BJP has 'no genuine concern' over Karur stampede, seeks 'political gain': TN CM
Ramanathapuram (PTI): Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Friday accused the BJP and the government led by it at the Centre, of "showing no genuine concern" over the tragic stampede in Karur, and said the saffron party wanted to "capitalise" on the incident in view of next year's Assembly election.
He sought to know why a delegation of NDA MPs was sent to Karur so urgently to look into the cause of the stampede. Teams were not sent to inquire about the Manipur riots, Morbi bridge accident in Gujarat, and the Kumbha Mela stampede in Uttar Pradesh, he said.
"Of course, there's no interest or concern. It is a petty act of seeking political gain in view of the 2026 Assembly election," Stalin said at a government event here.
He alleged that the BJP, "which is used to riding on the back of others, is a parasite that survives on the blood of others." "It is using the Karur stampede to find out who it can bring under its control. Irrespective of the masks that are worn, how many slaves that are conscripted, or who is enlisted afresh, as I said earlier, Tamil Nadu is out of control for you," Stalin, who is president of the DMK, said.
He termed the BJP as a "washing machine" for those seeking to escape accountability for wrongdoings and hit out at the AIADMK for allegedly betraying the state's interest by forging electoral ties with the BJP.
When Tamil Nadu was struck by three major natural disasters, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman neither visited nor provided any funds to the state. "But she now immediately rushes to Karur," he said.
The September 27 stampede at a rally addressed by Vijay, who heads the Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam, left 41 dead.
Also, the Chief Minister alleged that RSS made an attempt on the life of former Chief Minister Kamaraj, and asserted that it was his duty to protect the people from such forces. "The mission will continue under the Dravidian model 2.0."
He accused the Centre of "failing" to prevent the frequent attacks on the Tamil Nadu fishermen by the Sri Lankan coast guard.
Retrieving the Katchatheevu islet ceded to Lanka alone would ensure a lasting solution to the fishermen issue, he said, and recalled the state Assembly resolution in this regard.
The CM inaugurated development projects worth Rs 738 crore in the district, including Thangachimadam government higher secondary school building, and hostel for college students in Paramakudi.
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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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