BJP accuses Karnataka govt of 'failing to manage' floods in Kalyana Karnataka
Bengaluru (PTI): Opposition BJP on Tuesday accused the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in Karnataka of "failing to manage" the flood situation in the Kalyana Karnataka region, with LoP R Ashoka claiming the government was “dead” for the people.
The Leader of Opposition took a dig at Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for conducting an aerial survey of flood-affected areas instead of visiting them personally.
Siddaramaiah on Tuesday conducted an aerial survey of Kalaburagi, Bidar, Yadgiri, and Vijayapura districts, which have been affected by floods in the Bhima river basin following incessant rainfall in Kalaburagi and surrounding areas, and excess release of water from Maharashtra’s Ujani and Neera reservoirs.
“People are asking what kind of government this is. This government is dead for the people. The government has totally failed in managing the flood situation. We are making a direct allegation that it has failed to respond to the concerns of the people,” Ashoka told reporters here.
Taking a dig at the CM by calling him “Helicopter Siddaramaiah,” the LoP said, “Are you (CM) coming from Delhi or Mumbai for conducting the aerial survey? You’re doing an aerial survey of your own state? Is this to avoid bad roads and pothole-filled roads, which have become a global news? Or are you doing the aerial survey, fearing that people may gherao you if you travel by road?”
“You (Siddaramaiah) should have gone to affected districts, sat down with officials and farmers there, and announced compensation for crops, and also the release of funds for restoration of destroyed roads, schools and anganwadis, among others,” he added.
Questioning the delay in providing relief, Ashoka asked whether the state government’s coffers had gone empty.
“Are you planning to blame the Centre for this delay too?” he asked, adding that the government should have taken up relief work on a “war footing” by calling meetings, appointing senior secretary-level officers as nodal officers, and forming a team of ministers to visit the affected areas.
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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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