New Delhi: A Parliamentary panel has
welcomed the proposed legislation to set up dedicated tribunal
to resolve disputes in higher education sector, but expressed
dissatisfaction over rushing through the bill without holding
proper consultation with all stakeholders.
"The committee can conclude that consultation process on
the proposed bill has been far from satisfactory and the whole
exercise seems to be a hurried affair whereby important
stakeholders have either been ignored or consent presumed in
case of nil response," the Parliamentary Standing Committee on
HRD has said.
It noted that response of the states, central higher
educational institutes and Medical Council of India has not
been taken.
Noting that the clause 2 of the bill does not make it
clear whether the proposed bill would apply to private, aided
or unaided institutions, the committee has suggested that the
bill should clearly specify institutes that will be brought
under its jurisdiction so as to "remove any ambiguity".
Presenting its report in the Parliament today, the
committee headed by Oscar Fernandes recommended a five-member
state educational tribunal instead of the proposed three-
member tribunal saying the former will be more "effective".
The bill proposed to set up a state level tribunal in
every state. The committee, however, felt that since there are
big and small states, one educational tribunal per state
cannot be made uniformly applicable across all of them.
"The issue needs to be examined thoroughly and a viable
mechanism for setting up state education tribunals worked
out," it suggested.
Expressing reservation over the representation of three
secretaries in the National Tribunal, the committee suggested
that the "composition may be reviewed accordingly" as
secretaries remain preoccupied with their assignments and
their availability for sitting may not be easy.
It emphasised that the order of the tribunals should
have "some force" so that they are complied with within a
specified period of time.
It hoped that the tribunals do not in any way hinder in
the quality, innovation and creativity in higher education and
are able to deliver their mandate efficiently.
The committee opined that district level tribunals could
also be set up in 230 districts having higher concentrations
of educational institutes.
"The other alternative in committee`s view can be to have
one district level tribunal for 2-3 districts based on the
number of institutions in these districts," it added.
-PTI
