Is Chetan Chauhan the right man for being the chairperson of NIFT?
Smriti Irani as HRD minister, Pahlaj Nihalani as CBFC chief, Gajendra Chauhan as FTII chairman and Chetan Chauhan as the chairperson of NIFT – what are we to expect next? Anupam Kher as ISRO chief? Fashion designers are going bonkers over this while political parties are busy framing new accusations on how the government is bent on planting sycophants at all the influential positions.
Chauhan on the other hand is happily declaring that he would give him his best by contributing 20 per cent of his time to NIFT which again raised eyebrows.
India is applying the same rule everywhere. If a tea-hawker could be the PM of the country, an actress with a fake degree could be the education minister, why can’t a former cricketer take care of the premier fashion institute of the country?
No:1. Eligibility: The NIFT Act of 2006 lays down the criteria for the selection of chairperson of its board of governors. He shall be an eminent academician, scientist or technologist, who is to be nominated by the visitor, in this case the President of India. None of the criteria is fulfilled and yet the government of India declares Chauhan to be the chairperson of NIFT, the institute that has paved ways to take Indian fashion industry abroad.
2. Who is Chetan Chauhan? An ex-cricketer and former BJP MP is all it is taking for this suddenly eligible man to take the position of NIFT’s chairperson. He is the vice-president of Delhi and District Cricket Association and a senior BCCI official. He runs his own cricket academy and a printing press. That is not what got this busy man to become busier with the burdens of heading NIFT. What it really took was the fact that he has been a BJP MP twice and voila, he gets a top notch appointment.
3. Why not one of the qualified designers? India has so much talent that it is sometimes ignored to be wasted. When there are so many designers in the country with experience and talent that could actually come to good use for the future developments in NIFT, why do they need a former cricketer to define which kind of long, square or fine legs will go with the latest skirts and pants? So much so for flattering the party members don’t seem to be working well with people at least.
4. Looking at records: Since Chauhan’s test and international cricket records have nothing to do with fashion industry, we beg to take a look at NIFT’s history record of chairpersons. Former secretary and ministry of textiles DP Singh, Chairman of TVS Motor Company and managing director of Sundaram Clayton Ltd. Venu Srinivasan, and retired IAS officer Kiran Dhingra are the ones who graced the position of NIFT chairperson. They have all had a flair for textiles and the textile industry while here comes a chairperson with a flair for sixes and fixes.
5. The master of multitasking: As if former cricketer’s contribution will have anything to do with the development of the fashion institution or the technology, Chauhan bravely scheduled his work, citing 60% to DCCA, 20% to his business and the remaining 20%, for which the future of fashion industry will have to be very grateful, to NIFT. The man actually had the valor to utter that as the chairperson of the premier fashion institute of the country 20% of his time will be enough. Given that he doesn’t need time to eat, sleep and take care of his other human needs; this superhuman actually is willing to give 4 hours to NIFT in a day. How will the fashion industry ever pay him back?
6. Giving out the wrong lessons: Government is giving out the wrong message to the youth of the nation. It is clearly sending out the wrong message that your qualifications are not what it will take to make you successful but being in the right party in the right time will. And well this is not the only instance too. On one side we have our visionary image of a PM who talks of how much he is up for giving chances to new talent and on the other hand his party decisions are blessed by the likes of such appointments. The best man, Amit Shah surely should be pondering more before issuing such appointments.
Yes:1. The textile industry fuss: The NIFT is under the Textile Industry of India which is under the government of India. The textile industry makes recommendations for the candidate of chairmanship and the government gets the final say. It goes without saying that the government prefers someone from their own party because that gets them strong and firm in every field. It is not the first time it is happening and won’t be the last too.
2. The chairman is just a figure: He does get discretionary powers but that also passes through the board of governors to finally reach the chairperson for his approval. With only 20 per cent time on his slot, the busy man would anyway have nothing important to do but sign papers and cut ribbons here and there, making public appearances and act like he has hit a six every time something important happens. Unless he saffronizes all themes of NIFT designs, there is not much to worry about.
3. Not unfair after all: The board consists of people from all walks of life be it businessmen or IAS officers or technologists. What is wrong with having a former cricketer too? We would soon start making style statements too for all we know. Give the man a chance at least. Oh, this is what everyone in support has been saying. Since there is nothing else we could do, chance has already been given. As long as he doesn’t start preaching Sanskrit and Sanskriti at NIFT, the fashion industry will be doing all right by them.
The decision to appoint Chauhan as the chairperson of NIFT is not among the best ones and the uproars are very much justified. Such appointments are sending out wrong message to the youth of the nation. We are indirectly or perhaps directly teaching them that their degree won’t even matter and if they want to be a successful figure being in the right party would make the big change. If Raghuram Rajan was not good enough as the RBI chief, we wonder what difference does a former cricketer’s appointment as the chairperson of NIFT make. Disappointments fill the gaps in the minds of those who have been lenient supporters of the good work being done.
