Unconstitutional Bills Of Higher Education

According to the Association of Self-Financing Universities, New Delhi, the three proposed Bills pertaining to higher education are unconstitutional, as Parliament lacks the legislative competence to enact them. The body has appealed to the Union government to put on hold these legislation and hold talks with higher education institutions and other stakeholders on how to deal with the issues they seek to address further.

On the time being, the Association President G. Vishwanathan said in an interview that “ We consulted three former Chief Justices of India, and their opinions is that these Bills will go against the provisions of the Constitution and the separation of powers. They will take away the powers of the State Government”.

The Bills are the Education Tribunals Bill, 2010 that was passed in the Lok Sabha and is pending tn the Rajya Sabha, the Prohibition of Unfair Practices in Technical Educational Institutions, Medical Educational Institutions and Universities Bill, 2010, and the National Accreditation Regulatory Authority for Higher Educational Institutions Bill, 2010.

The founder of VIT University Mr. Vishwanathan also said “ The Educational Tribunals Bill, if enacted, would mean that aggrieved institutions, teachers and students could not go to the High Court for immediate relief, but only to the tribunal. The state tribunal has no powers to pass interim orders, so we will have to wait till the judgment is pronounced. And even after that, one can go only to the national tribunal, which also has no powers for granting interim orders.”

He also favoured serious steps to attract talent to the teaching profession. And if at all foreign universities shouls be allowed to set up campuses in the country, they should be allowed to function with a local partner. They could be asked to bring at least 50 percent of teachers from their own countries, and only reputed universities should be allowed to operate.