Pradhan defends UGC draft on V-C appointment

Pradhan defends UGC draft on V-C appointment

The Hindu Bureau

New Delhi 15.01.2025

Responding to a statement by Congress president and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge that the new draft guidelines of the University Grants Commission (UGC) are against federalism and for cementing the BJP-RSS control over universities, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Monday that the new draft was in the format of the UGC Regulations of 2010. He said it followed the past procedures for appointing Vice-Chancellors (V-Cs).

The Minister said even in the UGC Regulations of 2010, 2018, or 2025, it was clear that the Chancellor or Visitor appointed the Vice-Chancellor. “The practice of Chancellors discharging the responsibilities of Vice-Chancellor has been going on even before the independence of the country,” Mr. Pradhan said on social media.

The Minister alleged that the Congress had kept the country’s education system in poor shape and it could never accept that the youth of the country should be educated and it should develop.

“That is why spreading confusion on issues like education, misleading the youth, and wanting to spread unrest in the country has become the policy of the entire Congress, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge,” Mr. Pradhan said.