Govt to introduce reforms bill in Winter session of Parliament

The government wants to introduce major reforms bills, including the one for setting up an overarching body in higher education, in the upcoming Winter and Budget sessions of Parliament, HRD minister Kapil Sibal today said.

Participating in a discussion on Higher Education Reforms at the India Economic Summit, he said the government would introduce a bill for setting up the National Commission for Higher Education and Research (NCHER).

Besides, the government will bring a bill to set up an independent accreditation agency. This agency will set benchmark for institutes. Those institutions, which fail to get through the entry barriers, will lose their recognition.

The HRD Ministry also wants to bring a bill to check educational malpractices. A number of institutions, which fail to deliver on the promise of offering quality education, would face action under this proposed Act.

The government also wants to set up educational tribunals in the institutions to settle disputes between the staff and management. A separate bill would be brought to this effect.

"I want to introduce whole lot of bills in this session. But the Bill for setting up of the overarching body may happen in the Budget session," Sibal said.The HRD Ministry has already prepared the draft bill for the NCHER. The proposed NCHER will bring complete revamp in higher education, Sibal said.

The proposed NCHER would subsume the present regulatory bodies like UGC and AICTE.

The government also aims at bringing a bill to allow the entry and operation of foreign educational institutions in the country. The Foreign Education Providers bill would be sent to the Cabinet soon.

This bill assumes significance as the ministry wants foreign institutes to come to India. Sibal recently visited leading universities in the US and wanted them to come to India.