"Modi should have associated with Amaravati project": Chandrababu Naidu
Amaravati, Oct 7: Charging the Prime Minister with reneging on promise to financially support building of the new capital of Andhra Pradesh, state Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has said Amaravati project is a national pride and Narendra Modi should have "at least" associated with it.
Naidu, a former BJP ally who quit the NDA early this year over the Centre's refusal to grant special category status to Andhra Pradesh, alleged the saffron party was not associating with the greenfield project due to "political reasons".
Asserting that the capital city is being developed at a faster pace, the chief minister said that any change of government in the state is unlikely to affect the works as a "solid eco-system" has been put in place.
"The Amaravati project is a national pride and I wish the prime minister had associated with it. Why cannot the centre share the pride by getting associated with it? Because of political reasons, they are not able to associate with it," Naidu told PTI.
Modi had laid the foundation stone for the capital city of Amaravati in October 2015 amid much fanfare but "he later went back on his promise to provide funds for the project," he said.
"I developed Hyderabad as an IT hub. Former prime ministers always used to praise the city as a national pride....Why cannot Modi do it?" Naidu said.
On the progress of new capital, the chief minister said roads, office buildings and courts are coming up at a pace never done before.
About Rs 3,400 crore has been spent on the project so far including Rs 1,500 crore from the Centre and Rs 1,000 crore from the neighbouring Telangana.
"There is non-cooperation from the Centre. We are paying them more taxes that what they have given to the capital. We have received only Rs 1,500 crore. Once the capital is made, they will receive Rs 880 crore income in taxes," he said.
Naidu further said he is undeterred by lack of funds and is confident of arranging finances so that the work is not affected.
"I am not comfortable with the finances. But I have the will power. I will develop the city no matter what," he said adding that Amaravati will be developed as a model city that will be bench marked in the top ten cities of the world.
The Andhra Pradesh government has raised Rs 11,300 crore for the project through different means including bonds against the requirement of Rs 48,116 crore.
Asked if any change in government in the state will affect the progress of the project, Naidu said, "An eco-system has been put in place. The project will continue without hurdles for next ten years."
According to the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA) Additional Commissioner S Shan Mohan, "We are attracting investments from private. There are 19 projects under PPP mode. This includes schools, marine, commercial malls, and driveways."
"We see these 19 projects as test of viability of the city as an economic hub,"' he added.
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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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