The hands-off manager

With the two-week-long drama at Delhi University coming to an end to the satisfaction of most students and faculty, the one person who has emerged from the imbroglio smelling like roses is Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani. From the beginning, she had officially maintained she would "not interfere", but anyone visiting the ministry over the last one week would have noticed a frequent visitor - University Grants Commission chairperson Ved Prakash. The Commission was clearly taking the cues from the ministry. If more evidence is needed of the ministry's role in all this, refer to the reactions from Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA) after the decision to scrap the four-year undergraduate programme. Even before framing its official response, DUTA went on record expressing its gratitude to the minister. While on-and-off Bharatiya Janata Party sympathiser Madhu Kishwar continues to fume against the minister, accusing her of harming the autonomy of the university, Irani's stature in the eyes of her peers has gone up several notches, say insiders.