If voted to power, Cong will fulfil 'one rank, one pension' commitments: Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi, Oct 27: A Congress-led government would fulfil all the commitments the party had made on the 'one rank, one pension' issue, Rahul Gandhi told a group of ex-servicemen on Saturday.
At a meeting with the retired defence personnel, the Congress president said that if his party is voted to power in the 2019 parliamentary election, it will fulfil their demands, including 'one rank, one pension' (OROP).
Raking up the Rafale fighter jet deal, he said the Narendra Modi government handed out Rs 30,000 crore to industrialist Anil Ambani, but refused to meet the demands of the soldiers on OROP.
The amount of Rs 30,000 crore was more than enough to solve the OROP issue, he said after the 30-minute meeting.
The Congress has alleged that the Anil Ambani-led company was favoured by the Modi government on the offset contract of the Rafale deal. The private firm has denied the allegations.
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Bill to set up single higher education regulator likely to be tabled in Parliament next week
New Delhi (PTI): A Bill which seeks to set up a single regulator for institutions of higher education is required to facilitate universities and other higher educational institutes become independent and self-governing, officials said.
The Bill is likely to be introduced in Parliament next week after it got the Union Cabinet's nod on Friday.
The proposed legislation, which was earlier christened the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) Bill, has now been named Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhikshan Bill.
A single higher education regulator, which was proposed in the new National Education Policy (NEP), looks to replace the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE).
"The Bill proposes to set up a Higher Education Commission of India to facilitate universities and other higher educational institutes become independent and self-governing institutions and to promote excellence through a robust and transparent system of accreditation and autonomy. It is likely to be introduced (in Parliament) in the coming week," an official said.
While the UGC presently oversees non-technical higher education in the country, the AICTE oversees technical education, while the NCTE is the regulatory body for teachers' education.
The Commission is proposed to be set up as a single higher education regulator, but medical and law colleges will not be brought under its ambit.
It is proposed to have three major roles -- regulation, accreditation and setting professional standards, officials said.
Funding, which is seen as the fourth vertical, is not proposed to be under the regulator so far. The autonomy for funding is proposed to be with the administrative ministry, they said.
