Priyanka Vadra’s ‘Gaumutra Expert’ Jibe At IIT Madras Director Sparks Row

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s unwholesome attack on IIT Madras Director V Kamakoti dubbing him as “gaumutra expert” as part of her effort to target the Centre’s newest high-powered expert panel to reform India’s examination system was not only way off the mark but also raised serious questions about her speech writers. She was speaking over the introduction of the Public Examinations Amendment Bill 2026 in the Lok Sabha. How on the earth could she cheerily dumb down a scientist known for his work on microprocessors, not medicine? Questioning the composition of the newly constituted task force, she said its members included “a former IB chief (Tapan Deka), the owner of an IT company (Nandan Nilekani) and even an expert on gaumutra.” The flippancy of her remark, offered without elaboration, was unmistakably aimed at IIT Madras Director V Kamakoti. It revived a controversy that first surfaced in January 2025, when Kamakoti claimed cow urine had antibacterial and digestive properties, a comment that drew swift criticism from scientists and opposition leaders alike. Kamakoti Veezhinathan, who joined IIT Madras faculty in 2001 and took over as Director in January 2022, specialises in computer architecture, information security and VLSI design, which is the process of packing millions of tiny electronic switches called transistors onto a single silicon chip. He heads the institute’s Microprocessor Development Programme and its Information Security Education and Awareness Programme. He led the team behind SHAKTI, India’s first indigenous industrial grade microprocessor, a homegrown chip meant to reduce the country’s reliance on imported processors in areas such as defence and communications. His other roles include membership of the National Security Advisory Board and, earlier, chairmanship of the Artificial Intelligence Task Force set up by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.