Social Educational Survey: Deputy CM advises officials not to ask question that are personal
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Sunday said he has advised officials conducting the Social and Educational Survey not to ask certain questions that are 'personal' in nature.
He also called upon the people to participate in the survey.
The survey, being conducted by the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes, began on September 22 and is scheduled to continue until October 7.
"Let any one raise any objection, it (survey) has to be done. Court has said that the survey is voluntary and people can answer what they want and not bother if they don't want to answer any question," Shivakumar said when asked about objections regarding questions asked during the survey.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, "I have told officials not to ask people in Bengaluru about how many chicken, sheep and goat people are rearing, and how much gold they have. They are personal matters. There is no need to ask about how many watches or fridge they have. I have advised them that there is no need to ask such questions. I don't know what they will do, because it is an independent commission."
Stating that there is no meaning in opposing the survey, the Deputy CM said, as objections were raised regarding the earlier survey, an opportunity is being provided for everyone to participate.
Questioned whether the survey will be extended, he said, the Commission and the concerned department will decide on it. "I appeal to everyone to participate in the survey."
Shivakumar, who is also the Minister in-charge of Bengaluru Development on Saturday had taken exception to a number of questions posed to him by enumerators at his home, some of which he refused to answer.
The survey was delayed in the Greater Bengaluru area, where five corporations have been newly formed, on the request of the authorities, for training and necessary preparations. The survey is now underway.
The Karnataka High Court last month had declined to stop the survey, but directed the State Backward Classes Commission to maintain confidentiality of the collected data and ensure voluntary participation of citizens.
Conducted at an estimated cost of Rs 420 crore, the exercise uses a 60-question questionnaire and is being carried out scientifically, according to officials.
The government had spent Rs 165.51 crore on an earlier Social and Educational Survey in 2015, which was later discarded.
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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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