R. Ashoka alleges misuse of Valmiki Corporation funds by Cong, demands Minister’s resignation
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, R. Ashoka, has accused the Congress government of misappropriating funds belonging to the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation. Ashoka has demanded the resignation of Scheduled Tribes Welfare Minister B. Nagendra by June 6, threatening state-wide protests if the minister does not step down.
Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru on Thursday, Ashoka declared that the BJP would initiate state-wide protests with banners stating “Congress swallowed the money of Dalits” if Minister Nagendra fails to resign. He emphasized that the Congress government, which he accused of looting Dalit funds, would soon be removed from power.
Ashoka's allegations stem from a suicide note left by Chandrashekhar, an officer of the Valmiki Development Corporation, who recently died by suicide. In his note, Chandrashekhar allegedly claimed that Minister Nagendra had verbally instructed him to transfer the corporation's funds. The note also named other officials, including G. Padmanabh and Suja, and provided details about the alleged scam.
ALSO READ: Illegal money transfer case: Sack Minister Nagendra, handover probe to CBI, says K'taka BJP chief
During the press conference, Ashoka also criticized Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's promise of quick monetary deposits into women's accounts. Instead, Ashoka claimed, funds were rapidly transferred to accounts controlled by Congress members, resulting in a loss of Rs 25,000 crore meant for Dalits. He further accused the Congress of encouraging terrorism and highlighted the lack of safety for officials and women in the state.
Ashoka also referenced previous incidents involving BJP leaders, noting that the Congress had demanded severe actions, including murder charges, against BJP leaders such as K.S. Eshwarappa when allegations were made against them. He called for similar strict actions against Minister Nagendra, including the filing of a murder case, as his name was mentioned in Chandrashekhar’s death note.
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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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