BJP warns K'taka govt of protest if fund given to 'guarantees' from SC/ST funds is not withdrawn
Bengaluru, Aug 4: Senior BJP leader Basavaraj Bommai on Friday warned the Congress government in Karnataka of state-wide protests on behalf of the SC/ST community, if it does not withdraw the Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan and Tribal Sub-Plan (SCSP-TSP) funds given to the five guarantee schemes.
The former CM said this while participating in the protest organised by the BJP at Freedom Park here, against the state government for allegedly diverting SCP-TSP funds to guarantee schemes.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah-led government is facing criticism for allocating Rs 11,144 crore of the total Rs 34,294 crore under SCP-TSP grants, for implementing the five guarantees.
Bommai alleged that the Congress, which came to power giving assurances to the people, is now ''playing games with the lives of Dalits''.
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Noting that both Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM D K Shivakumar, who had gone to Dalits' houses to give guarantee cards ahead of elections, should have told them that they will use SCP TSP money, he said, ''But, without telling then, now you are using the money of Dalits to arrange the money (for guarantee schemes), this is a betrayal of the Dalits.'' Alleging that the Congress government is leading the state towards bankruptcy in the name of guarantees, he said, ''I said during the budget itself, you (government) have said that you will give Rs 34,000 crores, but you are giving only about Rs 23,000 crores to SCP TSP. You have earmarked about Rs 700 crores of SCP TSP for Shakti scheme. How do you identify who is SC and ST under Shakti Yojana?'' ''Rs 5,500 crores is being given for the Gruha Lakshmi scheme, which is for women head of families, how will you find who among them is SC or ST? Almost Rs 11,000 crores diverted from SCP TSP (for guarantee schemes), all of it will not be utilised for the SC/ST community,'' he further added.
Had this money been available, thousands of 'Ganga Kalyana' borewells could have been drilled for Dalits, SC/ST Hostel could have been constructed, thousands of students could be educated, he said, adding that ''You (govt) did injustice to SC/ST people.'' Siddaramaiah on Thursday said that the government will not use SCP-TSP funds for anything else, other than welfare of SC/ST communities.
However, he said, these funds will be used only for SC/ST beneficiaries under guarantee schemes, after taking into account specific numbers of beneficiaries.
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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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