EC hiding behind district magistrates, lekhpals given free rein: Akhilesh Yadav
Lucknow, Aug 24 (PTI): Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday accused the Election Commission of hiding behind district magistrates to cover up alleged vote theft by the BJP.
He added that constitutional institutions are being systematically weakened by the ruling party.
Speaking to reporters here, Yadav alleged that district magistrates were hiding behind chief electoral officers, who in turn were hiding behind the police, while lower level officers, or lekhpals, were being given "free rein to play the government's game".
"Orders are going down to the lowest officials because this government has no truth to show," Yadav said.
He added that even after affidavits showing irregularities in voter rolls were produced, only 14 out of 18,000 complaints were investigated.
"If someone is declared dead, there has to be a death certificate. We will hold a separate press conference on this issue of voter fraud -- the public now knows that the BJP steals votes and commits dacoity in elections."
Yadav also accused the BJP of crippling independent bodies for political gain.
"Those sitting in constitutional positions are working according to the government's agenda. If anyone is weakening India's institutions, it is the BJP. The weaker the institutions become, the greater the loss to people's rights," he said.
On social welfare, Yadav pledged that a future Samajwadi Party government would support persons with disabilities through special quotas, financial assistance, and better quality assistive devices.
"We provided free e-rickshaws in large numbers. Today, the devices given by this government are of the worst quality. Yet they take money for the best," he said, adding that Samajwadi Party would ensure special facilities in buses, schools and hospitals.
He also hit out at the state government over its handling of education.
"They lied in the Assembly about not closing schools. Not a single merged school has reopened. They are now planning action even against those (Samajwadi Party workers) who ran PDA pathshalas (community schools)," Yadav said.
PDA refers to an acronym coined by the Samajwadi Party and stands for Pichre (backward), Dalit, and Alpashankhak (minorities).
On farmers' distress, Yadav cited reports of shortages of fertiliser and food grain.
"Farmers are dying while standing in queues for fertiliser, but the government claims everything is available. In Bijnor, leopards are killing farmers and children. Lives are being lost in villages while the government looks away," he said.
Replying to a question, Yadav said he would join Rahul Gandhi's upcoming INDIA bloc yatra, calling it "a joint programme to strengthen the Opposition and protect democracy."
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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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