BJP's Nishikant Dubey alleges Mahua Moitra called him 'Bihari gunda'; TMC MP says 'amused' at charge
New Delhi, Jul 29: BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Thursday raised in the Lok Sabha the issue of a TMC member of the House allegedly using derogatory remarks against him during a Parliamentary committee meeting a day earlier.
"I want to draw the attention of all members of this House. This is my 13th year as an MP and the way I was called... yesterday by a woman, by Trinamool Congress, I have not seen this in my life," Dubey said amid din in the House due to protests by the opposition over Pegasus and farm bill issues.
The phrase Dubey claimed was used against him was later expunged by the Chair.
"What is our mistake? Our mistake is in developing this country. We have worked as labourers, as Hindi-speaking people whether from Uttar Pradesh or Madhya Pradesh... we have worked hard," Dubey said. He, however, did not name the TMC member.
As Dubey was speaking, Rajendra Agrawal, who was chairing the proceedings, adjourned the House till 12:30 pm.
When the House reassembled at 12:30 pm, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal urged the Chair to allow Dubey to complete the issue he was raising before the House got adjourned.
However, Agrawal called for papers to be laid on the table. As opposition slogan-shouting continued, Agrawal adjourned the proceedings till 2 pm.
The meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information and Technology, chaired by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, on Wednesday was set to question government officials on the Pegasus spyware issue.
However, the meeting was postponed due to a lack of quorum.
Even though the meeting did not take place, the gathering of BJP and opposition party members witnessed a drama. Dubey had alleged that Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra had made derogatory remarks against him.
Dubey, in a tweet on Wednesday, tagged TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and alleged that "Trinamool Congress has abused the entire Hindi speaking people along with Bihar by using the word Bihari Gunda. Moitra's comments show her party's attitude towards the people of Bihar and the Hindi-speaking parts of the country," tweeted in Hindi.
Moitra denied the charge, saying Dubey was not even present for the meeting.
Meanwhile Moitra too took to Twitter to say: "Am a bit amused by charges of name-calling. IT mtng did not happen because NO quorum - members did not attend. How can I call someone a name who was not even present!! Check attendance sheet!" she tweeted.
Am a bit amused by charges of name-calling.
— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) July 28, 2021
IT mtng did not happen because NO quorum - members did not attend.
How can I call someone a name who was not even present!!
Check attendance sheet!@ShashiTharoor , @KartiPC @NasirHussainINC @MdNadimulHaque6
TMC की सांसद महुआ मोहित्रा ने सिर्फ मुझे ही नहीं अपितु समस्त हिंदी भाषियों को, समस्त महापुरुषों को गाली दी है.
— Dr Nishikant Dubey (@nishikant_dubey) July 29, 2021
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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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