centres, including the one in Malappuram, Kerala.

His confirmation comes after a controversy broke out on social media that he was “humiliated” by Ms. Irani when he went to meet her as part of a delegation led by the Kerala Chief Minister on January 8, to seek her support for the off-campus AMU centre in Malappuram, which is “developing much slower than expected.”

“At the meeting, the Chief Minster informed me that the HRD Minister said the AMU centres were illegally established and would not be funded by the HRD Ministry,” said the Vice-Chancellor.