CAMPUS CONTROL

MANY FEAR THAT GUJARAT'S PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES BILL WILL PUT UNIVERSITIES AT THE MERCY OF THE GOVERNMENT AND SEVERELY RESTRICT THEIR AUTONOMY

- Jumana Shah

The Gujarat assembly on September 16 passed the controversial Public Universities Bill, 2023, which repeals 11 separate laws concerning as many public universities in the state and instead lays down common guidelines for their governance. The bill was introduced by the Bhupendra Patel government with the aim of aligning the state’s higher education with the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020. “Better governance, better academic standards, enhancement of quality of education for academic autonomy and excellence”, and “regulating higher education” and “nonagricultural, non-medical and non-sectoral universities in the State of Gujarat in more effective manner” are the stated objectives. The Patel government no doubt seems to have taken care—and rather zealously at that—of the ‘regulation’ aspect, but it’s the irony of the ‘autonomy’ part that critics, including academicians and opposition parties, are decrying.