SIT probe will unravel truth on Karur stampede, says TN Chief Minister MK Stalin
Chennai (PTI): Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Saturday said the Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up on the basis of the order of the Madras High Court will begin its probe into the Karur stampede and the investigation will bring out the truth in its entirety and fix accountability at all levels.
Appealing against political blame game over the Karur tragedy based on political motives, the chief minister said Standard Operating Procedure would be formulated to prevent stampedes.
He said the Tamil Nadu government is working by paying attention to all the guidelines and opinions of the High Court on the Karur tragedy.
"All of us have been shaken by the tragedy that unfolded in Karur," the chief minister said in a social media post adding he was saddened by seeing the tears of every family grieving the loss of their loved ones.
The Special Investigation Team that has been set up based on the order of the High Court will launch its investigation.
Stalin said he assures the people in his capacity as the chief minister that "through this investigation, the whole truth will be brought out and accountability will be fixed at all levels."
Tamil Nadu, a model for the rest of the country in many fields, will guide the nation in averting stampedes too.
"We will formulate a comprehensive Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in consultation with stakeholders."
Domain experts, representatives of political parties, activists, and the general public across the state would be consulted.
"This will become a model (to prevent stampedes) that can be followed by the entire country, not only by Tamil Nadu."
Against the backdrop of the tragedy, "let us journey towards a long-term solution without blaming one another with political motives."
Underlining that every life is precious, the CM said he welcomed ideas and suggestions towards the collective effort to prevent stampedes by formulating SOP.
"Let us unite to save the lives of our people and prevent such a tragedy from happening again, not only in Tamil Nadu, but anywhere in India!"
The Madras High Court on October 3, 2025 ordered setting up a Special Investigation Team under senior IPS officer Asra Garg to probe the September 27 stampede during actor-politician Vijay's rally in Karur that killed 41 persons and left over 60 injured.
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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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