The Jharkhand Assembly on Wednesday passed four bills, including two bills which were re-introduced. The Assembly passed Pt Raghunath Murmu Tribal University in absence of the BJP members, who had walked out to protest suspension of four of their colleagues.
Mithlesh Thakur, minister in charge of higher and technical education department introduced the Pandit Raghunath Murmu Tribal University Bill 2022, which was cleared by the House. The Tribal University bill was passed by the Assembly earlier, but due to the difference in their Hindi-English translation, the Governor returned them without signing them.
With the passing of the Bill, decks have been cleared for opening of the institution in Jamshedpur. The university will be based in Jamshedpur and will have jurisdiction over the entire state. It will be open to all students irrespective of their class, caste or creed.
AJSU MLA Lambodar Mahto said it necessary to amend the bill and suggested referring it to the select committee with the direction that it should give its report within 30 days. However, the minister-in-charge, said, the bill has been introduced after thorough review and taking consent from the personnel and law departments. He said the bill has been brought in the interest of the poor, downtrodden, tribal class of the state.
The Second Bill which was passed was Jharkhand State Universities (Amendment) Bill 2022 which too was introduced by minister Thakur. MLA Vinod Kumar Singh and Dr. Lambodar Mahto introduced amendments on the proposed bill saying that it should also be sent to the select committee with the direction that it should give its report within 30 days.
Vinod Singh said that there is no university in Jharkhand, which is in the list of top 100 universities which indicates that the quality of higher education in the state is very poor. The Bagodar MLA said that the bill should be sent to the Select Committee to ensure that state universities can come in rank with better quality, he added.
Echoing the views of Singh, Lamodar Mahto the MLA from Gomia said, it is necessary that all the 100 per cent norms of UGC 2018 guidelines are followed in this bill to ensure that when it goes before the governor, he does not need to return it.
On which the minister in charge said that all the norms of UGC have been followed in this bill. He said that the bill has been introduced to pave the path for the appointment of 3064 professors and lecturers in the state.
Other two bills passed included Resolution of Arrears of Jharkhand Taxation Acts Bill 2022 and Jharkhand Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill 2022. Minister in charge of the commercial tax department Rameshwar Oraon had introduced the bill.