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Tuesday, Sep 07, 2004

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Rajasthan to get private universities

By Our Special Correspondent

JAIPUR, SEPT. 6. The Rajasthan Government today cleared the decks for establishment of self-financing universities in the State. With a meeting of the State Cabinet presided over by the Chief Minister, Vasundhara Raje, clearing a proposal in this regard, Rajasthan became the eighth State to allow private universities.

The Cabinet also decided to set up a medical and a technical university each in the State to coordinate and harness the functioning of the existing medical colleges and technical institutes.

The private parties would be allowed to set up universities as per the guidelines of the University Grants Commission. Such universities would admit students as per merit while the fee structure would be according to the directives given by the Supreme Court, Rajendra Rathore, the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, who briefed newspersons on the Cabinet decisions, informed.

Mr. Rathore said a detailed legislation would be introduced in the Rajasthan Assembly on the parameters for setting up private universities. The interested parties would have to submit a proposal to the Government on the universities. The basic requirements for such universities included 30 acres of land, specified built-in area and stipulated study material, he said.

An endowment fund was being created in this regard to which each of the investor would have to deposit an amount ranging from Rs.75 lakhs to Rs.2 crores. The fund would be under the control of the State Government.

The medical university the Government was planning to establish would be in Jaipur. At present the State had eight medical and dental colleges each, three nursing colleges, besides eight pharmacy colleges in the health sector. There was a need for coordination among these institutions for holding timely examinations and to have a uniform curriculum, Mr.Rathore noted.

The medical university also would facilitate research. The existing medical colleges in Rajasthan were providing treatment to the patients besides preparing the medical students for the profession but there was no quality research taking place, Mr.Rathore noted. The administrative office of the proposed medical university would start functioning from the premises of Regional Centre for Family Welfare here.

The location for the proposed technical university, which would bring under it all technical institutions in the State offering 14,144 seats, is to be decided yet. The Cabinet has authorized Ms.Raje to decide on it. The State will soon have a separate department for Sanskrit education as well.

The Cabinet decided to rename the Gadra Road branch of the Indira Gandhi Canal Project in Barmer district after the saint Baba Ramdev and to name the lift canal project at Bangadsar in Bikaner as the Vir Tejaji Lift scheme.

The Cabinet decided to accord the salaries and facilities of the Ministers to the Parliamentary Secretaries as well. It also decided that the Rajasthan Civil Services Appellate could be empowered to review its own decisions.

A Cabinet sub committee was set up to look into the issue of cattle grazing inside the Ranthambhore National Park in Sawai Madhopur district. The Home Minister, Gulab Chand Kataria, the Forest Minister, Laxmi Narain Dave, the Health Minister, Digamber Singh, Relief Minister, Kirorilal Meena and Revenue Minister, Ramnarain Dudi and Mr.Rathore are members of the committee.

The Cabinet on principle decided not to make it mandatory to have post mortem examination in the cases of victims of road and rail accidents.

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