100 stray dogs picked up in 2 days; MCD to act in phases starting with aggressive, sick canines
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New Delhi: The MCD has picked up 100 stray dogs so far since the Supreme Court order on relocating canines, and converted the city's 20 Animal Birth Control (ABC) centres into shelter homes, Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh said on Wednesday.
The MCD also identified an 85-acre plot in outer Delhi to shelter more strays, Singh said.
Talking to PTI, Singh said the civic body has started looking for land to set up more dog shelters, adding that they will implement the SC directive in phases, starting with aggressive and rabies-infected dogs.
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) will expand an ABC centre in Dwarka, while in the third phase, the Ghoga Dairy -- which has 85 acres of land -- will be considered for setting up large shelter homes, the mayor said.
Once the stray dogs are shifted to the shelters, Delhiites will get huge relief, he said.
The Supreme Court on Monday ordered that all stray dogs in Delhi-NCR be picked up within eight weeks and relocated to shelters to be created by the appropriate authorities.
A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan noted that there was an "extremely grim" situation due to stray dog bites resulting in rabies, particularly among children.
Singh said, "We had assured people that we will implement the order 100 per cent. We are getting a lot of calls from residents, and till now, 100 stray dogs have been caught." The mayor said in the first phase, only those dogs that are aggressive, rabies-infected, or sick will be picked up.
At present, the MCD has 20 ABC centres, which are being converted into shelters to house the captured dogs, he said.
"We are making sure that all facilities are provided so that the dogs do not face any problems," he added.
For the next phase, the civic body plans to expand the ABC centre in Dwarka, while in the third phase, the Ghoga Dairy will be considered for setting up large shelter homes.
Speaking about the availability of land and funds, Singh said there is no shortage of either, and funding will not be an issue.
"This is a people's government, and this is a priority for us because residents have been facing problems for a long time. We now have the resources and are moving ahead in a planned way," he said.
According to Singh, 25 teams are currently working across the city and responding to calls from residents.
The MCD will soon launch a dedicated helpline for citizens to report stray dog-related complaints.
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Single higher education regulator bill tabled in LS; Oppn flags ‘centralisation,' JPC likely
New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.
Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.
Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.
According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.
The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.
At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it
The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.
Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.
Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.
Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.
Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.
He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.
Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”
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