Cong condemns govt over handling of Ladakh situation, seeks judicial probe into killing of 4 youths
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Saturday condemned the manner in which the government handled the violent situation in Ladakh and demanded a judicial inquiry into the death of four youths during protests earlier this week.
The Congress also demanded immediate revival and restoration of institutions and democracy in Ladakh.
"The Indian National Congress strongly condemns the pathetic handling of the situation in Ladakh by the Government and subsequent arrest of Sonam Wangchuk under the draconian National Security Act," Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said in a post on X.
He alleged that at the heart of the crisis lies the BJP's "persistent betrayal" of the aspirations of people of Ladakh.
For over a year now, there has been turmoil and instead of lending a patient hearing to the cries of the people for inclusion under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, the Modi government is responding with violence, the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha claimed.
"The BJP had pledged Sixth Schedule status for the region, sadly that promise has been squarely abandoned.
"The Indian National Congress seeks nothing but peace in Ladakh. For decades, we have ensured that this beautiful border region remains harmonious and secure, upholding both the spirit of Democracy and the cause of National Security," Kharge said in his post.
"We demand a judicial investigation into the deaths of four innocent young men and the serious injuries inflicted upon many others. The democratic institutions and democracy need to be revived and restored in Ladakh," he also said.
In a post on X, Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh said, "In 2019, the National Commission on Scheduled Tribes recommended that all of Ladakh be brought under the Sixth Schedule. The Home Ministry, Law Ministry, and the Tribal Affairs Ministry all expressed no objection. It also featured as a promise in the BJP manifesto for the 2020 Leh Hill Council Election."
"Sonam Wangchuk was only repeating this demand. But he now finds himself in jail without bail. And we are supposed to think of ourselves as the mother of democracy," he added.
Ladakh has been on the boil with curfew clamped in Leh town on Wednesday evening after widespread violence resulted in the death of four persons and injuries to 90 others during a shutdown called by the Leh Apex Body (LAB) to advance talks with the Centre on the demands for statehood and extension of the Sixth Schedule to Ladakh.
The restrictions were relaxed Saturday afternoon in a phased manner for a few hours, providing relief to residents who lined up outside shops selling essential commodities.
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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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