Birmingham, Jul 25: Olympic bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain on Monday alleged that her preparations for the Commonwealth Games are being hampered because of the "continuous harassment" her coaches are facing from the authorities.
The Indian boxing squad reached the Games Village here on Sunday night after a training stint in Ireland but Lovlina's personal coach Sandhya Gurung could not enter the Village since she does not have accreditation.
Lovlina, perhaps, wanted her personal coach Amey Kolekar with her during the CWG but he did not feature in the long list.
The decorated pugilist expressed her anger in a long twitter post.
"Today with a lot of grief, I want to tell everyone about the continuous harassment going on with me. The coaches who helped me win an Olympic medal are always being side-lined which has severely impacted my training schedule," Lovlina wrote in her twitter post.
"One of the coaches is Sandhya Gurungji, who is a Dronacharya awardee. I had to plead with folded hands to get my coaches included in the contingent. I am feeling mentally harassed because of this ordeal," she posted.
"Right now, my coach Sandhya Gurung is standing outside the CWG village and not being allowed to enter. Just eight days before the start of my event, my training schedule has been hampered. My other coach has been sent back to India," she said.
Lovlina alleged that she endured similar treatment before the World Championship in Istanbul and she fears that something similar will happen at the upcoming Birmingham Games.
"I don't understand how will I focus on the Games (CWG) amidst all this? My world championships also suffered because of this. I don't want my CWG to be affected due to politics. Hoping I will overcome this politics and win a medal for my country. Jai Hind," she wrote.
The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) said the accreditation process is being managed by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and hoped that issue will be sorted soon.
"The IOA and BFI are working to get Sandhya's accreditation continuously. It is in IOA's hand but it will come by today or tomorrow.
"We had given all names beforehand but there is a quota system. Based on the number of athletes who have qualified there is 25 per cent quota. So we had four officials, which includes coach, doctor etc," BFI secretary Hemanta Kalita told PTI.
"We had requested the IOA and they have increased the quota to eight. Four will stay inside the village and four have to stay outside, they can enter the village, and spend the day but at night they have to go back out," Kalita added.
The other coach Lovlina is talking about is her strength and conditioning coach Amey Kolekar, who is also her personal coach
His name was not on the long list. Kolekar was with her in Ireland.
The Indian team already has a strength and conditioning coach, who will help out the pugilists during the Games.
Meanwhile the Sports Authority of India (SAI) said it will try that a proper resolution is reached.
"The SAI has taken up the matter with BFI. The Sports Ministry is in talks with IOA to solve the matter and ensure best possible preparation for Lovlina who is a strong medal contender," SAI official said.
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— Lovlina Borgohain (@LovlinaBorgohai) July 25, 2022
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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 ā¹10 lakh to ā¹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ā¹2 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.”
