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Private universities issue rock Himachal Assembly- 20-Mar-2013
Shimla: The issue of permission granted to large number of private universities to set up campuses in Himachal Pradesh and land purchased by them, rocked Himachal Assembly with members questioning the credentials of these universities and the degrees being awarded by them. Raising the question during Question Hour, former education minister Asha Kumari (Congress) asked whether the degrees being offered by these universities were recognised or they were only "pieces of paper". "Are we playing with the future of the students by giving the degrees, which don't have any value?" she asked. She wanted to know the parameters for giving permission to private universities to purchase large chunks of land for developing campuses, in relaxation of section 118 of the HP Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, which barred non-agriculturists to purchase any land in the state without government's permission. Replying to the question, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said, 15 private universities were allowed to open campuses during the BJP regime from Jan 1, 2008 to Dec 31, 2012 and only six universities out of these have been inspected by the University Grants Commission (UGC). "We have not received any inspection report from the UGC regarding these universities," he added. Referring to permissions given for purchase of land to the universities, Asha Kumari alleged that certain universities were permitted to buy huge chunks of land, while most of them were allowed to buy excess land. "When 50 bighas (one bigha is 0.4 hectare) is sufficient for developing the campus, why some universities were allowedto purchase 600 bighas of land?" she wondered adding that how can these universities retain the excess land and not utilising it for the purpose for which it was ostensibly bought. The Chief Minister said that 10 out of the 15 varsities were allowed to buy the 1,685 bighas of land from private parties. The universities which have set their bases included Bahra University, Arni University, Manav Bharti University, Baddi University of Emerging Sciences and Technology and Maharishi Markandeshwar University, the Chief Minister said. Replying to a question of Randhir Sharma (BJP), Forest Minister Thakur Singh Bharmauri assured the House that the government will lift the ban on harvesting of Khair wood used for manufacturing 'Kattha' (Acacia Catechu) as the Supreme Court has allowed the exclusion and denotification of 48 villages in the Sri Nainadevi sanctuary. The Ranjeet Singh Committee constituted by the Supreme Court to hear the objections of local people living in the protected area, conducted the hearings from April 16 to 24, 2009, he said. "The Supreme Court accepted the report of the committee, clearing decks for denotifying these villages and the government will soon issue necessary notification in this regard," he added.
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