Mukherjee believed deeply in importance of India, US tackling global challenges together: Biden
Washington: Pranab Mukherjee believed deeply in the importance of India and the US tackling global challenges together, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has said, condoling the death of the former president.
Several other prominent US leaders and organisations also condoled Mukherjee's death, saying he will go down in history among India's most distinguished statesmen and scholars.
The 84-year-old veteran politician died after he suffered a septic shock on Sunday. He died of a cardiac arrest on Monday evening following a 21-day battle with multiple ailments.
"President Shri Pranab Mukherjee was a devout public servant who believed deeply in the importance of our two nations tackling global challenges together. Jill and I are saddened to hear of his passing - our prayers go out to his loved ones and the Indian people," Biden said on Monday.
As a Senator, in particular as member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and its chairman and later as the vice president of the United States, Biden had a strong friendship with Mukherjee, who was one of the most well-known Indian leaders in the US.
According to Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun, a strong US-India partnership will be one of Mukherjee's many lasting legacies.
"He'll go down in history among India's most distinguished statesmen and scholars, and his many visits to Washington, everything he did for the relationship, played an instrumental role in expanding this US-India relationship, both in defence and external affairs when he was the minister," the top American diplomat said during the virtual India US Leadership Summit organised by the US India Strategic and Partnership Forum (USISPF) on Monday.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends," the USISPF said.
Condoling Mukherjee's demise, the South and Central Asia Bureau of the State Department in a tweet said, "We stand with the people of India as they grieve the loss of a great leader who will be forever remembered in the annals of Indian history.
The US India Business Council said with Mukherjee's death, India lost an incredible statesman. He was a longtime supporter of the US-India partnership, it tweeted.
The New York Times described the former president as an "Indispensable Man of Indian Politics".
"His 50-year career set an everlasting example for the world's largest democracy," Congressman Pete Olson said.
In a statement, Indian Overseas Congress, USA, expresses its deep sorrow and sincere condolences on the demise of Mukherjee.
"He was a quintessential congressman, formidable leader and a great parliamentarian, said George Abraham, vice-chairman of the IOC, USA.
"NRIs across the globe will fondly remember his contribution to the country in various capacities as a political leader, minister of important portfolios, sharp troubleshooter and a statesman with an independent mindset who adorned the office of the presidency. We also pay tribute to the pivotal role he has played in passing the Indo-US civil nuclear treaty despite the coalition partners' threats," he said.
North America Telugu Society said Mukherjee leaves behind a rich legacy of his work, which will inspire generations to come.
He championed issues that lie at the heart of India's social, economic and developmental challenges -- literacy, healthcare, food security, energy security, rural and urban planning, economic empowerment, governance and administrative reforms, and national and regional security, it said.
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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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