Saturday, 06 May 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN

The higher education department is working on the draft of the Umbrella Act for the Private Universities of the State. The draft once prepared would be placed before the State cabinet for approval. The officers of the higher education department are studying similar acts of the other States to prepare the act which once in force would govern all the private universities of the State. The additional secretary of higher education, MM Semwal confirmed that deliberations on the Umbrella act for the private universities are going on.

 It is pertinent to mention here that the work on the umbrella act for the private universities is going on from the year 2021. However, apprehensions and strong objections made by the private universities forced the government to put the proposed act in cold storage. 

The objective of the proposed act is to bring uniformity in the functioning of the private universities of the State.  The government also intends to put some control over the functioning of the private universities. It would also bring uniformity in the recruitment of faculty positions, appointments of Vice Chancellors, conduction of examinations and declaration of results.  

 At present the different universities of the state are governed with their own acts. A total of 21 private universities are functional in the State at present. The proposals of three new private universities are pending in the Raj Bhawan.

The proposed Umbrella Act would be overriding all the existing acts under which the private universities of the state are being governed.