Frontline – August 02, 2019

Theproposedlawseekstocontrolnot

onlyadmissioncriteria, recruitmentof

teachers, curriculum,feestructure,and

soon,butacademic contentaswell.

raisedobjectiontothefactthatthe
draftordinance didnothavethein-
putsfromtheFinanceandLegalDe-
partments,”seniorofficialssaid.
Inviewofsucha categorical re-
jectionoftheordinance,theU.P.
government has sincedecided to
movea Billinstead.“Yes, wehave
decidednottobringtheordinance
andwillinsteadtablea Billinthe
nextsessionof theAssembly.Noor-
dinance shouldbeideallypromul-
gatedoncetheState legislaturehas
beenconvened,”DineshSharmatold
themedia in LucknowonJuly4.
Expertsin thefieldof higheredu-
cationopinedthattheBillif enacted
intoa lawwouldseriouslyunder-
minetheacademicandadministrat-
iveautonomyof privateuniversities.
TheprovisionsoftheproposedBill
aresuchthat theuniversities willbe
reduced tobecominganadjunctof
thegovernment,completelydivested
of theirautonomy.
The representatives of many
privateuniversities toldFrontline
thatthegovernmentappearedto be
ina tearinghurrytobringina “one
size fits all” policy, which went
againstthegrainofacademicfree-
dom.A stronglywordednoteonthe
proposedlawsubmittedbySharda
Universityto thegovernment stated:
“Oncea universityhasbeenestab-
lished,theroleofthegovernment
shouldbethat of a facilitator,ensur-
ingautonomyofinstitutions.Uni-
versities aspiring to achieve
excellenceneeda free, liberal and
facilitative environment. Distrust
againstprivateuniversitiesmayres-
ultina situationwherein theywill
notbein a positionto driveanyaca-
demicagendadrivenbyinnovation
andcreativity.”
Thenotedetailedhowthecur-
rentstatutesthatgovernprivate uni-
versities in the State are duly

recognisedbytheUniversityGrants

Commissionandapproved bythe

Statelegislature.Thenoteadded:

“Theproposednewlawrobstheuni-

versities of their freedom and

autonomy,destroysthefreespirit,

andacademicatmosphere of the

campuses andleavesthemwhollyex-

posedto bureaucraticcontrol,inter-

ferenceandinspectorraj.”

The note also specified that

privatepromotershadventuredinto

thefieldof higher educationin Uttar

Pradesha decadeagoonlyonac-

countofthe“clear andunequivocal

understanding, assurance and

promisegivenbytheStategovern-

mentthatthesponsoringbodyshall

havethemaximumautonomyand

freedominthematterofadminis-

tratingandmanagingtheeduca-

tional institutions and the State

governmentshall notinterfereor

meddleintheacademic,adminis-

trativeandmanagerialaffairsof the

university”.Thenotestatedthatover

theyears,theuniversitieshadmade

heavyfinancialcommitmentsonac-

countofsuchassurancesandhad

donewell,in factbetterthanpublic-

fundedinstitutions.Togobackon

theseassurancesandbringingov-

ernment control at each step,

whetheracademic, administrativeor

managerial, would amount to “a

blatantbreachoftrustandananti-

thesisoftheidealsandobjectives

withwhichtheywerealloweda dec-

adeago”.

Interestingly,mostof theuniver-

sityrepresentatives whospoke to

Frontlineagreedwiththeopinions

expressedintheShardaUniversity

notebutrefrainedfromgoingonre-

cord.“Iftheseuniversitiesbackout

orshiftbasebecauseofthestifling

environmenthere,canyouimagine

theplight ofthe students?How

manynewuniversities hastheU.P.

governmentestablishedinthelast

decade?”askedanAmityUniversity

official.

Thisstrong reactionfrom the

privateuniversitiescomesin viewof

thefactthattheproposedlawseeks

tocontrolnotonlyadmissioncri-

teria,recruitmentofteachers,cur-

riculum,feestructure,andso on,but

academic contentas well.It givesthe

Stategovernmentoverridingpowers

in theformof a regulatoryauthority,

completely controlled by serving

governmentofficials,whowillin-

specttheseuniversitiesoncea year

andcanrecommendactionwithout

givingtheuniversityanychanceto

reply.“Thisgoesagainst thevery

principleofnaturaljustice,”saida

seniorfunctionaryof ShardaUniver-

sity.SeniorStategovernmentofficials,

however,appeareddeterminedtogo

aheadwiththeproposedlegislation,

sayingthegovernment wasfirmon

bringing“uniformity”in thestandard

of highereducation.

Amidsttheparanoiaabout“one

nationonevote”and“onenationone

ration”,theUttarPradeshgovern-

menthasgone a stepfurtherand

comeupwith“one State, oneeduca-

tion”.Goodsenseshouldprevail,and

theStategovernmentshouldleave

educationtoacademicsandnotlet

bureaucratsmeddlewithit. $

GOVERNORRAMNAIK.Senior

officialssaid that one reasonhe

didnotsigntheordinancewas

thefactthat it did nothave the

inputsfromtheFinanceand

LegalDepartments.

PTI