No foul game is allowed just for political gain - Mr Minister

SC green signal for admissions to deemed universities

PTI, May 6, 2010, 02.58pm IST

NEW DELHI: The 44 deemed universities sought to be de-recognised by the government today got a reprieve with the Supreme Court refusing to stay any fresh admissions to these institutes.

A bench of Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Gyan Sudha Misra rejected the Union HRD Ministry's plea for an injunction against any fresh admissions which are likely to commence from July.

The apex court said that it could not pass any such injunction order as the validity of the very constitution of the high-powered Tondon Committee is under challenge.

The review committee headed by Professor P N Tondon had earlier recommended derecognition of the 44 institutes spread across the country on the ground that they failed to meet the standard required for sustaining status of a "deemed" university.

Though Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium, appearing for the government, pleaded that at least, a condition be imposed that any fresh admissions would be subject to the final outcome of the case pending in the apex court, the bench was in no mood to grant any relief to the Centre.

"The constitution of the committee is itself under challenge, it has to be adjudicated first. There is no point in passing any injunction. It would not be appropriate for us to pass any injunction," the bench said.

The apex court pointed out that there are allegations that Professor Tondon himself was heading a deemed university and it was not appropriate for him to head the high-powered committee which sought de-recognition of the aggrieved universities.

Hence, the bench asked the government and the varsities to file their replies and rejoinders so that it could take up the matter for further hearing on August 3.

The bench had also agreed to examine the validity of the government's decision to de-recognise the varsities as the institutions claimed that under the statutory rules, it was only the UGC which has got the power to strip them of their deemed status.

What we are doing with our kids....may be ensuring to create cheerful idiots?

Uncle Kapil’s gifts- Hindustan Times

HRD minister can run everything to ruin...thanks to his task-force.

How can HRD Ministry run medical education, asks AICC doctors' cell

Aarti Dhar - The Hindu

NEW DELHI: Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal has come under criticism from his own colleagues in the Congress for his “proposal of transferring medical education” from the Health Ministry to the proposed National Commission on Higher Education and Research (NCHER).

The task force which is finalising the regulatory commission has been constituted by the HRD Ministry.

Mr. Sibal wants to create a new national body to control and supervise the departments of higher and technical education. Surprisingly, he has shown interest in bringing medical education also within the ambit of this body, Vijay Khaira, AICC member and national convener of the AICC (doctors' cell) has said in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The HRD Ministry's proposal is baseless as it cannot run the health care system, which is an integral part of the Health Ministry and without which medical education is incomplete.

If one or two persons are corrupt, the entire Medical Council of India or the entire Medical Education department cannot be blamed or transferred to the HRD Ministry, Dr. Khaira has said.

Even the All-India Council for Technical Education chief and other functionaries have been allegedly found involved in corruption.

How can the HRD Minister guarantee that the body he is constituting would be outrightly honest?

In the “interest of patients, health care delivery system and medical education itself,” Dr. Khaira has requested the Prime Minister not to transfer medical education to any other ministry.

One more U-Turn...why didn't you think before throwing....Mr. Minster?

Final decision on NCHER rests with Centre, says Kapil Sibal

Aarti Dhar - The Hindu

NEW DELHI: Under criticism from his Cabinet colleagues, Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal on Saturday sought to clarify that the final decision on the proposed National Commission on Higher Education and Research (NCHER) remained with the government at the “highest level” and that the decision would be “acceptable” to the Ministry.

Speaking to journalists at the end of a daylong consultation organised by the task force on the draft NCHER bill with academics from across the country, Mr. Sibal said the bill was the property of the task force. The government could change its title and take the final call.

The Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry and the Bar Council of India oppose the idea of transferring medical and legal education to the Human Resource Development Ministry, which is piloting the legislation and which has set up the task force.

The task force decided to set up an ‘informal' committee of four eminent persons. It will study the drafts of the NCHER and National Council for Human Resource in Health (NCHRH) bills to ensure there was no overlap. The committee will comprise Srinath Reddy and Ranjit Roy Choudhary (both members of the HCHRH task force) and M.K. Bhan and Syeda Hamid, both members of the NCHER task force. Mr. Sibal said the inputs received at the consultation would be taken into account while finalising the draft NCHER bill before it was placed before the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) next month. After the CABE approved it, the draft Bill would be sent to the government.

Task force member N.R. Madhava Menon said the legislation was aimed at granting more autonomy and academic freedom to universities, and this would lead to more accountability. The government would have no role in the setting up of the commission, and there were mechanisms to check its misuse. “We also want medical, legal and agricultural higher education to be under the purview of the commission,” he said. The task force would recommend to the government to amend the Constitution for bringing agriculture education to the Concurrent List. Another member M.K. Bhan said the second draft of the Bill — discussed at the consultation — was more consistent with the federal structure, as it had representation for the States, and for a wide spectrum of areas. The participants also agreed with the new draft that had a provision for setting up a general council that allowed for wider discussions. Of the newly constituted Board of Governors that replaced the Medical Council of India, one member turned up for the consultation.

With the begging bowl again....

