BJP government has taken over all premier institutions: Mamata Banerjee
Kolkata: In an apparent reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement of DRDO's recent space achievement, Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee Sunday said the BJP government has taken over all premier institutions in the country.
On March 27, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully conducted Mission Shakti, an anti-satellite missile test, from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island launch complex, paving the way for the country to join an elite space club comprising the US, Russia, China with such specialised capability.
Opposition parties have slammed the prime minister, saying the BJP government was trying to take credit for the DRDO's achievement.
Claiming that the people's liberty was at stake under the BJP's rule, Banerjee said "an atmosphere of fear" was prevailing in the country.
"The BJP government has taken control of all premier institutions in the country. People here live in fear. They do not have the right to speak freely under an autocratic government," the West Bengal chief minister said.
Earlier, too, the chief minister had taken a jibe at Modi, terming his announcement of the DRDO mission as "yet another limitless drama to reap political benefits" ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
"India's Mission Programme is world-class for many many years. We are always proud of our scientists, @DRDO_India, other research & space organisations," she had tweeted, adding that "Modi, as usual, likes to take the credit for everything."
Talking to reporters at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose airport here before leaving for Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh to participate in a Telugu Desam Party (TDP) rally, Banerjee said a "dictatorial government" is pulling the strings at the Centre using force and intimidation, "trampling democratic norms".
"Disinvestment has been done in public sector companies. Some workers are not getting salaries. The lives of farmers and labourers are under threat under the current dispensation.
"I feel that everyone will come forward, keeping aside their petty interests to collectively vote against the Modi government," said Banerjee, who has been trying to cobble up an united opposition alliance against the BJP.
The CM said she would extend her support to TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu, who pulled out his party of the NDA in March 2018, alleging injustice was being done to Andhra Pradesh by the Narendra Modi government.
"I am going to Visakhapatnam at the invitation of Chandrababu Naidu to extend my solidarity and participate in a public meeting," she said.
Giving details of her itinerary, Banerjee said she will visit Cooch Behar in north Bengal on April 4 and Assam the following day to address rallies.
In Bengal, Banerjee claimed, she would be holding as many rallies as possible over the course of the next two weeks.
"I will address nearly 100 meetings in Bengal," the Trinamool chief said.
Election to 42 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal will be held in seven phases from April 11 to May 19.
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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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