NEW DELHI, OCT 31: The Ministry of Human Resource Development is preparing a Cabinet note on the controversial Private Universities (Establishment and Regulation) Bill, 1995, and will re-introduce it in Parliament during the winter session, incorporating amendments.The note will include the recommendations of the 1996 Parliamentary Standing Committee on the HRD Ministry and specifically address the fears of commercialisation of higher education. It will specify safeguards such as the fee being based on unit cost, the University Grants Commission's prior approval being necessary to fix the fee and the seats, and its approval being mandatory for a revision in either. The Central Government will also be given overriding powers to issue directions curbing the activity of any university that may be detrimental to its functioning as an educational institution.Citing the cases of the Banaras Hindu University and the Aligarh Muslim University, the report of the committee chaired by P Upendra had said that thethen government had agreed to pass the legislation after the promoters had deposited Rs 30 lakh each.The note will also address fears of unscrupulous elements taking over the educational field. This will require the government to scrutinise the track record of the sponsors and allow them to run only campus universities, which have less potential of turning into teaching shops.The National Assessment and Accreditation Council will also review the status of these proposed universities on a regular basis. The note will also insist that the universities follow the national policy on reservations. Most of all, the Government will change the title of the Bill, which it feels is misleading, and will call it The Self-Financing Universities (Establishment, Recognition and Regulation) Bill. The Bill will also provide for investment in educational institutions by Non-Resident Indians.The private universities would also be free of the Supreme Court requirement of 50 per cent free seats. The university projectreports will also have to be processed by the state governments within three months and the vice-chancellors of these universities will be selected from a panel of five names selected by a panel comprising a nominee of the UGC, a nominee of the HRD Ministry and a nominee of the board of governors. The board of governors itself will consist of the chancellor, vice-chancellor, three persons nominated by sponsoring body, one representative of the Central Government, one of the state government and one academic nominated by the UGC.A note of dissent was attached to the recommendation of the 1996 parliamentary panel by MPs Malini Bhattacharya, Mohammad Salim and B K Tripathy, who particularly objected to the provision for winding up in the Bill.
