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Uttarakhand assembly passes umbrella university bill which was returned by Guv for reconsideration
The bill, aimed at governing all universities in the state under one umbrella law, was passed by the state assembly in September this year and later sent to the governor for her consent.
On the third day of the winter session of assembly, Uttarakhand assembly passed Uttarakhand University Bill, 2020, which was returned by the Governor for reconsideration earlier this month.
The bill, aimed at governing all universities in the state under one umbrella law, was passed by the state assembly in September this year and later sent to the governor for her consent. However, she had returned it to the government on Saturday with some observations/points for reconsideration by the state government.
The bill was, however, not included in the agenda of the House in the morning but was added during the meeting of the business advisory committee after lunch.
An official of the education department, on the condition of anonymity, said, “As per the Governor’s observations, some of its points were reconsidered including one on the selection process of vice-chancellors. Now, with the change made, the process of selection will go through the government but its consent is not necessary.”
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“She had also asked to keep the retirement age of vice-chancellors at 65 instead of 70 mentioned in the bill. It has, however, been kept 70 only without any change,” said the official.
Parliamentary affairs minister Madan Kaushik said, “The House has passed six bills, including the Uttarakhand University Bill, 2020, with some changes as per the Governor’s observations while returning it to the government.”
The new law is aimed at bringing all government and private universities of the state under one umbrella and all institutes under these universities will follow the same rules. The state has 11 government universities and 18 private universities which are all governed by their own rules, thus having different norms of functioning.
It would replace the Uttar Pradesh University Act, 1973, which has been in force since Uttarakhand’s formation in 2000. The act was conceptualised last year in August by state higher education minister after the department received several complaints regarding high fee charged by private universities and other demands by such institutes.
The new act aims to help remove the irregularities that are currently there in the governance of different universities of the state, paving a path for better educational standards.
