The draft of a new ordinance which was cleared by the Uttar Pradesh Cabinet on Tuesday, 18 June has a provision whereby new and existing private universities have to mandatorily submit an undertaking saying that they will not allow any anti-national activities on their campuses, The Indian Express reported.
What Does the Ordinance Say?
The Uttar Pradesh Private Universities Ordinance (UPPU) 2019 will enable 27 private universities in UP to come under the one umbrella act, instead of being under separate provisions and acts.
The act gives existing universities a period of one year to adopt the provisions of the law, the report said.
The 27 universities have not been specified yet.
Universities found in violation of the anti-national activities provision will be subjected to action, a Cabinet press release stated, according to India Today. Universities will face action on complaints of forgery as well.
What Will the Ordinance Address?
Other aspects that the ordinance looks into are regulation of fee structure, improving quality of education and implementation of best practices in universities, the India Today report said.
Under the ordinance, private universities will be required to hire at least 75 percent of its teachers as permanent employees and there will also be a common academic calendar, according to The Indian Express.
Once the ordinance is cleared by the Cabinet, all universities will have to put out details of their admission process and fee structure in the public domain.
The Cabinet has also cleared an endowment of Rs 5 crore, which will help students complete their degree in case the university fails to function mid-session due to some reason.
(With inputs from The Indian Express and India Today.)
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