New Delhi: Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani on Saturday said she was a "straight talker" who had ruffled many feathers.
"When status quo is challenged some feathers are bound to get ruffled. Till now, there were people with entrenched interests who turned the education field into an arena of profit making," Irani said in a programme named `Talkathon`, organised by the information and broadcasting ministry.
"But they are not liking this straight talker. If the government has given you a responsibility, the government will ask you questions," she said.
"Before I took over, it was only the educational institutions that were interacting with the government and the parents and children were at the receiving end. However, I made sure that the student becomes the biggest stakeholder."
On the allegations of saffronisation of education, Irani said school textbooks would soon be available for all to access online and people can judge for themselves the ministry`s intentions.
"All textbooks of classes 1 to 12 will be available on mobile phones in the form of an application within a month. Do you call this saffronisation of education?"
"I have already spoken about this issue in parliament and I have provided all the facts and figures (against the claim). What we speak in parliament is not a myth. We are ensuring that in the field of education all the work is done in favour of national interest."
Under its initiative to highlight the achievements of the NDA government in the past one year, union ministers Smriti Irani, Piyush Goyal and Nirmala Sitharaman interacted with netizens through Twitter using "#AskYourGovt @MIB_India" and the live answers on I&B YouTube channel.
