UGC draft regulation stands against principle of federalism. Governors shouldn’t be given unbridled power to select VCs

Notably, the regularisation is simply a changeable successful the limb for the Governors, if the draught becomes rules, arsenic chancellors/visitors of authorities universities, volition represent a three-member search-cum-selection committee to pick, not needfully an academic, arsenic vice-chancellors. The regularisation comes with a penal proviso that its non-adherence by universities/institutions would debar them from availing the provisions of UGC schemes, including offering grade programmes. In the three-member-committee, the president would beryllium the Governor’s nominee, and the 2 different members would beryllium picked up by the UGC president and the apex assemblage of the assemblage (read vice-chancellor) respectively, giving adjacent implicit power to Governors, and consequently, to the cardinal authorities successful appointing the head of the university.

The authorities government’s relation would beryllium reduced to that of a bystander. The question is: Can UGC, a regulatory commission, promulgate rules with penal provisions that whitethorn transgress assemblage acts passed by the democratically elected authorities legislatures? Isn’t it a gross usurpation of the principles of federalism and the basal operation doctrine of parliamentary democracy?

The gubernatorial presumption has been used, much truthful successful caller times, not lone to sound disconnected the rule of subsidiarity but to assistance egregiously successful the ongoing processes of centralisation. The Governors, peculiarly of opposition-ruled states, are seemingly acting arsenic agents of the cardinal government, mostly abnegating their relation arsenic holders of an autarkic law office. A fewer examples from the caller past attest to the continuous backsliding of federalism.

Apart from walking retired of the legislative proceedings thrice, TN Governor R N Ravi allegedly pocket-vetoed immoderate of the cardinal bills connected higher education, withheld authorities orders, and pushed the authorities authorities to see the nominee of UGC chairperson successful the hunt committee for vice-chancellors. The lawsuit yet reached the SC, who told the warring parties to resoluteness it amicably if they didn’t privation the apex tribunal to intervene. Such controversies impact the operations of universities that person to tally without leaders. The Governor’s bureau is constitutionally mandated to enactment without prejudice, and it is successful the involvement of the authorities to support its sanctity.

Governor C V Ananda Bose, arsenic chancellor of the universities successful West Bengal, scuttled the procedures of assignment of vice-chancellors successful respective state-run universities — the SC connected December 11 gave him different 3 weeks to name the VCs. A ample chunk of the authorities universities’ expenditure is borne by the authorities governments. The Governor’s power implicit appointing VCs is nary little than the expropriation of authorities powers by the centre. If acquisition tin find a spot successful the 11th and 12th Schedules of the Constitution that gives powerfulness to agrarian and municipality administrations, wherefore can’t it find a spot successful the authorities list? After the 42nd amendment of the Constitution successful 1976, acquisition was removed from the authorities database and was placed successful the concurrent list. Isn’t it a paradox of federalism that the states that are getting hollowed retired of powers to tally the authorities universities are constitutionally mandated to devolve powers to section governments to negociate acquisition nether Article 243 (g) and 243 (w)? To guarantee immoderate semblance of functioning federalism, it is indispensable to relocate acquisition from the concurrent database to the authorities database and let authorities governments to name VCs and chancellors and to leverage Governors arsenic ex-officio visitors to authorities universities with nary peculiar powers.

The archetypal intent of law federalism was, of course, not to person a beardown centralised federalism but to have, done “statutory decentralisation”, accommodating divers needs and aspirations and moving connected the principles of subsidiarity and asymmetrical federalism. The gubernatorial bureau has a past of making a rupture to this “original intent” and the contiguous draught UGC guidelines for VC’s appointments, if implemented, volition adhd to the situation successful federalism.

The writer teaches nationalist argumentation and authorities astatine the University Of Delhi and is honorary vice-chairman astatine centre for multilevel federalism (CMF), New Delhi