SFI On NCHER BILL

The UPA government introduced the NCHER Bill in the last session of Parliament. This Bill if passed would drastically change the structure of policy making in the higher education sector of India. The main thrust of this bill is to centralize the powers relating to higher education in the hands of an all powerful 7 member committee. What is even more dangerous is this body would not have any accountability to the Parliament unlike existing bodies like the UGC etc. The HRD Minister Kapil Sibal has claimed that this bill would rejuvenate the higher education system in the country. The legitimacy for this bill was drawn from the report of the Yashpal Committee appointed by the prime Minister.

In a major turnaround which has exposed the nefarious designs of the government and the HRD minister, Prof. Yashpal who headed this committee has accused the HRD Ministry of distorting his recommendations. In an interview to the Telegraph Daily dated May 6, he has in fact gone on to question the intentions of many of the changes inserted by the ministry. He has expressed serious concerns that such a move would lead to the concentration of powers inn the hands of a few without any accountability. He has also said that the provisions in the NCHER Bill would actually curb the autonomy of the educational institutions rather than protecting and strengthening it. Prof. Yashpal has said that he is getting increasingly frustrated with the government.

The statements made by Prof Yashpal have vindicated the position taken by SFI and other democratic sections within the higher education stakeholders in the country. The government owes an explanation to the country in the wake of these serious allegations. The revelations by Prof Yashpal are yet another addition to the bankrupt policies of the UPA government, which is continuously losing credibility in the eyes of the people.

The SFI demands that the NCHER bill should be withdrawn immediately. The NCHER bill along with other policies of the HRD minister constitutes an attack on the democratic structure and the spirit of the very grain of diversity India has. The SFI will fight against these policies tooth and nail.  The SFI CEC calls upon all its units to expose the UPA’s sinister designs and rally the student community against the onslaughts on education sector.