Despite strong reservations by Raj Bhavan and a section of Congress and BJP leaders, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has decided to go ahead with the introduction of four private university Bills in the on going session of the Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha.
The government has already tabled the four Bills, which would give the legal sanction for setting up four private varsities — Himalayan University, IMS Unison University, Uttaranchal University and DIT University. The Bills were tabled by parliamentary minister Indira Hridayesh on the first day of the current winter session of the House which began on December 5.
In the month of June this year, the state Cabinet gave its seal of approval on the four varsities. But later, the Raj Bhavan objected to it.
Similarly, a group of Congress MLAs have also objected to the move and have asked the chief minister to convene a meeting of the Congress legislative party (CLP) to discuss the issue. So far, the chief minister has not conceded to the partymen’s demand.
Party sources said the chief minister has already asked Hridayesh to pass the four Bills. The main opposition, the BJP, said it would strongly oppose the Bill in the House.
"We want these four bills to be handed over to the select committee because all the four institutions must follow UGC and other guidelines in true spirit. According to preliminary assessment, these four institutions have not followed any guidelines," said leader of the opposition Ajay Bhatt.