The Hindu : National : Nod for minority educational institutions Bill

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Wednesday, Dec 22, 2004

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National

Nod for minority educational institutions Bill

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, DEC. 21. The Rajya Sabha today passed the Bill to constitute a National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions. The House witnessed heated exchanges as the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) criticised the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government for taking recourse to the ordinance and eventually walked out after its proposal for referring the Bill to a select committee was rejected by a voice vote. The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha last week.

Replying to the discussion on the Bill, the Human Resource Development Minister, Arjun Singh, said it was not the last word because there were sensitivities and complexities involved and there were several issues on which separate sections of minorities had differing views. A beginning had to be made which was spurred by apprehensions expressed at the minority education and welfare meeting on July 6.

"This two-day dialogue was attended by over 300 representatives of all minorities cutting across affiliations. The Common Minimum Programme (CMP) of the Government took this matter on a high priority and the dialogue was given importance as the Prime Minister himself initiated it. All fears and apprehensions of the minorities were spelt out. The dialogue also brought out gravest apprehension as for the last three to four years their rights were trampled upon by the previous Government,'' Mr. Singh said.

He cited two examples to buttress his point. The two examples threw enough light over the working of the HRD Ministry when Murli Manohar Joshi was at the helm of affairs. The then Government had discontinued the monitoring committee for minority education and denied the grant of status of deemed university to Karunya Institute of Technology in Tamil Nadu by the HRD Ministry even after the University Grants Commission (UGC) had cleared it.

He allayed fears that the proposed law was an encroachment on institutions such as the UGC or the All-India Council for Technical Education. "This law is a facilitator for those requiring help to get over problems in minority education," he said.

Madrassas modernisation

On modernisation of madrasas, Mr. Singh said the process began in 1992-93 but at that time there were grave apprehensions in the mind of the minorities so the process was slowed down and it was explained that it was in the interest of the minorities. Today, more than 7,000 madrassas have been modernised after the apprehensions were allayed, he said.

On the urgency for taking the ordinance route, Mr. Singh said it was necessitated in the face of the coming academic session. The ordinance was approved by the Union Cabinet and it would not have given its nod if it lacked strength and substance.

Earlier, senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj questioned the Government for taking the ordinance route when the Winter Session of Parliament was not far off. She demanded that the Bill be referred to a Select Committee.

Dr. Joshi said the Minister should give the "whole picture" about how many minority institutions were given the deemed university status during the NDA rule instead of selectively quoting from the file. "He is misleading the House," Dr. Joshi said. He found support from his party colleague, Yashwant Sinha, who said that Mr. Singh's speech was "extremely provocative." Later Dr. Joshi said the previous Government had done a lot for minority educational institutions.

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