This story is from December 25, 2014

MLAs bring working of private universities in Punjab under focus

The state of affairs in 22 private universities came under the scanner in Punjab assembly when a bill to set up Sant Baba Bhag Singh University in Jalandhar was put up before the house on Wednesday.
MLAs bring working of private universities in Punjab under focus
CHANDIGARH: The state of affairs in 22 private universities came under the scanner in Punjab assembly when a bill to set up Sant Baba Bhag Singh University in Jalandhar was put up before the house on Wednesday. Reacting to it, deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal said that the state government was about to set up Punjab Institutes Regulatory Authorities to ensure that private institutes were managed properly.
Absence of required infrastructure, fixing of fee at will in the name of autonomy and absence of a regulatory authority at the state level was highlighted by MLAs from the treasury benches in detail with reference to the existing universities. BJP MLA Manoranjan Kalia rued that with the number of universities going up manifold in Punjab, it was resulting in commercialization with many of the institutes turning into "graduate-manufacturing factories". He underlined need for a regulatory commission which would look into the infrastructure and other facilities available on these campuses.
Endorsing his views, another BJP MLA Som Parkash pointed out that there were contradictions in the bill as it said that the university would be self-financing and would not be entitled to receive any grant or other financial assistance from the state government. However, another clause said that the university would have powers to receive grants from the University Grants Commission (UGC) and other central or state agencies. He claimed that the same draft of bill was put up every time a new university had to be approved.
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