Amid jibes by Opposition MPs over the University Grants Commission’s recent letter asking colleges to set up selfie points with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s image in the background, the Lok Sabha on Thursday passed a Bill to establish a Central Tribal University in Telangana. The Central Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2023 was passed by a voice vote, with the House rejecting the amendments moved by Opposition members. During a debate on the Bill, a BJP MP also suggested the word “tribal” be removed in line with the PM’s aim to rid the country of “all signs of slavery”. The Bill, which amends the Central Universities Act, 2009 to set up the Sammakka Sarakka Central Tribal University in Telangana’s Mulugu district, was cleared by the Union Cabinet in October. The Centre has allotted Rs 889.7 crore for it. In his reply to the debate, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the university will cater to the regional aspirations for years to come and promote higher education and research among tribal communities, including in subjects such as tribal art, culture and customs, and technology. Establishing a Central Tribal University in Telangana was obligatory under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, which carved out Telangana from the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh state. On the “selfie points”, Pradhan said colleges were asked to set up such points with the PM’s pictures “because he has made the country proud globally”. But clicking the selfies was not mandatory, he added. The UGC last week asked universities and colleges across the country to set up selfie points at strategic locations in their campuses to raise awareness among youngsters about India's achievements in various fields. The institutions were told to set up the selfie points only in accordance with the approved 3D designs shared by the Ministry of Education. Criticising the Centre, the Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury alleged PM Modi was leaving no stone unturned to save his “flailing image” in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls. Responding to the objections, Pradhan said: “We have been seeing since childhood that pictures of President, Prime Minister and Mahatma Gandhi are on the walls in the schools and offices. Now, when we are putting selfie points with pictures of a leader who has made us proud globally and taken the country to different heights, what is your problem? It is a democracy. If you don't want to click selfies, don’t.” “Children are clicking selfies, they are celebrating it. It is not mandatory. but a matter of pride. the prime minister of a country is not of any party or class but of everyone,” he added. Earlier, during a debate on the Bill, BJP MP Satyapal Singh suggested that tribal universities in the country not have the prefix “tribal”, saying there was a need to reconsider such a “division”. “On August 15, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had listed ‘Panch Pran’ targets and one of them was that we will get rid of all signs of slavery. When we say someone is a tribal, we are referring to all others as non-tribals and not natives. There is a need to deliberate on this division again. I believe the university should not be named as a 'tribal' university,” he said. Samajwadi Party leader and Moradabad MP S T Hasan rued that the annual budget for Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia was slashed by 15 per cent in the past few years, affecting research and academics. “It is a good thing that a central tribal university is being established but the budget of existing good universities should not be reduced,” he said.
