Not bothered how long I survive as CM, says Kumaraswamy
Bengaluru, Oct 23: H.D Kumaraswamy Tuesday asserted that the opportunity to occupy the post of Karnataka Chief Minister was "godsend" for him and he was not bothered how long he would occupy the chair.
Kumaraswamy, who is heading the Congress-JD(S) coalition government and facing frequent pinpricks from some sections of the coalition partner, said both parties had come together to save the state and not for any vested interests.
He also said the Narendra Modi "trend" witnessed in 2014 general election no more existed, as reflected in the results of several bypolls across the country.
"Karnataka has provided a new platform for the 2019 parliamentary elections and a new political change will take place from here," he said.
Kumaraswamy claimed the results of the November 3 bypolls in three Lok Sabha and two assembly constituencies in Karnataka would impact the poll outcome in the five states where assembly polls are to be held.
"Karnataka will send across a message to the nation for the 2019 election. There is a new thinking process going on in the country and Karnataka offers the platform for it," he said.
Responding to a query, he said, "I am not bothered how long I am here in this post. I believe I am here for five years. God gave me this opportunity, which I have to use for the benefit of people," he said at a meet-the-press programme organised by Press Club of Bangalore and Bangalore Reporters Guild.
The JD(S) and the Congress had entered into a post-poll alliance after the May assembly polls yielded a hung verdict with the BJP emerging as the single largest party but failing to muster the numbers to form a government.
"We did not form the government to advance our vested interests. It is a government to save the state and its people. It is not a government to protect Siddaramaiah or Kumaraswamy," he said.
The chief minister was peeved at BJP's allegations against the coalition government that it was a product of opportunism.
"Our BJP friends say that Siddaramaiah and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda were opportunists. They (BJP leaders) recall Deve Gowda's statement that finishing off Siddaramaiah was his sole objective but today the opportunists came together," he said.
"However, what will you say about BJP's interest or arrangement? It was (state BJP president) Yeddyurappa who said in 2013 (after breaking away from BJP) that my dead body will also not go to the BJP. Look at the language the BJP leaders used," he said.
On the Congress-JD(S) coalition arrangement, Kumaraswamy said developments in Karnataka had always impacted national politics.
In this context, he said Karnataka provided a platform to V P Singh to become the prime minister.
Kumaraswamy recalled the crop loan waiver, emphasis on improving education and allocation of more funds under the Anna Bhagya scheme providing 7 kg rice to each member of families belonging to the below poverty line as some of the progressive steps the government has taken.
Speaking about infrastructure projects, Kumaraswamy said the peripheral ring road and outer ring road in Bengaluru that was pending for a long time has been given life once again.
He also said 440 bridges in the rural areas would be constructed where people were forced to build temporary wooden bridges that could jeopardise their lives.
To improve administration, he said his government has streamlined the transfer process and has given a free hand to the police to take stringent action against anti-social elements.
Kumaraswamy said his government would act tough against "corrupt elements" and cited the case of two officers who were raided recently while 18 kg gold was seized from their possession.
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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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