The Kerala assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution urging the central government to withdraw the draft UGC guidelines and issue a revised version.The resolution was moved in the House by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan who said that the assembly was of the clear opinion that the draft UGC norms do not reflect the spirit of the Constitution.
The CM said that universities in the various states function according to the laws passed by the respective state legislatures as they have the power to establish and supervise the universities.
The central government only has the power to coordinate and fix standards for higher education and research institutions, he said.
By ignoring these facts and without holding discussions with all the stakeholders, the Centre issued the draft guidelines which completely exclude the opinions of the state governments, including on the appointment of Vice Chancellors, and therefore, they are “incompatible with the federal system and democracy”, Vijayan said.