Sibal to focus on wooing foreign varsities on US trip

2010-05-29 19:00:00

Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal, during his 10-day visit to the US beginning Monday, will focus on increasing cooperation in the education sector and attracting American universities to set up their campuses in India, an official said Saturday. Sibal is accompanying External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna for the India-US strategic dialogue. Official sources in the HRD ministry said Sibal will interact with government officials and representatives from a number of universities seeking cooperation in the higher education sector. Sources said the meetings will aim at attracting these universities to set up their campuses in India. This comes after the foreign universities bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha during the budget session. The bill aims at facilitating as well as regulating setting up of campuses by foreign varsities in India. 'This will be the litmus test for the (foreign university) bill,' a senior minisitry official said. Among the universities the HRD minister will be interacting with is Virginia Tech, which has shown interest in setting up a campus in Hyderabad. Sibal will be meeting the university's president for further deliberations. He will also meet representatives from the Washington's premier Georgetown University on Thursday. On Friday, the minister will interact with representatives from Stanford Centre for International Development, a center of Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research which focuses on international trade and development. He will also meet representatives from University of California, Berkeley on the same day. This will be Sibal's second visit to the US in seven months. During his visit towards the end of October 2009, he had met the heads of several top American universities, including Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Yale. 'The universities expressed interest at that time but they wanted to wait for the foreign universities bill to come,' the official said. It is important to note that all the above mentioned universities have already refused to establish their campuses in India. But let's go with the begging bowl again....

Top central univs have 34% teaching posts vacant...what MHRD is doing?

LEFT IN THE LURCH?
Sikkim University Heads List With 84% Vacancies
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: There is a stark difference between the hype around higher education and the real picture. The top 22 universities in India have 34% vacancy in teaching jobs. Twenty-two central universities, with 11,085 sanctioned posts, have 3,777 vacant posts, the Lok Sabha was informed on Wednesday.
So bad is the situation that the new central universities, the ministry told the lower House, have appointed temporary/guest faculty on contract to meet their immediate requirement.
Sikkim University is the worst of the lot with a whopping 84% vacancy (169 vacancies out of the total posts of 201). HRD ministry’s claim that all the posts have since been advertised and 32 posts have been filled on contractual basis is hardly a consolation.
Allahabad University has 43.5% of the posts vacant, JNU has 32.5% vacancy (237 out of 728), Indira Gandhi National Open University has nearly 40% (273/692) teaching posts lying vacant. It is interesting to note that Allahabad University is just completing its first five years as a central university, but there has been hardly any change since its days as a state university.
The government has explained that though Delhi University has around 51% vacancy, out of the 1,500 sanctioned posts, 202 posts (out of 646 posts sanctioned for OBC reservation) have not been permitted to be filled. The total vacancy is of 763 posts out of which 729 have already been advertised and interviews are in the process of being scheduled, the ministry said.
Maulana Azad National Urdu University has 118 vacancies out of 248 posts. The ministry claims all the vacant posts have since been advertised.
In Aligarh Muslim University, there is a vacancy of 235 posts against the sanctioned strength of 1,387. In Banaras Hindu University, the government has explained that though there are 1,842 sanctioned posts, 553 have not been allowed to be filled. It has 352 vacant posts.
Hyderabad University has 184 vacancies out of 541 sanctioned posts.
In its reply, the ministry also highlighted steps it has taken to make teaching attractive. These steps include 50% enhancement in junior and senior research fellowships.

SC rejects govt plea to hinder fresh admissions in Deemed Universities

Supreme Court today rejected the HRM ministry plea for injunction against fresh admissions by the Deemed to be Universities, particularly the 44 institutions sought to be derecognized in a review committee report.
Hearing the Viplav Sharma vs. Government of India, UGC & others case today the bench comprising Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Gyan Sudha Misra rejected the Ministry's plea against fresh admissions by the deemed universities saying that it could not pass any such order as the validity of the very constitution of the high-powered Tondon Committee is under challenge. Next hearing in the case will be on August 3.
"The constitution of the committee is itself under challenge, it has to be adjudicated first. There is no point in passing any injunction. It would not be appropriate for us to pass any injunction," the bench said. Besides, the apex court pointed out that there were allegations that Professor Tondon himself was heading a deemed university and it was not appropriate for him to head the high-powered committee which sought de-recognition of the aggrieved universities.
Though Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium, appearing for the government, pleaded that at least, a condition be imposed that any fresh admissions would be subject to the final outcome of the case pending in the apex court, the bench was in no mood to grant any relief to the Centre.
The ministry’s similar plea had been rejected by the court earlier too. The HRD ministry has been adamant against the 44 deemed universities after its review committee under Prof. PN Tandon recommended de-recognition. The bench had also agreed to examine the validity of the government's decision to de-recognise the varsities as the institutions claimed that under the statutory rules, it was only the UGC which has got the power to strip them of their deemed status.
It is worth mentioning that the Tandon committee didn’t give its detailed report and the methodology used to arrive at its decision in assessment of the deemed universities on nine different aspects.
Earlier the apex court had directed the Centre to put on the Internet the recommendations of the Tondon Committee and the Task Force. On March 8, the Supreme Court had on March 8 granted two weeks to the aggrieved varsities to file their responses on the Centre's decision to de-recognise them.
During earlier hearings the Union HRD Ministry had denied the allegations of the institutes that they were not given sufficient opportunity to explain their academic performance before deciding to de-recognise them.
Stoutly defending its decision, the Centre, in its additional affidavit, had said its high-powered review committee and task force were more concerned with the academic excellence of these universities, rather than infrastructural facilities. The HRD ministry said the universities sought to be de-recognised were being run as family fiefdoms, rather than as institutions of academic excellence which they claim to be.