Tipu Sultan is nation's asset: DK Shivakumar'
Bengaluru, November 10: Minister DK Shivakumar said that country’s first freedom fighter Tipu Sultan was not just the property of the state, but he was an asset of the country and it was the duty of the state to pay respect to him by celebrating his jayanti.
Inaugurating the Tipu Jayanti programme organized by the Kannada and Culture department at the Vidhana Soudha banquet hall here on Saturday, he said that being a brave soldier, Tipu had developed sericulture, horticulture, agriculture and other sectors to help the common people.
No politics in Tipu’s name
During the Diamond Jubilee celebration of Vidhana Soudha, President Ramnath Kovind had recalled Tipu’s contributions to the country. But the BJP leaders have been trying to disturb peace and harmony for their selfish politics, he alleged.
Poojas were being offered in the name of Tipu Sultan in Sri Ranganatha Temple at Srirangapatna, Nanjundeshwara temple at Nanjanagudu and other temples across the state every day. But despite having such instances, the BJP leaders have been conspiring to expose Tipu as anti-Hindus, he regretted.
Food and Civil Supplies department Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan said that Tipu jayanti was being celebrated since many years. But since four years, it was being celebrated as a government programme. BJP’s protest against Tipu jayanti was just for political reasons. The BJP has been trying to play communal card ahead of Lok Sabha elections by opposing the Tipu Jayanti. BJP state president B.S Yeddyurappa, leaders Jagadish Shettar, R. Ashok and others had participated in Tipu Jayanti programme and appreciated him. But now, when it was announced as the government programme, they have been opposing it. It was the habit of the BJP, he alleged.
Kannada and Culture Minister Dr. Jayamala said that at a time when the society was being divided in the name of caste and religions, the ideologies and principles of brave soldier Tipu Sultan who was known for his communal harmony, tolerance and public help, should be emulated.
Dr K Sadashiva of Mysore University said that Tipu Sultan had built the Mysore state as a ‘welfare state’ through his pro-people works like distribution of lands to the exploited classes, construction of tanks and introducing various reforms. In his army, people given place in his army based on eligibility irrespective of castes and creeds. He has fixed a monthly salary for the soldiers to help their families. He had created an environment where women were living without fear, he recalled.
MLA R. Roshan Baig presided over the programme in which Shanti Nagar MLA NA Haris, MLC Rizwan Arshad, Karnataka Urdu Academy president Mubeen Munavvar, Ameer-a-Shariat Hazrat Maulana Sageer Ahmed Khan Saheb Rashadi and others were present.
“Unnecessary confusion is created on the absence of Chief Minister H.D Kumaraswamy from the Tipu Sultan Jayanti programme. But the CM was taking rest as per the doctors’ advice. So, his name was not mentioned in the invitation card. But he has sent a message on the Tippu Jayanti”.
- Zameer Ahmed Khan, Food and Civil Supplies Minister
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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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