The bills which were passed in the Council in a matter of ten minutes, without any discussion, saw its members stage a walkout in protest against the government’s move. Though members in the Assembly did not staunchly oppose the bills, they did question the credentials of the varsities proposed to be set up.
Having opposed the setting up of private universities in Himachal Pradesh, claiming that in the name of universities, shops are being opened, the Congress party has finally succeeded in starting a government probe into the opening of such universities. Besides checking the records, revenue officials are conducting physical verification of these universities to find out the truth.
Both the Houses of the State Legislature adopted four more private university Bills on the last day of the budget session amid protest by the Opposition parties, who took exception to the indiscriminate and the hurried manner in which approvals were being granted to the private universities raising suspicion of involvement of “business interests”.
The state government has recommended the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) not to extend the approval of three engineering colleges in the state for the academic year 2013-'14.
Eleven private dental colleges of Punjab have admitted 456 students to the Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) course even though they had “not qualified” the 2012 Pre-Medical Entrance Test (PMET), according to a “most urgent” communication of the Dental Council of India (DCI).