HYDERABAD: The Telangana Education Commission (TEC) has written to the Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and UGC Chairman M Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar opposing the draft UGC (Minimum qualifications for Appointment and Promotion of Teachers and Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges and Measures for the Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education) Regulations, 2025.
The TEC had earlier passed a resolution opposing the draft titled UGC Regulations - Interference in State Universities, which said, “The University Grants Commission was essentially a grants body supporting academic research and innovation in higher education, in addition to its functions of setting minimum standards for higher education institutions. However, it is evident that in its recent history it has become more intrusive into the governance structures beyond its mandated domain with politically motivated interventions, while drastically reducing its grant-giving functions. This has adversely affected premier higher education or research institutions.”
It said that the 2025 guidelines issued by the UGC clearly override the autonomy of state universities and the rights of state governments to administer the universities created under their statutes.
The commission pointed out that the most controversial proposal of these regulations vests the authority to constitute the search-cum-selection committee for the appointment of vice-chancellors in all universities in the country with the governors of states, who essentially represent the Union government.
All states in India under the federal structure of the Constitution have their own statutes based on which state universities run. State universities have this autonomy to address local conditions and fulfil local needs in a culturally diverse country like India, it added.
“Vesting the authority to appoint vice-chancellors with the governors drastically reduces the role of state governments, attacks the very idea of federalism and sweeps aside the socio-cultural needs of the states. Such a process centralises the system, undermining diversity. Under the federal structure of the Indian Constitution education is on the Concurrent List, and elected state governments must have the right to determine what kind of higher education they will offer to fulfil the aspirations of their electorate,” the TEC wrote.
It also said that, as opposed to the 2018 regulations for the appointment of vice-chancellors requiring a minimum of 10 years as a professor at a university, opening the position of vice-chancellors to senior officers from industry, public policy, or public sector undertakings—who are neither familiar with the needs of academic institutions nor the culture of free thought necessary for academic excellence—can adversely impact the future of these institutions.
The commission also opposed the five-year tenure of a VC as per the new regulations, which replace the previous three-year tenure.
The commission also said that, in the name of inter-disciplinarity, eligibility criteria for entry-level teaching positions have been changed to accommodate NET/PhDs without domain course background to be eligible for assistant professorship solely based on the subjects in which they obtain NET or PhD qualifications. This irrationality severely undermines the whole academic environment in universities.