New Delhi: Parliament on Thursday passed a bill
which seeks to give more powers to the National Commission for
Minorities Educational Institutions (NCMEI) and makes it
easier for minority-run bodies to get recognition.
HRD Minister Kapil Sibal while replying to the debate in
the Rajya Sabha on the National Commission for Minority
Educational Institutions (Amendment) Bill, 2010, said it was a
"procedural Act" which allows an institution to approach the
NCMEI directly in case a state government rejects its appeal
for seeking the status of a minority institution.
Allaying fears of members including Chandan Mitra and Rama
Jois (both BJP) who alleged that the legislation was a
political move to appease minorities and could divide the
social fabric, Sibal said it does not have a mandate to go
beyond the framed guidelines for setting up educational
institutions.
The bill, already passed by the Lok Sabha, seeks to
overcome the difficulties which the Commission faced after it
came into being.
The measure expands the number of members of the
commission to three from two besides a Chairman.
Moreover, the process of getting a No Objection
Certificate for setting up a minority educational institution
from the state governments has been simplified. NoC will be
automatically given now if there is no law in the state
concerned governing these institutions.
For deciding on the status of the minority educational
institution, the process of consultation with the state
government has been done away with in the Bill. The state
government would now only be a party in certain cases before
the Commission.
"The coming up of so many universities and institutions
only goes on to show that the young population is growing at a
fast pace and there is no space to adjust them. We are only
creating space for them, especially young Muslim population,"
Sibal said.
He said the government had held national-level
consultations with all stakeholders before framing the
legislation.
PTI