While the debates on the authenticity of India’s politicians’ educational qualifications may have died down, in an interesting RTI request, an activist recently to the PMO asking for the educational qualification of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
But, the PMO refused to pass on the details advising the RTI activist to approach the Election Commission of India instead.
In his request the activist had asked for PM Modi’s educational qualifications, the copies of his ‘education certificates’ and the ‘certificate copy of Master of Arts degree in political science.
The PMO, in its reply said, “The information about the PM’s education qualification is available on the PMO’s website http://www.pmindia.gov.in under the hyperlink ‘Know Your Prime Minister’ which can be accessed by the applicant.
The PMO asked the EC to provide the required information to the applicant, but here too, he had disappointment.
The ECI said this information was not available with them and the applicant could access them by visiting “http://eci.nic.in under the head Affidavits of candidates.”
As for the certificates, the ECI said that the ‘certificates/documents in support of educational qualifications of a contesting candidate are not required to be furnished by the candidate with his affidavits.’
The RTI activist told www.jantakareporter.com that he tried looking for those details on the PMO website but ‘while I found information about his parents selling tea at a railway station in Gujarat, there was no such information about his educational qualification.”
The EC website has details of candidates’ affidavits only until 2009 Loksabha elections with the site not having updated the records for 2014 elections.
Wikipedia says the following about PM Modi’s education: “After the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971, he stopped working for his uncle and became a full–time pracharak (campaigner) for the RSS. In 1978, Modi became an RSS sambhaag pracharak (regional organiser), and received a degree in political science after a distance-education course from Delhi University. Five years later, he received a Master of Arts degree in political science from Gujarat University.”