Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Sunday slammed the Centre for changes in University Grants Commission (UGC) norms, alleging that it is trying to undermine states’ powers.
Stating that there is a big conspiracy behind the idea of having centralised control over universities, he termed the changes in UGC norms as an attack on the Constitution.
The Chief Minister warned that if the Centre takes control of universities, they will become platforms of malicious propaganda for a few people. Announcing that Telangana will strongly oppose this move and will not surrender its authority, the Chief Minister said he would discuss the issue with his counterparts of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and other states for a joint strategy.
He was addressing a programme organised at Ambedkar Open University to unveil the statue of Dr B.R. Ambedkar. The Chief Minister appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to withdraw the changes to the UGC norms saying the regressive decision threatens the very foundation of cooperative federalism and goes against Ambedkar’s ideals. He also termed the move a cultural attack on states by the Centre.
“Such a move by the Central government is not proper. This will open the doors for unnecessary controversies. We consider this usurpation of state’s powers by the Centre as an attack on us. We are not ready to surrender our rights,” he said.
Stating that the Centre will have to withdraw changes in the UGC, the Chief Minister made it clear that if it fails to do so, the state would not hesitate to protest.
Revanth Reddy also remarked that if the Centre continues to take away states’ powers one after the other, states will reduce to mere tax-collecting institutions. He said it was unfortunate that the country is again witnessing a debate on the protection of the Constitution.
The Chief Minister also alleged that the Union government did injustice to Telangana in Padma awards. He said it was atrocious to ignore personalities like Gaddar, Chukka Ramaiah, Ande Sri, Gorati Venkanna and Jayadheer Tirumala Rao. He would soon write a letter to the Prime Minister in this regard.
Stating that Ambedkar Open University is not just to issue certificates, he recalled that then Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao had set up the university as a social responsibility.
The Chief Minister felt that the initiative to solve society’s problems should be taken from universities. He claimed that his government initiated measures to put the education system back on rail. It appointed vice-chancellors to strengthen universities and directed vice-chancellors to take steps to fill teaching and non-teaching posts. He opposed the idea of privatisation of universities saying it is not in the interest of people. He underlined the need to rebuild the universities in the state.
