Despite opposition, pvt varsity gets nod

Jaswinder Singh Baidwan

Akhran da mureed
Staff member
Legislators, cutting across party lines, today hotly debated the issue of granting private university status to an educational institution in Mandi Gobindgarh.
The MLAs vehemently opposed the Bill to convert RIMT into a private university, but all in vain as the Bill was passed.
Among those who opposed the Bill - RIMT University Bill, 2015 -- were Akali MLA Iqbal Singh Jhunda, BJP MLAs Navjot Kaur Sidhu, Manoranjan Kalia and Somnath and Congress MLAs Ashwani Sekhri, Balbir Singh Sidhu, Tarlochan Singh, Kuljit Singh Nagra, Charanjit Singh Channi and Sunil Jakhar.
They expressed concerns over the commercialisation of higher education; flouting of rules for granting private university status to institutes; and the need to set up a regulatory commission to monitor 25 private universities in the state.
Balbir Singh Sidhu alleged commercialisation of education in private universities "where only donations and sifarish help in getting admissions". He alleged these universities were producing an army of unemployable educated youth.
Kalia and Jhunda demanded regulatory commission to monitor universities be set up immediately.
BJP MLA Som Prakash said there were certain lacunae in the Bill. "Please ensure that the clause is added which says that no state financing will be given to these universities," he said.
Navjot Kaur Sidhu pointed out that a medical college in Chintpurni had admitted students, but its affiliation was later cancelled. "Let's ensure such instances are not repeated," she said.
Nagra alleged RIMT did not have the requisite land and showed several acres of panchayat land as its own. Higher Education Minister Surjit Singh Rakhra assured the members that the regulatory commission would be set up before the next session.
 
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