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UGC opens new front in federalism battle

ByHT Editorial
Jan 23, 2025 08:18 PM IST

The UGC draft threatens to annul the state law, usurp the powers of appointment from the state executive and invest it in the office of the governor.

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 has become a new flashpoint in Centre-state relations. Tamil Nadu took the lead in opposing the regulations, which provide greater powers to the chancellor/visitor of a state university (in most cases the governor) in the appointment of vice-chancellors (VCs). Days after the Tamil Nadu assembly passed a resolution against the regulations, Kerala followed suit in calling for a repeal of the draft. Reports suggest that even National Democratic Alliance members such as the Janata Dal (United) have raised apprehensions that UGC’s proposals privilege the Centre in the running of state universities.

The UGC draft, effectively, threatens to annul the state law, usurp the powers of appointment from the state executive and invest it in the office of the governor.. HT Photo By Sonu Mehta PREMIUM
The UGC draft, effectively, threatens to annul the state law, usurp the powers of appointment from the state executive and invest it in the office of the governor.. HT Photo By Sonu Mehta

There is merit in their concern. The UGC Act of 1956 limits its role in determining academic standards in universities. The selection and the appointment of VCs of public universities have been the responsibility of the state government, and understandably so, since state universities are set up under legislation passed by the legislative assembly and provide funds for their establishment and running. The UGC can surely prescribe the guidelines to be followed in appointments, But the task of selection is best left to the local authority. The UGC draft, effectively, threatens to annul the state law, usurp the powers of appointment from the state executive and invest it in the office of the governor.

In states such as Tamil Nadu and Kerala, university appointments have become a bone of contention between the governor and the elected government with the former overruling the latter’s choices for top posts and, in some cases, ordering the removal of persons appointed by the state executive. This is the backdrop of the Opposition-ruled states’ concern that the Centre is weaponising the UGC to interfere in the state executive’s domain. The administration of public universities deserves to be reformed. This task, however, needs to be addressed by the state government; the centralisation of administration is no solution

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