THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Ministers from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana and Punjab will be the chief guests of the national convention to be hosted by the Kerala government in the state capital to garner the support of various states against the UGC draft regulations, 2025.
Higher Education Ministers M C Sudhkar of Karnataka, Govi Chezhiaan of Tamil Nadu, and Harjot Singh Bains of Punjab and the IT Minister of Telangana Sreedhar Babu are the dignitaries. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the event at the state legislative assembly’s Sankara Narayanan Thampi Hall at 10.30am on Thursday. The conclave comes close on the heels of the assembly unanimously passing a resolution demanding to roll-back the UGC draft regulations.
Higher Education Minister R Bindu told reporters on Tuesday that the convention is being organised as a national-level resistance against the attempts of the Union government and the UGC to usurp the powers of the states in the higher education sector through excessive centralisation.
The event, to be presided over by Bindu, will be attended by senior officials of other states, besides MLAs from the ruling and opposition parties. Revenue Minister K Rajan and Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan will deliver the keynote address at the convention. Ministers Roshy Augustine, K Krishnankutty, A K Saseendran, Ramachandran Kadannappally, K B Ganesh Kumar, and deputy leader of Opposition P K Kunhalikutty will be present. Secretaries of various departments, agencies of the higher education department, teachers and students will also attend. Academic and economist Prabhat Patnaik, who is heading a committee appointed by the state government to study the impact of the draft regulations, will speak on the occasion.
Bindu said the UGC draft regulations have far-reaching ramifications on the country’s higher education sector and would deprive states of its powers as well as rob universities of their autonomy. The regulations allow the Centre to reap benefits from the higher education sector for which majority of the spending is done by the states.
Four states unite
Ministers from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, and Punjab will attend Kerala’s national convention opposing UGC draft regulations, 2025
Convention aims to resist centralisation in higher education, addressing concerns about UGC’s control over state powers
CM Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the event