NDA government committed to Assam Accord: PM Modi
Moran: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday asserted that the NDA government is committed to the Assam Accord and mulling granting Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to six communities in the state.
The Assam Accord provides for deportation of all illegal immigrants who entered Assam after March 1971, irrespective of their religion.
The Centre is trying its best to implement the Assam Accord that was suspended by the Congress, Modi said.
"We have made efforts to protect the people of Assam, its culture and interests. The NDA is seriously considering granting ST status to six communities -- Tai Ahom, Muttock, Moran, Chutiya, Koch Rajbongshis and the tea tribes," he said.
Lashing out at opposition Congress, he said Assam, where only 40 per cent homes had power and gas connections till several decades after independence, now has electricity and cooking fuel in almost every home.
"The way you have supported me, blessed me, it has boosted my confidence to do better work for the underprivileged, poor and the tribal population. Barring the Congress and the terrorists, everybody is happy with the BJP government," Modi said.
Listing his government's achievements, he said over five lakh people in Assam have been given homes by the NDA govt, 27 lakh families have received health insurance of Rs 5 lakh each and farmers have been given aid to take care of their regular expenses.
Addressing the tea belt communities, Modi, who used to sell tea at a railway station in his early years, said "only a 'chaiwala' (tea seller) can understand the pain of fellow 'chailwalas'".
"The NDA government has taken initiatives to open bank accounts for tea garden workers. Lakhs of families in the tea belt have received Rs 5,000 as aid in two instalments, the government has also decided to provide free rice and two kilograms of sugar to four lakh families in the tea belt," he said.
"This 'chaiwala' is committed to improve the condition of the tea gardens and its people in both Assam and West Bengal," he added.
Modi also asserted that the northeast has the power to become a new India's energy hub and the government is working hard to develop the region to realise this dream.
The prime minister, who paid tribute to legendary musician Bhupen Hazarika prior to his speech, said, "The government is committed to protect the rights, culture and interests of the indigenous people of this region".
Polling for the 14 Lok Sabha seats in Assam will be held in three phases on April 11, 18, 23. The results will be declared on May 23.
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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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