LUCKNOW: After bringing laws to regulate the fee structure and curriculum of primary and secondary schools in the State, the Uttar Pradesh government is ready with the draft of ‘The UP Private Universities Act-2018’, much to the chagrin of private stakeholders. The draft of proposed bill had been in public domain for suggestions and objections for the last one month.
The departmental meeting to examine and analyse the objections raised on the draft bill and to take a final call on the suggestions to be incorporated in it, is slated for Friday. The bill is likely to be tabled in the upcoming winter session of the state Assembly, starting December 18.
While the state government claims it has taken the step to simplify establishment of private universities in the State, Private Universities of Uttar Pradesh Welfare Association (PUUPWA) feels that after the new law, the private universities will stand to lose their autonomy and freedom to run institutions as per the norms laid by their own governing bodies.
“The government is now going back on its promise of autonomy,” a PUUPWA member said. “At present, 27 private universities in UP are governed by 27 different Acts. The government has formulated one common Act, which is binding on all institutions, to ensure qualitative growth of higher education in the state,” a senior official in higher education department said.
In the proposed draft bill, a copy of which is with this newspaper, the state government has made a provision to set up a committee to evaluate proposals for private universities in the State. This committee will send its evaluation report to the state government within a month for final approval. All the private universities will be governed as per norms laid down by the UGC.
On the need to bring a new Act for private universities, a senior higher education department officer said that it is merely an attempt to streamline the establishment of private universities in the state. “Many a time, frivolous institutions set up campuses without meeting the guidelines set by the regulatory bodies over infrastructure, logistics and courses. Devising huge fee structures, they admit students but fail to deliver quality education,” the officer said.
These provisions have made the private stakeholders edgy as they believe that the presence of a government official in the academic council will lead to red-tapism.
Writes to government
PUUPWA has written to the special secretary, higher education, UP government, to review it decision to bring the new bill