New Delhi, July 10 : In wake of the Reliance Foundation's proposed Jio Institute being named as an 'Institution of Eminence' (IOE), the Congress on Wednesday said any institute seeking such status must establish its credentials by "acknowledged established tests" and sought to know from the government how was this granted.

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said: "This is not person specific, it is not company specific, it is not in any way, we are not bothered about individuals.

"Any institution which is seeking such status, must establish its credentials by various acknowledged established tests. What are those tests? Adequate infrastructure, outstanding faculty, credible research output, a place of prestige in the academia."

"This is the obligation of the government and the HRD (Human Resource Development) ministry and till now apart from a lot of talk, we have not seen great achievements in this regard by the HRD or the government. I think it is counter productive and wrong to focus on an individual or institution X or Y by taking names or otherwise.

"The need of the hour is for the HRD Ministry to look into these four or five established criteria and certainly if you satisfy them in a very objective and proper way, then grant the status," he added.

"But equally to be extremely strong and harsh, if you do not satisfy this criterion, and at the moment we need a proper transparent system where you will share with the nation, how they apply the criteria and how they have done it."

Yet to be established 'JIO Institute' by Reliance Foundation is already in the fray to become an 'Institution of Eminence' under a government scheme which will entitle the tag-holders for special exemptions in aspects of how they operate the institutes.

 

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Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.

AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.

“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.

He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.

“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.

According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.

In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.

AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.