CM Basavaraj Bommai to personally supervise Bengaluru's mega projects
Bengaluru, Aug 29: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Sunday said he will personally monitor the progress of mega projects in Bengaluru, and will be dedicating the first working hour of his day to supervise them.
"We have got a very big vision for Bengaluru, the greatest challenge is whether we will be capable of keeping up the timeline in implementing the projects. Therefore early planning, perfect planning, as well as perfect implementation of the plan is very important," Bommai said.
Speaking at an event here, he said accountability of all the major projects is more important than anything else. "The first decision that I have taken, as far as Bengaluru is concerned is that I will personally supervise the progress of all mega projects in Bengaluru, from CMO (Chief Minister's office). Within next 20 days my dashboard will be ready, day-to-day updates will be there and I will dedicate my first working hour of the day for supervising the progress of mega projects in Bengaluru," he said.
The mega projects that he will personally supervising include metro, outer ring road, high speed train from international airport to the city centre. Bengaluru International Airport will be unique in the world as it will be connected by metro, sub-urban and high speed trains.
The CM was speaking after inaugurating the extended Purple Line of Bangalore Metro on Mysuru Road here.
Noting that not only the infrastructure, his government also has plans to develop the slums in the city and there by improve the living standard of the people there, Bommai said, "we will have special authority for health infrastructure in the city, and regarding traffic we have decided to work on 12 high-density roads for seamless traffic movement, also seamless signaling with artificial intelligence." The government has plans for all-round development of the city that include core areas under the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), about 110 villages that were added to it, and also "showcasing" the Central Business District (CBD).
He said, "Bengaluru has a potential for another 3-4 CBDs- north, east, south and west, this is part of our vision." Observing that Bangalore Metro should increase its potential to carry people, Bommai said, "I have directed Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) officials to complete the metro works under Phase II by 2024, one year earlier than the present deadline of 2025. They said it is difficult, but I say we have to struggle and overcome that difficulty."
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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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