The Centre hopes the Parliament will pass a legislation in the Monsoon Session to prohibit unfair practices in higher educational institutions. There have been complaints of irregularities by private universities of north-eastern States.
HRD Minister MM Pallam Raju has sought cooperation from the States in his effort to tighten the noose around such institutions. “Universities (private) and institutes are getting away with fleecing innocent students/candidates. It is important that States and the Centre work in tandem to check the malpractice. We are hoping that the States will act faster,” Raju told The Pioneer, regretting the fact that the Prohibition of Unfair Practices Bill is stuck in Parliament for close to two years now.
Raju, on a whirlwind tour of some of the elite North East educational institutions, said he has already discussed the alleged malpractices with Meghalaya Deputy Chief Minister and Education Minister Prof RC laloo.
Meghalaya boasts a number of national and State universities and has seen many private educational institutes mushrooming in recent years. Of these, the names of CMJ University and Mahatma Gandhi University (MGU) have come up for wrong reasons.
“A committee to examine the alleged irregularities, set up under the State regulatory body governing higher educational institutes, has submitted a report and I will examine it before taking any action,” laloo told The Pioneer. He would not commit to shutting down the universities but only said, “No one will be allowed to fleece the students.”
Addressing the 15th Convocation of IIT-Guwahati, Raju announced more institutions imparting technical and higher education likely in the region, with the Government working for the socio-economic uplift of the North East.
“I would like that IIT-G take over the task of becoming the regional hub for research, development and the main hub of National Knowledge Network (NKN) to share its expertise and resources with other institutions through virtual classrooms and collaborative research,” Raju said.
Raju also became the first HRD Minister to visit IIM-Shillong since its inception six years ago. He interacted with students and expressed hope the institute would meet expectation of the North East for progressive industrialisation.
The HRD Minister also laid the foundation of a new permanent campus for the English & Foreign language University at Umsawli and attended the golden jubilee celebrations of the science department of the famous Shillong College, besides inaugurating an NCERT research centre.