Chennai: Private institutions oppose proposal to set up higher education panel

Chennai: The Education Promotion Society of India (EPSI) consisting private educational institutions has opposed the proposed Bill to set up higher
education commission of India by replacing UGC, saying that the bill will take away the autonomy of state governments and universities.

The HRD ministry has released the draft of Higher Education Commission of India (Repeal of University Grants Commission Act) Act 2018 and sought the suggestions from the public.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with the stakeholders, G.Viswanathan, president of EPSI, said, “The Central government needs to wait until the Kasturirangan committee releases the new education policy.”

“We have been demanding reforms in higher education for a long time now. The reforms need to have a holistic approach whereas the proposed bill is a piecemeal approach. There are 13 regulatory bodies controlling higher education, but the proposed bill is seeking to replace only the UGC,” he said.

“The Kasturirangan’s panel is likely to release the new education policy by August. The government can enact new laws based on the policy,” he said adding that the Central government has brought out the Higher Education Commission of India (Repeal of University Grants Commission Act) Act 2018 without consulting the state governments.

He also pointed out the penal provisions including imprisonment in the proposed bill was taken from the ‘Prohibition of Unfair Practices Bill’ that was introduced during 2010 by the UPA government. The bill was not passed due to the opposition from the political parties including the BJP.

“The EPSI demands to put off the proposed bill until the announcement of new education policy. If the same was introduced in the parliament, they should refer the matter to the select committee to buy the time and seek the opinion of all stakeholders,” he suggested.

The act also mandates all the universities to get authorisation from HECI. On future course of action, he said, “We are going to make representation to MHRD and take the issue to the knowledge of the Prime Minister. We will urge him to wait until the announcement of the new education policy.”