‘Egregious overreach’ – BJD opposes proposed UGC regulations, claims it makes mockery of cooperative governance

The improvement comes astatine a clip erstwhile the provisions of the UGC (Minimum Qualifications for Appointment and Promotion of Teachers and Academic Staff successful Universities and Colleges and Measures for the Maintenance of Standards successful Higher Education) Regulations, 2025, person stirred up a governmental storm. The rules could springiness the chancellor – typically the authorities politician – a bigger relation successful appointing vice-chancellors (VCs) of authorities universities.

Governments of astatine slightest six states –Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Karnataka – entity to it arsenic a usurpation of federalism.

“It hits astatine the basal of autonomy of our institutions of higher learning,” elder BJD person Debiprasad Mishra, who wrote the missive to the UGC president connected behalf of the party, said.

The astir worrisome connection successful the regulations, according to Mishra’s letter, relates to the enactment and the assignment process of vice-chancellors and different teaching staff. The projected instrumentality provides that this would beryllium done done a search-cum-selection committee that the politician sets up.

State universities, Mishra said, are maintained by the authorities authorities and paid for the state’s Budget and that it was, therefore, “ironic and patently unjustified” that it would “have nary relation successful the assignment of vice-chancellors and different world unit and the wide governance of these institutions and that it is lone the cardinal authorities done UGC and politician that would widen supervisory power implicit them”.

“Concentration of powerfulness successful the hands of the cardinal authorities done the Governor bodes sick for the national operation of our state and cooperative federalism that the Centre ‘acclaims’ to practise. It is an egregious over-reach if UGC regulations (which are not enacted by the Parliament and hence, person nary unit of law) tin override a instrumentality enacted successful the authorities legislature,” the BJD said.

The enactment demanded that the hunt committee should see typical from the authorities governments and universities, that the elected authorities should play a important relation successful the enactment to marque the process “transparent”, to marque the hunt committee “accountable’ and to promote consultation and collaboration betwixt the UGC, authorities governments, and universities, the missive said.

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