Punjab too rejects draft UGC regulations: ‘Infringing on the rights of the states’

“Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has already written a letter to the Centre opposing the new policy. I am also going to write a DO letter to them. We are against the new policy. It is infringing on the rights of the states. The Centre is already trying to control. They want to snatch states’ rights in every sphere,” Bains said.

He added that the Punjab Vidhan Sabha had passed a Bill, giving powers of the Chancellor to the Chief Minister for the appointment of Vice-Chancellors. “The Bill was not given assent by the then Governor Banwarilal Purohit. Also, he had sent the Bill to the President. It was never cleared.”

In a joint resolution passed by the education ministers of the six states, they raised multiple objections to the draft regulations and contended that the proposed rules violate the federal principles of governance.

“The state governments must be given a pivotal role in the appointment of Vice-Chancellors to state public universities. The draft UGC regulations do not envisage any role for the state governments in these appointments, which impinges on the legitimate rights of the states in a federal set-up. The regulations curtail the rights of the states in constituting the search-cum-selection committees for selection of Vice-Chancellors,” the resolution stated.

The UGC regulations introduced by Pradhan on January 6 stipulate that the chancellor of a university will establish a three-member search-cum-selection committee for appointment of vice-chancellors. The Governor’s nominee would chair the committee, with the other two members appointed by the UGC chairman and the university’s apex body.

The AAP-ruled Punjab government had already rejected the draft agricultural marketing policy of the Centre a few weeks ago.

In 2023, the Punjab government had brought in a Bill, The Punjab Universities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2023, providing for replacing Chief Minister as Chancellor of state universities rather than the Governor. The Bill was legislated after the then Governor Purohit was not clearing appointments of several experts as Vice-Chancellors of state universities stating that he was the chancellor of these universities. He was on a confrontational path with the state government.

The Bill was sent to the President by Purohit in December 2023, a month after the Supreme Court ruled that Governors cannot sit on state Bills. The Bill was rejected by President Droupadi Murmu in July last year.